Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06NICOSIA440
2006-03-23 16:13:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Nicosia
Cable title:  

TURKISH CYPRIOTS MEET ECHR DEADLINE FOR

Tags:  PREL PGOV PHUM CY 
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R 231613Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY NICOSIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5739
INFO RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 4591
RUEHTH/AMEMBASSY ATHENS 3535
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1150
RUEHVI/AMEMBASSY VIENNA 0436
RUEHSR/AMCONSUL STRASBOURG 0001
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0494
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 NICOSIA 000440 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/22/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM CY
SUBJECT: TURKISH CYPRIOTS MEET ECHR DEADLINE FOR
ESTABLISHING PROPERTY COMMISSION, BUT WILL ANYONE NOTICE?

REF: 05 NICOSIA 1886

Classified By: Ambassador Ronald L. Schlicher; Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 NICOSIA 000440

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/22/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM CY
SUBJECT: TURKISH CYPRIOTS MEET ECHR DEADLINE FOR
ESTABLISHING PROPERTY COMMISSION, BUT WILL ANYONE NOTICE?

REF: 05 NICOSIA 1886

Classified By: Ambassador Ronald L. Schlicher; Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: Turkish Cypriot authorities have met the
European Court of Human Rights' (ECHR) deadline for revising
the property compensation commission that the court had
earlier ruled inadequate to be considered an effective
domestic remedy. The new commission has a more diverse
membership -- including two foreigners -- and new powers
based on a law approved by the Turkish Cypriot "parliament"
in December. There are real questions, however, as to
whether the new-look commission will cross the ECHR's
threshold of credibility and whether Greek Cypriots would be
willing to seek redress through a Turkish Cypriot institution
under any circumstances. The lawyer for the plaintiff in the
most recent ECHR ruling, Xenides-Arestis vs. Turkey, publicly
expressed confidence that the court would refuse to endorse
the commission. Others on the Greek Cypriot side seem less
certain, and a group of hard-line lawyers representing a
large number of clients with pending (and now frozen) cases
before the ECHR sent a letter to the court seeking a right to
appeal the Arestis decision and attacking the credibility and
integrity of a number of the judges on the panel. No matter
how the ECHR ultimately rules on this case, the wave of
bitter and complicated property litigation is unlikely to
abate anytime soon. END SUMMARY.

Commission Announced Just In Time
--------------


2. (C) On March 21, the "TRNC" announced the establishment a
Property Commission designed to adjudicate Greek Cypriot
claims for restitution of and/or compensation for their
property in the north (ref A). The Commission was
established under a December 2005 Turkish Cypriot law passed
to comply with the ECHR's Xenedis-Arestis ruling, which
required Turkey (and its "subordinate local administration,"
the "TRNC") to establish "effective domestic remedy" for
Greek Cypriot property claims arising from Turkey's 1974
military intervention and subsequent occupation of one-third
of the island. In its ruling, the Court had laid out several

specific criteria -- such as the real possibility of
restitution and a more transparent, impartial
claims-adjudication body -- for any new Property Commission
to be considered "effective." The Court gave Turkey three
months to design a system that would comply with this ruling
(the March 21 announcement of the establishment and
composition of the Commission squeaked in just under this
deadline) and another three months to implement it in full.
Pending this, the Court has put on hold the approximately
1400 additional Greek Cypriot complaints against Turkey known
collectively as "Loizidou Clones."


3. (C) The new Commission will theoretically be able to order
the return of property to pre-1974 Greek Cypriot owners,
although the law provides for several limitations on this
power. Property being used by the Turkish military, for
example, will be exempt from restitution. In cases where
restitution is not granted, the Commission will have the
power to grant compensation to the Greek Cypriot owners,
either in the form of alternative property or payment based
on market value. The Commission consists of five Turkish
Cypriots and two foreigners (Hans Christian Kruger and Daniel
Tarschys of Sweden -- a former Deputy General Secretary and
former General Secretary of the Council of Europe,
respectively). Turkish Cypriot observers suggest that the
membership of the Commission has been carefully calibrated to
include women and men, friends and opponents of the ruling
CTP, and a smattering of apparently credible foreigners.
This, according to one advisor close to "President" Talat,
means the Commission will be "neither too harsh nor too
generous" with Greek Cypriot claims.

Will It Pass Muster? Will Greek Cypriots Apply?
-------------- ---


4. (C) It remains to be seen, however, whether this
Commission will meet the ECHR standards as "effective local
remedy." Greek Cypriot property lawyer Achilleas
Demetriades, who represents Xenedis-Arestis, has publicly
asserted that the new Commission will not be accepted by the
Court -- and many Turkish Cypriot observers quietly share his
doubts. Given the restrictions written into the Turkish
Cypriot law, it is unclear how much property the Commission

NICOSIA 00000440 002 OF 003


will actually be able to return to Greek Cypriot owners (as
opposed to offering compensation); meaningful restitution is
a key element of the criteria spelled out by the ECHR last
year.


5. (C) Turkish Cypriot lawyers suggest the ECHR will have no
grounds to make a ruling on the Commission until it has
started working and they can see whether it is as effective
in practice as Turkish Cypriots claim it is on paper. The
procedure can only work when an application is made. For
example, it is unclear what level of compensation will be
acceptable to the Court in cases where restitution is denied.
Although the Turkish Cypriots insist that Ankara (which is
eager to wash its hands of responsibility for Cyprus property
by supporting a "TRNC" domestic remedy) is willing to pay all
the costs of the new Commission, it seems unlikely that
either the Commission or the GOT will be willing or able to
foot the bill for multiple, multi-million dollar compensation
packages. If the new Commission low-balls too much, the ECHR
could balk.


6. (C) Hoping to force the issue (and repulsed by the idea
of having to apply to a "TRNC" body to get their houses
back),seven Greek Cypriot lawyers representing approximately
1000 of the 1400 refugees with applications pending before
the court announced last week their intention to appeal the
Arestis decision allowing Turkey the chance to establish
effective local remedy. In their letter to the Court, the
lawyers reportedly called into question the credibility and
objectivity of the ECHR President and an ECHR judge, claiming
to have "evidence" that the two ECHR judges accepted personal
visits from the Turkish Ambassador to Luxembourg.


7. (C) It is not clear that this appeal will go anywhere,
however. As Cyprus' Attorney General has noted, these
lawyers have no grounds for appeal because they represent
neither the plaintiff (Arestis) nor the respondent (Turkey).
Indeed, Arestis' lawyer, Demetriades, has publicly
discouraged this group from further action, arguing -- among
other things -- that personal attacks against the Court and
its Judges could damage the Greek Cypriot cause at the ECHR.


8. (C) It is also an open question whether Greek Cypriots
will be willing to apply to the Commission. Some on both
sides of the Green Line have even expressed doubts as to
whether Arestis herself will apply to the Commission. One
Turkish Cypriot legal expert warned that, if Arestis did not
apply and refused to discuss a 'friendly settlement' with the
"TRNC," she would be forced to wait for a comprehensive
solution to the Cyprus problem before settling her case.
Indeed, many Greek Cypriots share the Government of Cyprus's
opposition to any act (such as filing an application for
compensation or restitution) that would legitimize in any way
an organ of the "occupation regime." There are also rumors
that the government may consider introducing legislation
expressly forbidding ROC citizens from applying to the
Commission. If this works, the Turkish Cypriot side could,
by default, appear blameless by having attempted to fulfill
its duty to the ECHR. In such a case however, the question
of whether the new Turkish Cypriot "local remedy" is
"effective" could conceivably be postponed indefinitely.
Most Turkish Cypriot sources believe this to be a highly
unlikely scenario, and feel the Commission will be tested
soon. Those legal experts close the "TRNC government" have
told us that the Commission has already received applications
for restitution/compensation from Greek Cypriots, albeit
anonymously.

Turkish Cypriot Opposition Files Challenges
--------------


9. (C) Meanwhile -- despite reports of heavy political
pressure from the AKP to let the law stand -- the main
nationalist opposition grouping, the UBP, has filed a
constitutional appeal to the "TRNC's" highest court. UBP
accused the ruling CTP of caving into pressure from the Greek
Cypriots, and speaks on behalf of many Turkish Cypriots when
it says the individual restitution of property in the north
(up to 80 percent of which is Greek-owned) could open a
Pandora's box and leave the Turkish Cypriots displaced from
their homes -- without any of the benefits they might have
gained had the property question been settled in the context
of a comprehensive Cyprus settlement. Furthermore, UBP
argues that the law is "unconstitutional" in that it allows
redress for pecuniary damages -- an act tantamount to an

NICOSIA 00000440 003 OF 003


admission of guilt by the Turkish Cypriot side.


10. (C) From the other end of the spectrum, the TKP (a tiny,
far-left Turkish Cypriot opposition party) has also filed a
complaint claiming that the Property Commission absolves
Turkey of its responsibility for the Cyprus property
question, leaving innocent Turkish Cypriots vulnerable.
Turkish Cypriot legal experts doubt these challenges will
overturn the law, however, although they do represent a
political embarrassment to "President" Talat and the ruling
CTP, which drafted the law.

COMMENT
--------------


11. (C) A ruling by the ECHR that the Turkish Cypriot
Property Commission, in fact, constituted an "effective local
remedy" would have enormous political repercussions on
Cyprus. ECHR legitimization of a "TRNC" institution (even
indirectly as a "subordinate" entity of Turkey) would
constitute a landmark victory for Turkish Cypriots, who have
long resisted Greek Cypriot efforts to portray the Cyprus
problem as a dispute between two sovereign states -- the ROC
and Turkey -- rather than a conflict between the two
communities on the island. An ECHR ruling that forced Greek
Cypriots to deal directly with Turkish Cypriot authorities
would be a major political boost to the "TRNC." This outcome
is far from certain, however. Furthermore, even if the Court
accepts the Commission, Greek Cypriots are certain to return
to the ECHR with challenges to the fairness of its future
rulings. The current wave of bitter and complicated property
litigation (by both communities over land north and south) is
unlikely to abate. END COMMENT.
SCHLICHER