Cyprus welcomes EU court ruling on property in north

The government of Cyprus has welcomed the Judgment by the Court of Justice of the European Communities on Apostolides vs Orams case. Government Spokesman Stephanos Stephanou said that the Court of Justice of the European Communities, by implementing the European Law, with its Judgment on the Orams case, has defended the property right of the citizens of the Republic of Cyprus, as EU citizens, irrespective of whether the property is located in the free or in the occupied areas.
Greek Cypriot legal verdicts are binding throughout the European Union, the bloc's top court said on Tuesday when it backed a man's attempt to reclaim land he abandoned in the north of Cyprus when it was divided.
The European Court of Justice ruling could encourage many Greek Cypriots to take legal action against foreigners living in disputed properties in northern Cyprus and may have an impact on talks to reunify the ethnically split island.
Meletis Apostolides, who now lives in southern Cyprus, was forced to abandon his land in the north after a Turkish military intervention divided the Mediterranean island in 1974.
His land was later acquired by a British couple. Apostolides challenged the purchase and sought to demolish a villa the Britons had built there.
"Those who bought Greek Cypriot property in the north should start seeking proper legal advice," Constantine Cantounas, lawyer for the Greek Cypriot, told Reuters after the verdict.
Apostolides won his case in a court in Cyprus. But a British court later backed the British couple and said EU laws were not enforceable in the north, where Greek Cypriots do not exercise effective control.
Advising the British court, the Luxembourg-based court said: "A judgment of a court in the Republic of Cyprus must be recognised and enforced by the other member states even if it concerns land situated in the northern part of the island."
By filing the case in British courts, Apostolides was effectively attempting to foreclose on assets of the Britons on their own turf.
The Greek Cypriot court verdict is practically impossible to implement in breakaway northern Cyprus, recognised only by Ankara, thus allowing the plaintiff to seek legal remedy elsewhere.
There are an estimated 5,000 Britons living in northern Cyprus, a sizeable proportion of them in disputed properties.
The ruling could strengthen the hand of the south in United Nations-backed negotiations on the island's reunification because Greek Cypriot leaders support the property claims of individuals who fled the north.
But it cold also sour the negotiations.
"Who can guarantee that such cases won't be brought against Turkish Cypriots? This will create tension between the two communities," said Kutred Ozersay, a law expert at the East Mediterranean University in Famagusta, northern Cyprus.
Property rights are one of the sensitive aspects of the latest round of reunification negotiations between Greek Cypriot President Demetris Christofias and the northern leader, Mehmet Ali Talat.
The dispute over Cyprus, split by the Turkish invasion following a brief Greek-inspired coup, is complicating Turkey's hopes of joining the EU.