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Cyprus President Clerides says European Court ruling 'extremely important'
NICOSIA,
President Glafcos Clerides on Friday described as "extremely important" a judgment by the European Court of Human Rights that found Turkey guilty of gross human rights violations in the areas of the Republic it occupies since 1974, when its troops invaded the island. The president said the Court ruling "offers Cyprus a powerful weapon" in the UN-led peace talks, aiming at a comprehensive settlement, stressing also the fact that the Court notes that it recognizes only one legal government on the island, the government of the Republic of Cyprus.
"The Court ruling is of immense importance, it considers Turkey responsible for human rights violations in the self-styled Turkish Cypriot regime in occupied Cyprus, and describes this regime as a subordinate local administration to Turkey," the president said, after Attorney General Alekos Markides handed him the voluminous decision.
Clerides said he would call a meeting of the National Council, top advisory body to the president on the handling of the Cyprus question, for "a constructive discussion" on the matter, after the political parties comprising the Council have had a chance to study the decision.
"The Court by its ruling has given us a powerful weapon in the negotiations for a solution and we are going to examine the entire text of the decision (all 126 pages) very thoroughly to see how to make the most out of it," the president said.
He noted that the decision reaffirms long-standing positions the government has been putting forward that "there is violation of human rights of missing persons and their relatives, of enclaved Greek Cypriots in occupied Cyprus, of displaced persons, of the right to property of Greek Cypriots."
Asked if he now feels strengthened in his positions for a new round of negotiations, the president said he had always felt "at ease because many of the things Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash is asking for constitute violations of human rights and of European Union laws and regulations."
"Now we have a formal decision by the European Court saying that what Denktash wants, such as to deny the refugees the right to return to their homes, violates the European Convention of Human Rights," he pointed out.
The UN has chaired five rounds of proximity talks since December 1999. A sixth round, scheduled for January this year, did not take place because Denktash refused to attend, claiming the talks served no purpose and demanding recognition of his illegal regime in occupied Cyprus.
Cyprus filed an application in 1994 against Turkey, the fourth inter-state application the government had instigated, and after a long legal battle the Court issued its decision on Thursday. The first three went as far as the Commission of Human Rights of the Council of Europe. This is the first such application Cyprus has brought to the Court and the first interstate application the new Court has dealt with since its establishment.
Political parties in Nicosia have also welcomed as a "landmark" the European
Court's ruling. The parties pointed out that the ruling must serve as a
guideline to seek and secure a just and viable settlement in Cyprus, which
should be in line with European Union principles and UN resolutions.
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