Strasbourg, France. Turkey has accused Cyprus of attempting to politicise the European Court of Human Rights after a Council of Europe decision to continue supervision of property rights cases following discussions in Strasbourg this week.
The dispute concerns the implementation of ECHR judgments on property claims arising from the 1974 Turkish invasion and the rights of refugee Greek Cypriot owners.
Council of Europe decision
Turkey had sought to end the Council of Europe’s monitoring process, arguing that its obligations had been fulfilled.
That effort failed during a meeting of the ministerial committee responsible for overseeing the execution of ECHR rulings.
According to the Foreign ministry, member states approved a proposal submitted by Cyprus requesting preparation of an interpretative question concerning a section of the court’s 2014 judgment.
The proposal secured the support of 25 member states, while two voted against and 19 abstained.
The decision means the committee will continue supervising implementation of the ruling rather than closing the case.
Turkey’s response
Responding on Saturday, Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Oncu Keceli said the outcome reflected efforts by the Republic to use the human rights system for political purposes.
He said it had “once again proved impossible” to close the group of cases concerning the property rights of displaced persons, despite what he described as recommendations from the Council of Europe secretariat to terminate supervision.
Keceli also referred to the committee’s instruction for the secretariat to prepare a study on the interpretation of property provisions contained in the 2014 judgment.
