European court finds against Turkey in landmark Cyprus case

CYPRUS was stunned by yesterday's landmark decision by the European Court of Human Rights at Strasbourg which held Turkey directly responsible for denying a Greek Cypriot refugee access to her property in Kyrenia since 1974.

The court also found that Mrs Titina Loizidou should be allowed to resume free use of her property since she was still regarded as its legal owner. The Turkish army occupied the northern third of the island in 1974.

The people of Cyprus on both sides of the dividing Green Line were stunned by the decision.

In the Greek Cypriot south it was expected that there would be an avalanche of applications to the court from refugees similarly denied their property rights in the north.

In the Turkish Cypriot sector of Nicosia there was considerable consternation because the court took the view that Ankara exercised effective overall control in the breakaway "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus", rather than the Turkish Cypriot administration. The Turkish Cypriot regime is recognised only by Turkey.

The court also treated the internationally recognised Republic of Cyprus as the sole legitimate government of the island.

Although the invasion took place in 1974 and Mrs Loizidou submitted her application in 1989, the court ruled that Turkey was bound by its 1990 accession to the European Convention on Human Rights because this case involved a "continuing violation" of the convention.

The panel of 17 judges, 11 concurring, including the former Irish Supreme Court judge, Mr Justice Brian Walsh, and six dissenting, dismissed several objections raised by Turkey and a claim by Mrs Loizidou that she had lost her "home" since she had not been residing in Kyrenia at the time of the invasion.

The two sides now have six months to submit observations to the court.

Mr Achilleas Demetriades, Mrs Loizidou's lawyer, stated that she would be submitting claims for more than $1 million in compensation and $200,000 to cover the costs of six and a half years of litigation. And he told The Irish Times he was prepared to "attach Turkish property abroad, including the Turkish ambassador's car", to settle these claims.

Mrs Loizidou, the head of the Cyprus Tour Guides Association, attempted on four occasions to return to Kyrenia by participating in peaceful marches across the Green Line organised by the Women Walk Home movement. Each time the women were prevented from crossing by the Turkish army.

On the fourth occasion Mrs Loizidou was arrested and detained at the village of Lymbia by Turkish troops and Turkish Cypriot police. Yesterday she expressed her "great joy" over the decision which she said was not only a "victory for Cyprus" but also "proof that Europe" both recognises justice and cares "that justice should be done... I hope this judgement will serve as a sign of hope for all Cypriot refugees."

The Attorney General of the republic, Mr Alecos Markides, said that this case would have "a much wider application" than on this tiny Mediterranean island.

"All signatories of the European convention will he bound by it and it will provide a precedent in other tribunals. It is now a part of international law and will be a persuasive force" in cases raised outside the European context. Bosnia and Palestine were mentioned as examples of where victims of "ethnic cleansing" could put forward cases.

. In another decision, the court ruled that Turkish police tortured a Kurd in 1992 after arresting him as a suspected terrorist.

The court ordered Ankara to pay damages and legal costs, but found no evidence to support a charge that Mr Zeki Aksoy had been murdered by the state after complaining to the European Commission of Human Rights.