Türkiye welcomes Council of Europe decision on Loizidou case

By Merve Aydogan

ANKARA (AA) - Türkiye on Friday welcomed the Council of Europe's decision to close the Loizidou case.

This is a positive development, albeit a very late one, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

During its meeting on Sept. 20-22, the council decided to end it supervisory role in the proceedings after a European Court of Human Rights ruling on the Greek Cypriot woman, Titina Loizidou, who sued Türkiye in 1989 for not letting her access her property in Kyrenia, a city in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).

"With this decision, it has been once again reaffirmed that the Immovable Property Commission (IPC) established in the TRNC" in line with European court's ruling is an "effective domestic remedy," the ministry said.

"Turkish Cypriot people have been subjected to inhumane isolation in front of the international community for decades," the statement added.

Türkiye appreciated the efforts of the TRNC to implement the relevant rulings of the European courts which make "a significant contribution to the preservation of the European Convention on Human Rights."

"On the other hand, non-closure of the relevant cluster of “Cyprus vs. Turkey” judgment, during the same meeting, constitutes a great inconsistency. This fact once again shows that certain circles may aim to erode the convention system for the sake of their political interests," the statement added.

The ministry statement also reiterated Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's "call in relation to the TRNC, which continues to play its role towards the protection of the European Convention on Human Rights system, to attain its rightful place within the international community."

Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the UN to achieve a comprehensive settlement.

Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety.

In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece’s annexation of the island led to Türkiye’s military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, the TRNC was founded in 1983.

It has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Türkiye, Greece and the UK.

The Greek Cypriot administration joined the EU in 2004, the same year when Greek Cypriots thwarted a UN plan to end the longstanding dispute.