The European Court of Justice has backed the right of a Greek Cypriot to reclaim land in Turkish-occupied Cyprus that has since been sold to a British couple. Meletis Apostolides was one of thousands of Greek Cypriots who fled his home when Turkish forces invaded in 1974, following a Greek-inspired coup. The land was later sold to Linda and David Orams, who built a villa on it.
The court ruled that a judgment of a court in the Republic of Cyprus must be recognised and enforcd by the other member states even if it concerns land situated in the northern part of the island. The suspension of the application of EU law in the areas where the Cyprus government does not exercise effective control and the fact that the judgment cannot be enforced where the land is situated, do not preclude its recognition and enforcement in another member state.
Mr Apostolides had brought an appeal before the British Court of Appeal seeking the recognition and enforcement of two judgments from a court in Nicosia. That court had ordered the Orams to vacate the land on which they had built a holiday home, and to pay various sums. The Cypriot court had ruled that Mr Apostolides is the rightful owner of the land.
Speaking on a local radio station, Linda Orams said they were disappointed at today’s decision, but not ready to give up. “We were prepared for it, it’s not the end. We are going to soldier on. It just means we go back to London and carry on really. We are in it till the end and we are prepared for that. There are two aspects to this case really, our personal aspect and the aspect as regards the whole of north Cyprus. So the outcome is not just going to affect us.”Constantinos Kantounas, lawyer for Apostolides, said he was ‘ecstatic’ at the outcome but doubted the ruling would open the way for hundreds more Greek Cypriots to demand restitution for properties they were forced to flee.
The Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis paid an official visit to the island Wednesday. In a joint news conference, he and President Demetris Christofias said they backed Turkey’s bid to join the European Union, but said that the neighbour with which they have been at loggerheads for years must first meet EU requirements for entry.“We believe that a Turkey which will adopt European rules of behaviour ... will be a Turkey much better for its citizens and the whole of the EU,” said Karamanlis. But “there is no blank cheque,” added Christofias.
President Christofias yesterday presided over a meeting of the Informal Council of Party Leaders, who participate in the National Council. After the meeting, the Government Spokesman Mr Stefanos Stefanou said that the President had briefed party leaders on the current developments in the Cyprus problem and is expecting them to submit their views on matters such as Turkey's EU accession course, in the light of the discussions and the deliberations that the Governments of Greece and Cyprus had during the recent visit of the Greek Prime Minister here. "It is expected that these views will be discussed at the National Council", he added.
Tuesday 28 April 2009
Wednesday 22 April 2009
Reactions to Eroglu win
Political developments in the north will not disrupt the ongoing peace process, Government Spokesman Stephanos Stephanou has said following the Turkish Cypriot election results yesterday.
Greek Cypriot politicians greeted the news with gloomy consensus. AKEL leader Andros Kyprianou called Eroglu’s victory a “negative development”. “If Mr. Eroglu wants to have a say [on Cyprus], he will have to adapt his views so that they conform to UN resolutions and the principles of international law.” He said the onus was now on Turkey to stop Eroglu from running rampant with a nationalist agenda
DIKO spokesman Fotis Fotiou urged the National Council to come up with a ‘Plan B’ in the event the talks should collapse. He also called for a mobilisation on the diplomatic front, so that Cyprus might convince the EU and the United States to pressure Turkey into softening its stance.
DISY leader Nicos Anastassiades highlighted the need for greater diplomatic vigilance: “If Ankara does not beginning pushing for a solution that will be acceptable also to Greek Cypriots, then our side needs to make it clear that it will be forced to veto Turkey’s EU accession.”
Socialist leader Yiannakis Omirou said Cyprus should be on its guard because Turkey and Talat might use the nationalists’ rise as an alibi to regress to a hardline stance.
The European Party’s warned that Turkey put Eroglu in power as a way of sending the message that, unless a solution is found before Eroglu is elected President, the Greek Cypriots should be prepared for the worst".
Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat said yesterday that the ongoing talks to reunite the island will not be disrupted by the National Unity Party (UBP), despite the right-wing party’s landslide election victory.
“I expect the change of government to have a minimal impact on negotiations as I, as president, direct the talks,” Talat told reporters in the north after returning from talks in the UN buffer zone today with Dimitri Christofias. He pointed out that Eroglu had already said during the election period that his party will take this approach.
However, the Cyprus Mail says that, in theory at least, the UBP could severely restrict Talat’s ability to steer negotiations the way he wishes, as the north’s political structure stipulates that any agreement made with the Greek Cypriots would need parliamentary ratification and that this was in fact the way that Talat sidelined former Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash before the Annan plan referendum in 2004.
A spokesman for the party told the Cyprus Mail yesterday that they would take an active interest in the negotiations and planned to send a representative to all UN-sponsored meetings between the two sides. “Our view does not differ greatly from Talat’s or from Turkey’s, in that we want to see real bizonality and we want to see the virgin birth of a new entity rather than the continuation of the Cyprus Republic”. Another factor on which the UBP, Talat and Turkey all agreed, said the spokesman, was that “Turkey’s guarantee rights are also nonnegotiable”.
Meanwhile Demetris Christofias and Mehmet Ali Talat continued their regular meetings on the Cyprus problem yesterday and agreed to think up ways of speeding up the overall talks process .
Christofias said that he and Talat agreed that their advisors would discuss specific issues on which there is convergence of views.
The two leaders held a private discussion lasting 90 minutes, after which they got back to business and joined their teams of experts for a brief discussion on the economy chapter. “It was a cordial meeting,” noted Christofias, reporting that the Greek Cypriot delegation had prepared a gift of Easter eggs and flaounes which they handed to their Turkish Cypriot counterparts.
Regarding the discussions on the economy, which began yesterday, Christofias said that in order to assess the situation, the aides of the leaders of the two communities and their teams would first have to meet to discuss the details before the next meeting, scheduled for May 5.
The two leaders are not holding talks over the course of the next two weeks because during this time both UN Special Representative in Cyprus Taye Brook Zerihoun and UN envoy Alexander Downer will be in on a mission to New York briefing the UN Secretariat on progress in talks so far.
For his part, Zerihoun said the leaders’ top aides, George Iacovou and Ozdil Nami would be meeting every day this week, so that each side could prepare documents outlining ways of tweaking the negotiations procedure. The documents would be read out at the leaders’ next encounter, he added.Asked if they had discussed the results of Sunday's “elections” in the occupied areas, Christofias said it was “only natural to do so,” adding that no one expected Talat to be pleased with the outcome.
Turkey’s Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan yesterday expressed unequivocal support for the reunification talks on Cyprus and towards Talat. In a speech to members of his party, he said: “It would be very wrong for the new government to end the negotiations or to continue the negotiations on a basis different than the one that has been followed so far... The process must continue exactly as before.” He added that “we will never support a move that would weaken the hand of Talat.”
An editorial in Politis says there are two reasons that brought Eroglu to power in the north - the economy and the lack of a solution to the Cyprus problem. The paper's satirical column Kata Varvaron says the best thing about Eroglu's victory was that it gave us an opportunity to witness the marvellous acting abilities of all those G/C politicians who would normally break out in a rash at the phrase 'solution to the Cyprus problem', namely all those suffering from the No psychosis, which according to a recent survey, constitute 35% of the population (and an equal number of T/C). We saw them putting on a miserable face and gloomily talking about "a negative development", whereas we knew all too well that inside they were shouting for joy!
Greek Cypriot politicians greeted the news with gloomy consensus. AKEL leader Andros Kyprianou called Eroglu’s victory a “negative development”. “If Mr. Eroglu wants to have a say [on Cyprus], he will have to adapt his views so that they conform to UN resolutions and the principles of international law.” He said the onus was now on Turkey to stop Eroglu from running rampant with a nationalist agenda
DIKO spokesman Fotis Fotiou urged the National Council to come up with a ‘Plan B’ in the event the talks should collapse. He also called for a mobilisation on the diplomatic front, so that Cyprus might convince the EU and the United States to pressure Turkey into softening its stance.
DISY leader Nicos Anastassiades highlighted the need for greater diplomatic vigilance: “If Ankara does not beginning pushing for a solution that will be acceptable also to Greek Cypriots, then our side needs to make it clear that it will be forced to veto Turkey’s EU accession.”
Socialist leader Yiannakis Omirou said Cyprus should be on its guard because Turkey and Talat might use the nationalists’ rise as an alibi to regress to a hardline stance.
The European Party’s warned that Turkey put Eroglu in power as a way of sending the message that, unless a solution is found before Eroglu is elected President, the Greek Cypriots should be prepared for the worst".
Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat said yesterday that the ongoing talks to reunite the island will not be disrupted by the National Unity Party (UBP), despite the right-wing party’s landslide election victory.
“I expect the change of government to have a minimal impact on negotiations as I, as president, direct the talks,” Talat told reporters in the north after returning from talks in the UN buffer zone today with Dimitri Christofias. He pointed out that Eroglu had already said during the election period that his party will take this approach.
However, the Cyprus Mail says that, in theory at least, the UBP could severely restrict Talat’s ability to steer negotiations the way he wishes, as the north’s political structure stipulates that any agreement made with the Greek Cypriots would need parliamentary ratification and that this was in fact the way that Talat sidelined former Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash before the Annan plan referendum in 2004.
A spokesman for the party told the Cyprus Mail yesterday that they would take an active interest in the negotiations and planned to send a representative to all UN-sponsored meetings between the two sides. “Our view does not differ greatly from Talat’s or from Turkey’s, in that we want to see real bizonality and we want to see the virgin birth of a new entity rather than the continuation of the Cyprus Republic”. Another factor on which the UBP, Talat and Turkey all agreed, said the spokesman, was that “Turkey’s guarantee rights are also nonnegotiable”.
Meanwhile Demetris Christofias and Mehmet Ali Talat continued their regular meetings on the Cyprus problem yesterday and agreed to think up ways of speeding up the overall talks process .
Christofias said that he and Talat agreed that their advisors would discuss specific issues on which there is convergence of views.
The two leaders held a private discussion lasting 90 minutes, after which they got back to business and joined their teams of experts for a brief discussion on the economy chapter. “It was a cordial meeting,” noted Christofias, reporting that the Greek Cypriot delegation had prepared a gift of Easter eggs and flaounes which they handed to their Turkish Cypriot counterparts.
Regarding the discussions on the economy, which began yesterday, Christofias said that in order to assess the situation, the aides of the leaders of the two communities and their teams would first have to meet to discuss the details before the next meeting, scheduled for May 5.
The two leaders are not holding talks over the course of the next two weeks because during this time both UN Special Representative in Cyprus Taye Brook Zerihoun and UN envoy Alexander Downer will be in on a mission to New York briefing the UN Secretariat on progress in talks so far.
For his part, Zerihoun said the leaders’ top aides, George Iacovou and Ozdil Nami would be meeting every day this week, so that each side could prepare documents outlining ways of tweaking the negotiations procedure. The documents would be read out at the leaders’ next encounter, he added.Asked if they had discussed the results of Sunday's “elections” in the occupied areas, Christofias said it was “only natural to do so,” adding that no one expected Talat to be pleased with the outcome.
Turkey’s Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan yesterday expressed unequivocal support for the reunification talks on Cyprus and towards Talat. In a speech to members of his party, he said: “It would be very wrong for the new government to end the negotiations or to continue the negotiations on a basis different than the one that has been followed so far... The process must continue exactly as before.” He added that “we will never support a move that would weaken the hand of Talat.”
An editorial in Politis says there are two reasons that brought Eroglu to power in the north - the economy and the lack of a solution to the Cyprus problem. The paper's satirical column Kata Varvaron says the best thing about Eroglu's victory was that it gave us an opportunity to witness the marvellous acting abilities of all those G/C politicians who would normally break out in a rash at the phrase 'solution to the Cyprus problem', namely all those suffering from the No psychosis, which according to a recent survey, constitute 35% of the population (and an equal number of T/C). We saw them putting on a miserable face and gloomily talking about "a negative development", whereas we knew all too well that inside they were shouting for joy!
Monday 20 April 2009
Eroglu wins elections in the north
The opposition National Unity Party (UBP), led by Dervis Eroglu, which advocates a two-state solution in the Cyprus problem , won parliamentary elections in the north yesterday winning 44% of the votes and 26 seats in the 50 member parliament, enough to form a government alone.
Talat's Republican Turkish Party (CTP) was runner up with just over 29% of the voters and 15 seats, while the Democrat Party gained 10.65% and 5 seats and two smaller parties won 2 seats each.
However, according to the Cyprus Mail, this may not mean the end of Talat as chief negotiator for the Turkish Cypriot side. His term does not end for another year, perhaps just long enough for him to come to an agreement with Christofias.A Western diplomat told Reuters that what this will mean is that "Talat has less of a free hand in negotiations essentially".
According to reports in the press, Eroglu now wants to send an observer to accompany Talat at the talks.
But a spokesman for the UBP told the Cyprus Mail: “We will not seek to sideline Talat or ignore what he has done so far [in negotiations]. We won't seek to wipe the slate clean. We will seek a consensus through the formation of a broad-based national council".
The reason for the CTP's loss, analysts say, is that the party had failed to fulfill its 2004 promise of a solution to the Cyprus problem along with EU membership, while the UBP wants to maintain the north’s umbilical relations with Turkey.The Cyprus Mail adds that Brussels enthusiasts are rare in the UBP, as are those who would back a solution blueprint along the lines of the one being discussed by the leaders of the two sides. Talat’s last minute invitation to see US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington on Wednesday was viewed by many as a last ditch effort to save the CTP.
Speaking at a rally on Tuesday night, Eroglu told his supporters, “Everyone here is from Anatolia. We may have come at different times, but the important thing is that we are all Turks and that we are Muslim”. Reports in Turkish mainland newspaper Sabah said that out of the 170,000 or so voters, 100,000 were Turkish settlers.Some Turkish Cypriots feel this election is more about economics than politics. The global recession has hit the north hard, compounding an economy that has effectively been shrinking since its famous property boom in the early 2000s. Last year it shrank by 1.9 per cent. This year it could fall as much as five per cent, some economists believe. “The economy is the most important criterion that voters will be influenced by. The Cyprus issue has unfortunately declined in importance because the negotiations appear to have been going very slowly,” Toros told the Cyprus Mail. He added that the CTP in some ways had become a victim of its own success because of EU-inspired structural reforms that had, in the short term at least, increased the cost of living.
“The current government has managed to succeed in making transitions needed for a settlement and for entry to the EU. But they have come at a cost,” Toros said.
Meanwhile UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told Foreign Minister Marcos Kyprianou during his visit to New York that the two leaders in Cypurs must keep up the momentum in the talks so they can reach a successful conclusion.
Kyprianou said he passed on the message that neither arbitration nor tight time frames should be imposed on the process. “What has been agreed in March 2008 should be followed because it is the only way to see a positive outcome from this process,” he said.
The Foreign Minister said it was important for the UN Secretary-General to be informed about the talks, not only by his representatives, “but also directly by us”.
Asked to comment on the meeting between US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, Kyprianou praised the US handling of the affair. “The US administration received him as the representative of the Turkish Cypriot community, and clearly stated that it recognises only one government in Cyprus,” he said.
Regarding the possible appointment of a US Special Coordinator for Cyprus, Kyprianou said the Greek Cypriot side was ready to discuss the issue with the US, but noted that there had to be practical reasons to agree to something like that.
Kyprianou will meet with US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton on Monday.
Talat's Republican Turkish Party (CTP) was runner up with just over 29% of the voters and 15 seats, while the Democrat Party gained 10.65% and 5 seats and two smaller parties won 2 seats each.
However, according to the Cyprus Mail, this may not mean the end of Talat as chief negotiator for the Turkish Cypriot side. His term does not end for another year, perhaps just long enough for him to come to an agreement with Christofias.A Western diplomat told Reuters that what this will mean is that "Talat has less of a free hand in negotiations essentially".
According to reports in the press, Eroglu now wants to send an observer to accompany Talat at the talks.
But a spokesman for the UBP told the Cyprus Mail: “We will not seek to sideline Talat or ignore what he has done so far [in negotiations]. We won't seek to wipe the slate clean. We will seek a consensus through the formation of a broad-based national council".
The reason for the CTP's loss, analysts say, is that the party had failed to fulfill its 2004 promise of a solution to the Cyprus problem along with EU membership, while the UBP wants to maintain the north’s umbilical relations with Turkey.The Cyprus Mail adds that Brussels enthusiasts are rare in the UBP, as are those who would back a solution blueprint along the lines of the one being discussed by the leaders of the two sides. Talat’s last minute invitation to see US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington on Wednesday was viewed by many as a last ditch effort to save the CTP.
Speaking at a rally on Tuesday night, Eroglu told his supporters, “Everyone here is from Anatolia. We may have come at different times, but the important thing is that we are all Turks and that we are Muslim”. Reports in Turkish mainland newspaper Sabah said that out of the 170,000 or so voters, 100,000 were Turkish settlers.Some Turkish Cypriots feel this election is more about economics than politics. The global recession has hit the north hard, compounding an economy that has effectively been shrinking since its famous property boom in the early 2000s. Last year it shrank by 1.9 per cent. This year it could fall as much as five per cent, some economists believe. “The economy is the most important criterion that voters will be influenced by. The Cyprus issue has unfortunately declined in importance because the negotiations appear to have been going very slowly,” Toros told the Cyprus Mail. He added that the CTP in some ways had become a victim of its own success because of EU-inspired structural reforms that had, in the short term at least, increased the cost of living.
“The current government has managed to succeed in making transitions needed for a settlement and for entry to the EU. But they have come at a cost,” Toros said.
Meanwhile UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told Foreign Minister Marcos Kyprianou during his visit to New York that the two leaders in Cypurs must keep up the momentum in the talks so they can reach a successful conclusion.
Kyprianou said he passed on the message that neither arbitration nor tight time frames should be imposed on the process. “What has been agreed in March 2008 should be followed because it is the only way to see a positive outcome from this process,” he said.
The Foreign Minister said it was important for the UN Secretary-General to be informed about the talks, not only by his representatives, “but also directly by us”.
Asked to comment on the meeting between US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, Kyprianou praised the US handling of the affair. “The US administration received him as the representative of the Turkish Cypriot community, and clearly stated that it recognises only one government in Cyprus,” he said.
Regarding the possible appointment of a US Special Coordinator for Cyprus, Kyprianou said the Greek Cypriot side was ready to discuss the issue with the US, but noted that there had to be practical reasons to agree to something like that.
Kyprianou will meet with US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton on Monday.
Tuesday 7 April 2009
Obama and Cyprus
President Barack Obama has said that the United States is willing to offer all the help sought by the parties in Cyprus as they work towards a just and lasting settlement that reunifies Cyprus into a bizonal and bicommunal federation.
Addressing the Turkish parliament yesterday, Mr Obama was referring to "disputes that persist in the Eastern Mediterrenean", saying that "there is a cause for hope" in that the two Cypriot leaders "have an opportunity through their commitment to negotiations under the United Nations Good Offices Mission".
Earlier, President Demetris Christofias, speaking to Mr Obama on the sidelines of the EU-US summit in Prague on Sunday, urged the United States to use its leverage with Turkey to bring about an end to the island’s continuing occupation. Christofias said he found US President Barack Obama to be “responsive” during their brief tête-a-tête, the first time the two leaders have met in person.
“I detected a sincere response from Mr Obama. I would like to say that on certain matters he complemented our positions. From then on, it remains to be seen how this will translate in real terms,” Christofias told newsmen later.Also on the sidelines of the EU-US summit, Foreign Minister Marcos Kyprianou had a half-hour meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who reiterated US support for a Cyprus settlement based on a bizonal, bicommunal federation.
According to the Cyprus Mail, Nicosia is concerned that warming US-Turkish relations may harden Ankara’s stance on Cyprus. The paper reports that House Speaker and acting President Marios Garoyian cautioned that Cypriot diplomacy should keep a close watch on international developments. "One should take Mr Obama’s visit to Turkey very seriously, despite earlier signs of a possible shift in US policy [on Cyprus].
“Turkey remains important as ever to US geopolitical interests, and it will take a lot of hard work, both by the Cypriot and Greek governments, so as to make the most of our influence within the United States,” Garoyian said.Meanwhile the Kyrenia Refugees Association yesterday staged a silent demo outside the US Embassy building in Nicosia to protest Obama’s visit to Turkey.
Addressing the Turkish parliament yesterday, Mr Obama was referring to "disputes that persist in the Eastern Mediterrenean", saying that "there is a cause for hope" in that the two Cypriot leaders "have an opportunity through their commitment to negotiations under the United Nations Good Offices Mission".
Earlier, President Demetris Christofias, speaking to Mr Obama on the sidelines of the EU-US summit in Prague on Sunday, urged the United States to use its leverage with Turkey to bring about an end to the island’s continuing occupation. Christofias said he found US President Barack Obama to be “responsive” during their brief tête-a-tête, the first time the two leaders have met in person.
“I detected a sincere response from Mr Obama. I would like to say that on certain matters he complemented our positions. From then on, it remains to be seen how this will translate in real terms,” Christofias told newsmen later.Also on the sidelines of the EU-US summit, Foreign Minister Marcos Kyprianou had a half-hour meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who reiterated US support for a Cyprus settlement based on a bizonal, bicommunal federation.
According to the Cyprus Mail, Nicosia is concerned that warming US-Turkish relations may harden Ankara’s stance on Cyprus. The paper reports that House Speaker and acting President Marios Garoyian cautioned that Cypriot diplomacy should keep a close watch on international developments. "One should take Mr Obama’s visit to Turkey very seriously, despite earlier signs of a possible shift in US policy [on Cyprus].
“Turkey remains important as ever to US geopolitical interests, and it will take a lot of hard work, both by the Cypriot and Greek governments, so as to make the most of our influence within the United States,” Garoyian said.Meanwhile the Kyrenia Refugees Association yesterday staged a silent demo outside the US Embassy building in Nicosia to protest Obama’s visit to Turkey.
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