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The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has dismissed a demand on behalf of Turkey to reexamine its decision in the case of Demades v. Turkey, issued in April 2008, and has called on Ankara to pay 830,000 euros to the applicant for compensation plus interest, as well as 5,000 euros for court expenses, rendering the April decision final.
Commenting on the decision, Ioannis Demades' lawyer, Achilleas Demetriades, said this was a ''significant step'' by the ECHR in reaffirming that the owner of property in the Turkish occupied areas remains the person whose name appears on the deeds.
He added that the compensation ordered by the ECHR does not deny the owner of his property but is merely compensation for loss of use.
The ECHR decision was given to the parties in writing and renders the 22 April 2008 decision final, since the Court dismissed Turkey's demand to reexamine the specific decision.
On 22 April 2008, the ECHR ordered Turkey to pay within three months 835,000 euros to Greek Cypriot refugee Ioannis Demades for the loss of use of his property in the northern coastal town of Kyrenia, occupied by Turkish troops since the Turkish invasion in 1974.
The Fourth Section of the ECHR ordered Turkey to pay the applicant in the case Demades v. Turkey within three months the comprehensive sums of 785,000 euros in respect of pecuniary damage, 45,000 euros in respect of non pecuniary damage and 5,000 euros in respect of costs and expenses.
The Court recalled that in its principle judgment it found Turkey guilty of continuous violations of the European Convention of Human Rights by reason of complete denial of the rights of the applicant with respect to his home and the peaceful enjoyment of his property in Kyrenia.
It added that its finding of a violation of the applicant’s rights with respect to his home and the peaceful enjoyment of his property was based on the fact that as a consequence of being continuously denied access to his land since 1974 the applicant had effectively lost all access and control as well as all possibilities to use and enjoy his property.
Displaced Greek Cypriots like the applicant cannot be deemed to have lost title to their property and compensation to be awarded by this Court in such cases is confined to losses emanating from the denial of access and loss of control, use and enjoyment of his property, the decision adds.
Demades, who passed away in 2006, submitted his application against Turkey in 1990. His heirs pursued the application later on.
The decision was held by six votes to one. The Turkish Cypriot judge, representing Turkey, voted against the decision.
Demades’ home, a two storage house with garden near the sea, is now occupied by a Turkish high ranking army person. The whole area around the house is a Turkish military zone.
