Greek Cypriot professor Andreas Orphanides, owner of real estate in the occupied part of Cyprus, asks the Committee of Ministers of European Council to confiscate Turkish property in France or another European country, for payment of damages awarded by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
Even though Orphanides won the case to visit his property in the occupied areas in 2009, he has not yet received the 2010 Ankara indemnification.
According to the Cyprus New Agency, in a recent letter to the Committee of Ministers, Orphanides urges that “strong and effective” measures be taken if Turkey does not pay the sums owed, plus interest, by the next meeting to be held between the 18th and 20th of September.
“I am in favor of proposing that the Committee of Ministers, as part of its responsibilities, to oversee the implementation of ECHR decisions, take all appropriate measures to confiscate assets of the Turkish Government in a European country (for example in France where both the ECHR, and the Council of Europe have headquarters) to pay the above amount of compensation plus interest,” Orphanides said.
The Greek Cypriot professor also calls for the immediate execution of the Court’s decision and the individual measures, including the immediate restitution of his home and property.
With regard to individual measures, Orphanides says that according to the European Convention on Human Rights, ECHR decisions must be executed completely and unconditionally by the respondent Government, under the supervision of the Committee of Ministers, without prior intervention by another party or a body, such as the “real estate committee” in the occupied areas.
Finally, Orphanides is calling for an annual sum to be paid for the period 2009-2018 as compensation for Turkey’s failure to implement the relevant ECHR decisions.
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