Principal facts
The applicants are 17 Cypriot nationals of Greek-Cypriot origin, living in Nicosia, Limassol, Lakatamia and Larnaca. The cases concerned their complaints that they had been deprived of the use of their property and/or access to their homes in northern Cyprus which was under the control of the “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” (the “TRNC”). Their property included various plots of land, some of which were cultivated and some with fully furnished houses or buildings.
These complaints arose out of the Turkish military operations in northern Cyprus in July and August 1974 and the continuing division of the territory of Cyprus, which resulted in the proclamation of the “TRNC” in 1983. This proclamation was declared legally invalid by the United Nations, and the Council of Europe decided that the government of the Republic of Cyprus would continue to be regarded as the sole legitimate government of the country.
According to new legal provisions which entered into force in December 2005 (Law 67/2005), all natural and legal persons claiming rights to immovable or movable property could bring a claim before the Immovable Property Commission (“IPC”), subject to a fee of 100 Turkish liras (TRY) for each application and provided they submitted title deeds or proof of ownership.
As of November 2009, the number of cases brought before the IPC stood at 433. Of these, 85 had been concluded, the vast majority by means of friendly settlement. In more than 70 cases, compensation had been awarded. Some 361,493 square metres of property had been restituted and approximately 47 million euros paid in compensation.
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