Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06NICOSIA959
2006-06-22 06:52:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Nicosia
Cable title:  

TURKISH CYPRIOT PROPERTY COMMISSION MAKES FIRST

Tags:  PGOV PREL PHUM ECON TU CY 
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VZCZCXRO6923
PP RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHNC #0959/01 1730652
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 220652Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY NICOSIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6257
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NICOSIA 000959 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/21/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ECON TU CY
SUBJECT: TURKISH CYPRIOT PROPERTY COMMISSION MAKES FIRST
OFFERS

REF: A. NICOSIA 716 AND PREVIOUS


B. LIBBY-MELLINGER EMAIL (6/16/2006)

Classified By: Ambassador Ronald Schlicher, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)
.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NICOSIA 000959

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/21/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ECON TU CY
SUBJECT: TURKISH CYPRIOT PROPERTY COMMISSION MAKES FIRST
OFFERS

REF: A. NICOSIA 716 AND PREVIOUS


B. LIBBY-MELLINGER EMAIL (6/16/2006)

Classified By: Ambassador Ronald Schlicher, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)
.


1. (C) SUMMARY. A June 21 "TRNC Supreme Court" decision has
upheld the Turkish Cypriot Property Commission, clearing the
way for the new body to make its first round of restitution
and compensation offers to Greek Cypriot owners of property
in the north. It is unclear if the ECHR will accept the
Commission as an "effective local remedy" for the violations
of land owners' rights that date from 1974, however; the
plaintiffs in the Xenides-Arestis test case have already made
clear they will not accept the compensation offered to them
by the Commission. The Property Commission faces constraints
on its ability to return land to claimants -- and may also
generate very high bills for Turkey and the cash-strapped
"TRNC." But the prospect of Greek Cypriots receiving relief
from a Turkish Cypriot institution with an ECHR stamp of
legitimacy is an uncomfortable one for Greek Cypriot
hard-liners and the GOC. END SUMMARY.

COMMISSION RULED "CONSTITUTIONAL"
--------------


2. (C) The Turkish Cypriot Property Commission saw two
important milestones on June 21. In a late-morning
announcement, the "TRNC Supreme Court" held the Commission
was legal under the Turkish Cypriot "constitution." The
nationalist opposition UBP had challenged the
newly-established Commission (reftel),questioning the
legality of provisions allowing the body to offer restitution
of (as opposed to simple compensation for) Greek Cypriot land
in the north. While most observers felt this challenge was
primarily a political ploy and had little chance of success,
the court decision to uphold the Commission removes the last
internal legal obstacle to the new Turkish Cypriot property
restitution and compensation scheme.

FIRST RESTITUTION AND COMPENSATION OFFERS ACCEPTED
-------------- --------------


3. (C) With its path clear of domestic hurdles, the

Commission later that day announced its first formal
compensation and restitution offers. The Commission offered
to return several acres of currently unused land to two
separate Greek Cypriot claimants in the northern town of
Tatlisu (Akatu). A third Greek Cypriot claimant has been
offered compensation for his property near Nicosia, which --
since it is currently home to several Turkish Cypriot
families -- could not be returned under the terms of the law.
While the amount offered has not been announced, sources
inside the Commission told us privately that the compensation
would amount to 250,000 Cyprus pounds (over 500,000 U.S.
dollars). Press reports indicate that all three claimants
accepted the offers made to them.

ARESTIS AND THE ECHR DIMENSION
--------------


4. (C) In a parallel move, the Commission announced it had
offered compensation in the amount of 1,610,000 YTL (just
over a million U.S. dollars) to Myra Xenides-Arestis, the
Greek Cypriot plaintiff whose case before the European Court
of Human Rights prompted the "TRNC" to establish the
Commission. (COMMENT: In 2005, the ECHR gave Turkey's
"subordinate local authority" in Cyprus six months to
establish "effective local remedy" that could provide relief
in the Arestis and other similar cases. The Court indicated
that "effective" remedy would have to include the possibility
of restitution, as well as compensation for lost property,
damages, and loss of use. Turkey has given its full
political -- as well as significant financial -- backing to
the new Commission in an effort to defuse the 1600-plus
property cases pending against it in Strasbourg. END
COMMENT). The Commission's offer comes within days of the
expiration of the ECHR's 6-month deadline, and was made
despite the fact that Arestis has refused to file a claim
with the new body. According to one Turkish Cypriot expert,
the Commission hopes this will give the ECHR "something to
chew on" when it considers whether Turkey's subordinates have
complied with the 2005 Arestis ruling.


5. (C) Even before the compensation offer was made, however,
Arestis's lawyer Achilleas Demetriades said his clients would
accept nothing less than full restitution. He has publicly
rubbished the "illegal" Turkish Cypriot Property Commission,
expressing doubts that it can provide restitution sufficient
to comply with the ECHR order. (COMMENT: In the Arestis
case, this is certainly true since the plaintiff's property
lies inside the closed military zone of Varosha -- and is

NICOSIA 00000959 002 OF 002


therefore off limits, both physically and according to the
new law. END COMMENT.) In an off-the-record conversation
with us after the Commission's announcement, Demetriades
acknowledged his clients had received a written offer of just
over a million dollars in compensation, but said they would
stick to their guns and hold out for restitution. Although
he declined to comment further, Demetriades's strategy
appears to be based on the assumption that the ECHR will
declare anything less than full restitution to be an
insufficient remedy in his client's case.

ACHILLEAS FINDS AN ACHILLES' HEEL?
--------------


6. (C) Demetriades may be correct. The Turkish Cypriot law
establishing the Property Commission limits immediate
restitution only to Greek Cypriot properties that are
currently unused by either Turkish Cypriot civilians or the
Turkish military. Sources close to the Commission estimate
that only four percent (including the plots in Tatlisu
offered back today) of all Greek Cypriot land in the north
meets this definition. According to one "TRNC" official, the
Commission made sure to include restitution offers among its
first wave of decisions in order to stack the deck and
encourage the ECHR to accept the Commission.

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


7. (C) It is anyone's guess whether the ECHR will consider
the Commission's offers of compensation and/or delayed
restitution of the other 96 percent of land to be sufficient.
Even if the ECHR accepts the Commission as an "effective
remedy," however, the size of these first compensation offers
suggest the cost of buy-outs could quickly balloon beyond the
Turkish Cypriots' ability (and Turkey's willingness) to pay.


8. (C) Nonetheless, these developments put the Greek Cypriot
leadership in a tight spot. Despite breathless public
appeals by GOC Spokesman Pasharides, who encouraged Greek
Cypriots not to sell out "the national good" by pursuing
"narrow personal interests," it seems likely that the trickle
of Greek Cypriot applicants to the Commission will continue
-- and may increase if the Turkish Cypriots make good on
offers of payouts and compensation. If accepted by the ECHR,
the Turkish Cypriot Property Commission could steal a bit of
thunder from Greek Cypriot hard-liners. An international
legal seal of approval on a Turkish Cypriot institution would
be a major embarrassment for the ROC, and a political coup
for the Turkish Cypriots. Whatever the ECHR decides
regarding sufficiency of local remedy, the USG and others
interested in pushing the parties toward an overall
settlement should seek to use the decision as an argument for
re-engagement in negotiations, which in the end can produce a
comprehensive solution to property and other issues. END
COMMENT.
SCHLICHER