DAILY MAIL 29.4.09
Brother
Don't make this political, Europe warns Cyprus as up to 5,000 Brits
face losing property after landmark ruling
By MAIL FOREIGN SERVICE
The European Commission today warned Cyprus not to turn a British
couple's legal fight to keep their holiday home into a political
battle over the divided island.
Thousands of Britons with holiday homes in northern Cyprus risk
losing them following a ruling yesterday by Europe's top court.
The European Court of Justice supported a Greek Cypriot refugee's
demand that a British couple surrender land to him for which he holds
the original deeds.
Linda and David Orams built a holiday home on property that Meletis
Apostolides was forced to flee when Turkish troops invaded Cyprus in
1974.
According to the ECJ judgment they must return the land, demolish the
building and hand over damages and unpaid rent.
If the British Court of Appeal rubberstamps the ruling, as is
expected, then Mr Apostolides could claim against the Oramses' assets
in Britain. They are understood to own a house in Hove, East Sussex.
Up to 5,000 Britons live on land in northern Cyprus that was once
owned by displaced Greek Cypriots, who may now launch similar
compensation suits.
The president of Northern Cyprus, Mehmet Ali Talat, insisted in a
statement that the Orams' case was not over yet.
'It should not be forgotten that the Orams have filed an application
in the European Court of Human Rights on the grounds that their right
to a fair hearing has been violated by the procedure before the Greek
Cypriot courts and that this has not been finalised yet,' he said.
The statement went on: 'If the Orams win this case before the Human
Right Court, it will show that the proceedings in the Greek Cypriot
courts were against human rights. We consider the property issue in
Cyprus not as a private dispute, but as a reflection of the Cyprus
problem.
'Unless the Cyprus problem is solved, it is not possible to solve the
property issue comprehensively.
'In a comprehensive settlement, the property issue will be solved by
taking into consideration not only the rights of the pre-1974 owners
but also the rights of the current owners.'
The European Commission warned during the European Court proceedings
against turning the issue into part of the ongoing and fraught
negotiations over the divided island's future.
Today's statement said the Commission had "presented all elements on
the underlying dispute and put it into its political context".
And it warned that the terms of the EU's accession agreement with
Cyprus 'is not designed to solve the property issues of the island'
.
The Commission said it was clear that UK courts had to recognise
judgments rendered in the 'government-controlled areas of Cyprus,
even when relating to property lying in the area'. [eh? -cs]
The statement added: 'The Commission considers that the present
judgment shows again the need to reach comprehensive settlement of
the Cyprus problem through negotiations between the leaders of the
two communities. An agreed solution on the property issue can be
accommodated later on by the European Union.'
The Oramses bought the shell of a house in northern Cyprus from a
Turkish Cypriot, completed it and added a swimming pool, investing
about £170,000. They moved in six years ago.
In 2004 a court in southern Cyprus, where forcing the selection vote
to be postponed.
They also ordered the Oramses to pay him damages and monthly rent
until he received his property.
The court was unable to enforce its ruling in the Turkish Cypriot-
controlled north, so Mr Apostolides tried to get the High Court in
London to apply it.
The Oramses, represented by Cherie Blair QC, insisted they had bought
the house in good faith and had Turkish title deeds proving-they
owned the land and property. In 2006 the High Court ruled the Greek
Cypriot ruling was not enforceable because EU legislation is
suspended in northern Cyprus pending the island's re-unification.
Mr Apostolides then went to the UK Court of Appeal, which sought
legal advice from Europe.
Yesterday the ECJ ruled: 'A judgment of a court in the Republic of
Cyprus must be recognised and enforced by other member states even if
it concerns land situated in the northern part of the island.'
Afterwards Mr Apostolides, a Britishtrained architect said: 'I feel I
have got justice from the EU and I'm sure all the other Greek Cypriot
refugees suffering from the same problem will feel like me today.'
Neither Cherie Blair nor the Oramses were in Luxembourg for the ruling.
Around 167,000 Greek Cypriots fled homes in northern Cyprus following
during the turmoil of 1974 and 1975, which also saw some 40,000
Turkish Cypriots abandon properties in the south to escape north.
The Foreign Office warns anyone planning to buy property in the
Turkish-Cypriot state, which is recognised only by Turkey, that they
could face legal action in Cyprus and elsewhere in the EU, including
Britain.
Its website says: 'The European Court of Human Rights has ruled in a
number of cases that owners of property in northern Cyprus prior to
1974 continue to be regarded as the legal owners of that property.'
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