Statement By The Spokesman Of The Ministry Of Foreign Affairs In Response To Questions On the Militarization of the Eastern Aegean Islands July 9, 1998 The Statement Of Mr. Sermet Atacanlı, The Deputy Spokesman Of The Foreign Ministry In Response To a Question July 13,1998 A Strategy For Developing Relations Between Turkey And The European Union Proposals of Turkey July 17, 1998 Preface Written By;Mr. Ismail Cem For The Book "Turkey and The World " Presented To The Press July 23, 1998 Press Statement on Turkey’s Response To The EU’s European Strategy For Turkey July 23, 1998 The Statement Issued By The Ministry Of Foreign Affairs On The Judgment Given By The European Court Of Human Rights 30 July, 1998
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The Statement Issued By The Ministry Of Foreign Affairs On The Judgment Given By The European Court Of Human Rights 30 July, 1998

The European Court of Human Rights has yesterday given judgment on the compensation issue in the matter of Loizidou v. Turkey, This decision follows an earlier judgment by the Court given on December 18, 1996 on the merits of the case.

The matter refers to the rights of a Greek-Cypriot Mrs. Loizidou who first alleged before the European Commission of Human Rights in 1989 that she had been deprived by Turkey of her property located in the territory of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). The Commission came to the conclusion that no violation of the Convention provisions had occurred.Greek-Cypriot Administration not being satisfied with the decision of the Commission on the Loizidou case brought this case in 1993 before the European Court of Human Rights. The Court in a first judgment in 1996 came to the opposite conclusion and found Turkey responsible for preventing the claimant from the enjoyment of her property in TRNC. In its judgment of yesterday the Court decided on pecuniary compensation for Mrs. Loizidou. It is unfortunate that the Court has taken the judgments on the case without taking into account the fact that the TRNC is an independent state in Northern Cyprus with its own constitution, administration, and judiciary system and that it fulfills all criteria of "Statehood" in international law-that is territory, population and government. The Court could have reached a different judgment if it had not dealt with the question by assessing the degree to which TRNC had been recognized as such by other States.

On the other hand European Commission of Human Rights itself attributed legal validity and effect to the legislation of the TRNC when, in the Chrysostomos case (1993), it found that "the arrest of the applicants in Cyprus, by police officers had taken place "in accordance with a procedure prescribed by law as required by Article 5 para. 1 of the Convention." It is impossible to understand how at one and the same time, the effective law for the purposes of judging the legality of an arrest under "a procedure prescribed by law", yet the Constitution of that same authority does not constitute valid and effective law on another case.

As for the general issue of the mutual settlement of reciprocal property claims, this issue can only be addressed and settled between the two States in Cyprus. Over the years the two sides have discussed this problem and agreed that the reciprocal property claims can be settled through the exchange of properties and compensation. The UN set of ideas is a proof of this agreement. The Loizidou judgments unfortunately purport to overrule this fact of direct relevance.

In conclusion, the Loizidou case is a matter between the applicant and the TRNC. The TRNC possesses every ingredient of "Statehood" identified by the well-known Badinter Commission.

Turkey does not exercise any act of public authority in the TRNC. There is no international legal instrument which attributes responsibility to Turkey for acts or measures carried out by the TRNC. Thus the Court basing this decision to the fact that TRNC is not recognized cannot find Turkey responsible for depriving Mrs. Loizidou of access to her territory in Northern Cyprus.

Turkey considers the two judgments of the Court on Mrs. Loizidou as those which lack the means of applicability and implementation.