Reports that the Turkish government is pushing the Turkish Cypriot administration to change its constitution so that Greek Cypriots can be allowed to return to the property from which they fled during the invasion in 1974 has taken the (Greek Cypriot) Republic of Cyprus government in the south completely by surprise.
However, if reports are true, it could a sign that, in the absence of agreement with all parties, Turkey will follow in the footsteps of Israel’s Ariel Sharon and implement its own solution.
A comprehensive plan to reunite Cyprus known as the Annan Plan was rejected by Greek Cypriots but accepted by Turkish Cypriots in a referendum in April 2004.
Since then the Greek Cypriot leadership has appeared to be in no hurry to get back to the negotiating table, probably believing that it can force more out of Turkey now that Turkey has started EU accession negotiations.
However, fears among Greek Cypriots are rising that Turkey is now bent on a purely legal solution that will not address Greek Cypriot security concerns about the presence of around 35,000 Turkish troops.
According to reports, a bill has been submitted to the Turkish Cypriot assembly to amend article 59 of the administration’s constitution, which appropriated all Greek Cypriot property to the unrecognised state.
Under the amendment, Greek Cypriots would be able to apply to get their property back or receive compensation. Those living in Greek Cypriot property–displaced Turkish Cypriots and Turks from the mainland–would be offered compensation.
If the current occupier refused, the case would go to court in the north and, if necessary to the European Court of Human Rights.
This has been dubbed the implementation of parts of the UN Plan which the Greek Cypriots rejected. Under the plan, displaced Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots (known locally as refugees) would be eligible for either full restitution or a mixture of restitution and compensation depending on which area their property was located in.
The role of the ECHR
There are also reports that Titina Loizidou, the Greek Cypriot refugee who won a landmark case against Turkey at the ECHR, would be allowed to return to her property in the north.
In the Loizidou case which encouraged other Greek Cypriots to file cases, Turkey was ordered to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in compensation and was ordered to allow her freedom to enjoy her property.
The Cyprus Mail reported that the ECHR is due to review implementation of the freedom to enjoy her property later this month.
Another motive for a change in the constitution comes from court cases lodged against Turkey at the European Court of Human Rights in the case of a Greek Cypriot refugee Myra Xenides-Arestis.
In April the Court ruled that the compensation commission that had been set up by the Turkish Cypriot administration to deal with Greek Cypriot property claims after a previous ECHR case (Loizidou) was not a sufficient domestic remedy for addressing the claims of Greek Cypriots, largely because it was composed of current occupants of Greek Cypriot property.
However, the Turkish Cypriot administration now plans to get round this by appointing foreigners to the commission.
On Tuesday, the ECHR appeared to recognise the courts in northern Cyprus when it ruled for the first time that for the purposes of the Convention, the legal remedies available in the regime in northern Cyprus could be regarded as “domestic remedies”, while emphasising that the government of the Republic of Cyprus (in the south) remained the sole legitimate government of Cyprus.
