Trkiye: Trkiye on Friday voiced concern over what it described as the politicization of the European human rights system after a Council of Europe meeting again addressed a property rights issue related to displaced persons in Cyprus. 'Trkiye is deeply concerned over the erosion of the European Convention on Human Rights system due to political motives,' Foreign Ministry spokesman Oncu Keceli said in a statement on the US social media platform X.

According to Anadolu Agency, Keceli mentioned that the "property rights of displaced persons" section of the European Court of Human Rights' 2001 'Fourth Greek Cypriot' judgment was discussed again at the 1563rd human rights meeting of the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers, held in Strasbourg on June 9-11. He pointed out that the section could not be closed despite the Council of Europe Secretariat having recommended since 2022 that supervision of its implementation be ended.

Keceli stated that the meeting tasked the Council of Europe Secretariat, under an exceptional procedure designed for cases where implementation of an ECHR ruling is not possible due to differing interpretations, with preparing a draft study on the interpretation of property-related wording in the court's 2014 just satisfaction judgment.

Describing the developments as 'unprecedented' in the history of the Committee of Ministers' Deputies' work, Keceli attributed them to the Greek Cypriot side's efforts to politicize the European Convention on Human Rights system to align with its own objectives. He accused the Greek Cypriot side of choosing to obstruct the effective functioning of the convention system and demonstrating a lack of sincerity regarding a settlement of the Cyprus issue.

Keceli concluded by stating that Trkiye will continue to closely follow the matter in consultation with the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.