The Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers has stressed that Turkey must pay without delay 60 million euro in damages to Greek Cypriots who cannot access their properties in the Turkish occupied areas of Cyprus.

According to a press release by the CoE, the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers has "firmly insisted on Trkiye's unconditional obligation to pay over pound 40 million in damages awarded by the European Court of Human Rights to dozens of people who are unable to access their property in the northern part of Cyprus, plus nearly pound 20 million in interest accrued since the awards were first made."

During its quarterly meeting to supervise the implementation of judgments from the Court, the Committee adopted an Interim Resolution* in the Xenides-Arestis v. Turkey group of 33 cases.

The cases, it notes, concern the continuous denial of access to property in the northern part of Cyprus, in violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 (protection of property) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

"Some of the cases also concern Trkiye's violation of the applicants' right to respect for their homes, under Article 8 of the Convention," it states.

The Committee of Ministers expressed "profound concern that prolonged delays in paying the 'just satisfaction' awarded by the Court not only deprive the individual victims of compensation but is also in flagrant disrespect of Trkiye's international obligations as a member of the Council of Europe."

The Committee exhorted the Turkish authorities to pay the 'just satisfaction' - some of which has been outstanding since 2007 - together with the interest accrued, without further delay, the press release concludes.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.

Source: Cyprus News Agency