|
Turkey Is Rebuked for Cyprus Abuses
STRASBOURG The European Court of Human Rights on Thursday delivered a strong rebuke to Turkey, finding it guilty of widespread human rights abuses arising from its 1974 invasion of northern Cyprus.
The case was brought by the government of Cyprus, which argued that the 27-year Turkish occupation of the north of the Mediterranean island had trampled on almost every article in the European Human Rights Convention.
The court said in a judgment passed by 16 to 1 that Ankara had violated 14 articles of the convention, including the right to life, the right to liberty and security, the right to freedom of thought and the right to freedom of expression.
Turkey, which is hoping to become a member of the European Union, refused to attend the hearing when it opened last year in this eastern French city, arguing that the Turkish Cypriot state was an independent entity.
But only Ankara has recognized it as such, and the European court said Turkey should be held accountable for the actions of the northern Cypriot administration, adding that it "survived by virtue of Turkish military and other support."
The Turks invaded Cyprus after a brief, failed Greek Cypriot coup engineered by the military then ruling Greece.
Ankara has always denied accusations of rights violations.
But the Strasbourg court upheld charges that 170,000 Greek Cypriot refugees living in the south of the island and banned from returning to their homes in the north were deprived of rights to property, compensation and a family life.
Ambassador Returning to Paris
Turkey announced Thursday that it was sending its ambassador back to Paris five months after recalling the diplomat in anger over French legislation recognizing the killing of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire as genocide, according to Agence France-Presse.
"It has been found appropriate for Ambassador Sonmez Koksal to return to his post," the Foreign Ministry said in a brief statement, without giving a date for the diplomat's return.
Mr. Koksal was summoned to Ankara on Jan. 18, shortly after the French National Assembly unanimously passed the controversial bill.
The case was brought by the government of Cyprus, which argued that the 27-year Turkish occupation of the north of the Mediterranean island had trampled on almost every article in the European Human Rights Convention.
The court said in a judgment passed by 16 to 1 that Ankara had violated 14 articles of the convention, including the right to life, the right to liberty and security, the right to freedom of thought and the right to freedom of expression.
Turkey, which is hoping to become a member of the European Union, refused to attend the hearing when it opened last year in this eastern French city, arguing that the Turkish Cypriot state was an independent entity.
But only Ankara has recognized it as such, and the European court said Turkey should be held accountable for the actions of the northern Cypriot administration, adding that it "survived by virtue of Turkish military and other support."
The Turks invaded Cyprus after a brief, failed Greek Cypriot coup engineered by the military then ruling Greece.
Ankara has always denied accusations of rights violations.
But the Strasbourg court upheld charges that 170,000 Greek Cypriot refugees living in the south of the island and banned from returning to their homes in the north were deprived of rights to property, compensation and a family life.
Ambassador Returning to Paris
Turkey announced Thursday that it was sending its ambassador back to Paris five months after recalling the diplomat in anger over French legislation recognizing the killing of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire as genocide, according to Agence France-Presse.
"It has been found appropriate for Ambassador Sonmez Koksal to return to his post," the Foreign Ministry said in a brief statement, without giving a date for the diplomat's return.
Mr. Koksal was summoned to Ankara on Jan. 18, shortly after the French National Assembly unanimously passed the controversial bill. STRASBOURG The European Court of Human Rights on Thursday delivered a strong rebuke to Turkey, finding it guilty of widespread human rights abuses arising from its 1974 invasion of northern Cyprus.
The case was brought by the government of Cyprus, which argued that the 27-year Turkish occupation of the north of the Mediterranean island had trampled on almost every article in the European Human Rights Convention.
The court said in a judgment passed by 16 to 1 that Ankara had violated 14 articles of the convention, including the right to life, the right to liberty and security, the right to freedom of thought and the right to freedom of expression.
Turkey, which is hoping to become a member of the European Union, refused to attend the hearing when it opened last year in this eastern French city, arguing that the Turkish Cypriot state was an independent entity.
But only Ankara has recognized it as such, and the European court said Turkey should be held accountable for the actions of the northern Cypriot administration, adding that it "survived by virtue of Turkish military and other support."
The Turks invaded Cyprus after a brief, failed Greek Cypriot coup engineered by the military then ruling Greece.
Ankara has always denied accusations of rights violations.
But the Strasbourg court upheld charges that 170,000 Greek Cypriot refugees living in the south of the island and banned from returning to their homes in the north were deprived of rights to property, compensation and a family life.
Ambassador Returning to Paris
Turkey announced Thursday that it was sending its ambassador back to Paris five months after recalling the diplomat in anger over French legislation recognizing the killing of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire as genocide, according to Agence France-Presse.
"It has been found appropriate for Ambassador Sonmez Koksal to return to his post," the Foreign Ministry said in a brief statement, without giving a date for the diplomat's return.
Mr. Koksal was summoned to Ankara on Jan. 18, shortly after the French National Assembly unanimously passed the controversial bill. STRASBOURG The European Court of Human Rights on Thursday delivered a strong rebuke to Turkey, finding it guilty of widespread human rights abuses arising from its 1974 invasion of northern Cyprus.
The case was brought by the government of Cyprus, which argued that the 27-year Turkish occupation of the north of the Mediterranean island had trampled on almost every article in the European Human Rights Convention.
The court said in a judgment passed by 16 to 1 that Ankara had violated 14 articles of the convention, including the right to life, the right to liberty and security, the right to freedom of thought and the right to freedom of expression.
Turkey, which is hoping to become a member of the European Union, refused to attend the hearing when it opened last year in this eastern French city, arguing that the Turkish Cypriot state was an independent entity.
But only Ankara has recognized it as such, and the European court said Turkey should be held accountable for the actions of the northern Cypriot administration, adding that it "survived by virtue of Turkish military and other support."
The Turks invaded Cyprus after a brief, failed Greek Cypriot coup engineered by the military then ruling Greece.
Ankara has always denied accusations of rights violations.
But the Strasbourg court upheld charges that 170,000 Greek Cypriot refugees living in the south of the island and banned from returning to their homes in the north were deprived of rights to property, compensation and a family life.
Ambassador Returning to Paris
Turkey announced Thursday that it was sending its ambassador back to Paris five months after recalling the diplomat in anger over French legislation recognizing the killing of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire as genocide, according to Agence France-Presse.
"It has been found appropriate for Ambassador Sonmez Koksal to return to his post," the Foreign Ministry said in a brief statement, without giving a date for the diplomat's return.
Mr. Koksal was summoned to Ankara on Jan. 18, shortly after the
French National Assembly unanimously passed the controversial bill.
Armenian, Assyrian and Hellenic Genocide News Archives