EU Court rules in favour of Greek Cypriot

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.