Turkey should immediately execute European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) judgements and pay the damages awarded, say refugees from Cyprus with property in the Turkish-occupied areas of the island, in letters addressed to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.

Professor Andreas Orphanides and Anthousa Iordanou are among the applicants of the “Xenides-Arestis” group of cases, who turned to the European Court in relation to their property rights in Lapithos and Sysklipos and obtained judgments against Turkey, who is occupying the northern part of Cyprus since 1974.

Orphanides, who has yet to receive the damages awarded by the Court back in 2010 and asks for the immediate restoration of possession of his home and property in Turkish-occupied Lapithos, in the northern part of Cyprus, calls the Committee of Ministers to go beyond “theoretical” decisions and take practical measures to enforce ECHR judgments.

In his letter, Orphanides also requests that the Committee of Ministers takes stronger and more effective action for the immediate and unconditional execution of Court judgments. He also says that the sum awarded by the Court as compensation is not for the expropriation of his home and property “which remain mine and I am entitled to peacefully enjoy.”

In relation to individual measures, Orphanides says that ECHR judgements are unconditionally executed by the respondent government and there is no obligation of the applicant to apply  to obtain redress from any other party or body, such as the “immovable property commission” or “IPC” that operates in the Turkish-occupied part of Cyprus.

Apart from the already demonstrated ineffectiveness of the “IPC”, Orphanides says that the “commission” was established as a domestic remedy prior to the admissibility of application to ECHR and by no means was it meant to be involved with execution of final Court judgements. “Therefore, IPC is irrelevant to the above ECHR’s Judgements” he says.

With regard to the case of Anthousa Iordanou, with property in Turkish-occupied Lapithos and Sysklipos, in the northern part of Cyprus, her lawyer says in a separate letter that bank account details were forwarded to Turkey, for the payment of the sums awarded, as requested by the Court after the judgement was made final by a decision of the Grand Chamber in 2011.

“To this date, we have not received any response on the matter” the lawyer adds and requests that the Committee of Ministers examines the execution of the final judgment, in line with the relevant provisions of the Convention.

The Committee of Ministers will examine the property rights of displaced Greek Cypriots, as part of the “Cyprus v. Turkey” case, as well as the individual measures and just satisfaction of applicants in the “Xenides-Arestis” group of cases during a meeting from 29 September to 1 October, 2020.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third.

Turkey occupied 36,2 percent of the sovereign territory of the Republic and forcibly expelled about 180.000 Greek Cypriots from their homes. Another 20.000 Greek Cypriots, who had remained in the occupied areas, were also forced to eventually abandon their homes and seek refuge in the safety of the government-controlled areas. Today, few enclaved Greek Cypriots remain in the occupied areas.

Turkey still deprives the displaced Greek Cypriots of their right to return to their homes and properties. This has given rise to appeals to the European Court of Human Rights, which has issued major decisions on Turkey’s violations of the European Convention.