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31 December 2010
People were last displaced in Cyprus as a result of conflict in 1974. Groups backed by Greece’s military junta ousted the Cypriot leader and Turkey sent troops to the island in response. The island has since been effectively divided between areas under the control of the government of the Republic of Cyprus (GRC) and the authorities of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), the latter recognised only by Turkey. The conflict is still unresolved and the return of IDPs to their original homes remains impossible despite continuing negotiations.
The TRNC maintains that there are no IDPs in areas under its control, on the basis that internal displacement ended with a 1975 population exchange agreement. The GRC reported at the end of 2010 that around 208,000 people had displaced person status in the area under its control, including 83,000 people born to men with the displaced status.
In areas under the control of the GRC, people with dis- placed person status continued to be eligible for assistance. Discrimination in access to the status continued, as the children of women with the status were not eligible. In 2010, the Supreme Court reserved judgement on the validity of constitutional amendments to rectify this discrimination. Meanwhile, displaced people living in the TRNC received no assistance.
During 2010, steps were taken to uphold the rights of people dispossessed of their property. The European Court of Human Rights confirmed the Immovable Property Commission (IPC) of the TRNC as the first instance body for claims to property in TRNC territory. By the end of 2010, the IPC had concluded and mostly implemented
over 135 of some 850 applications lodged. For its part, the GRC amended the Turkish Cypriot properties law, so that Turkish Cypriot owners living outside TRNC could claim their property in areas under the control of the GRC.
30 April 2009: IDP’s right to property in north upheld
A Greek Cypriot IDP whose land had been sold to a British couple has had his right over the land
upheld by the Court of Justice of the European Communities. The Court confirmed that a Cypriot court’s judgment on the case is applicable even if it cannot be enforced due to the lack of settlement to the conflict. The Cypriot court had ordered the British couple to demolish the villa they had built on the land and pay compensation.
The appellant fled his home in 1974 after Turkish troops arrived in response to a coup to unite the island with Greece. Greek Cypriots fled south as the troops took control of the northern third of the island. Abandoned properties were distributed among Turkish Cypriots who had fled north, and some were sold on to foreigners.
The case now
returns to UK Court of Appeal; meanwhile the decision is likely to pave the way for further lawsuits against people
occupying disputed property. Observers have also commented that the ruling may be used to bolster claims that the EU is not
acting in an even-handed manner; Cyprus entered the EU in 2004, represented by the Greek Cypriot government in the south.
Both Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots have been forcibly displaced by conflict and communal violence on the island. Greek Cypriots were displaced in 1974 by what they argue was an illegal Turkish military invasion and occupation, while Turkish Cypriots faced multiple rounds of displacement up to 1974 and believe the Turkish intervention liberated them from Greek Cypriot domination. In both cases, thousands of people were forced from their homes, suffered significant loss and needed large-scale assistance.
During the last wave of displacement in 1974, Greek Cypriots fled to the southern part of the Republic of Cyprus, while Turkish Cypriots took refuge in the north under what eventually was declared the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which only Turkey has recognised. In the absence of a peace agreement, the areas have remained divided ever since with the UN maintaining a buffer zone between them. While many Greek Cypriots still expect to be able to return and receive a remedy for lost property, most Turkish Cypriots consider their displacement to the north a permanent move and are more concerned with what will happen to the property they are currently living in should the division of the island end. (...)
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30 June 2009