Türkiye Accuses Greek Cypriot Side of Politicizing ECHR Property Rights File
By Bosphorus News Geopolitics Desk
Türkiye accused the Greek Cypriot side of politicizing the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) system after the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers did not close the property-rights chapter linked to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) case Cyprus v. Turkey at its June 9–11 meeting in Strasbourg.
The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) also criticized the outcome, arguing that the latest procedural move was not related to the effectiveness of the Immovable Property Commission (IPC), which it describes as an effective domestic remedy for Greek Cypriot property claims in the north of the island.
Turkish Foreign Ministry Spokesman Öncü Keçeli noted that the property-rights chapter of the ECtHR's 2001 IV. Cyprus judgment had remained under supervision before the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers.
According to Keçeli, the Council of Europe Secretariat had concluded in its assessments that Türkiye had fulfilled its responsibilities and had recommended ending supervision of the chapter. The file could not be closed, he argued, because the Greek Cypriot side had turned a legal and technical process into a political one.
The Foreign Ministry described the development as the result of Greek Cypriot efforts to "politicize the European Convention on Human Rights system for its own purposes."
Ankara also expressed deep concern over what it called the erosion of the ECHR system through political motives.
The TRNC Foreign Ministry issued a parallel statement, confirming that the property-related chapter had been discussed at the Committee of Ministers meeting in Strasbourg between June 9 and 11.
The TRNC statement argued that the Secretariat had recommended closure of the chapter since 2022, but that the Greek Cypriot side had used its position inside the European Union and support from member states to prevent what it described as a legal and technical file from being closed.
The Committee of Ministers instead tasked the Secretariat with preparing a draft study on the interpretation of certain property-related references in the ECtHR's 2014 just satisfaction judgment in the IV. Cyprus case.
The TRNC stressed that the move did not concern the effectiveness of the Immovable Property Commission. It also argued that the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers had no authority to question the commission's effectiveness, adding that only the ECtHR could rule on that issue.
It pointed to earlier ECtHR decisions treating the IPC as an effective domestic remedy, including a position the TRNC said was most recently confirmed again in June 2025.
The property file remains one of the most sensitive legal tracks in the Cyprus dispute. It concerns Greek Cypriot claims over property in the north of the island, the role of the IPC as a remedy mechanism and the continuing supervision of ECtHR judgments through the Council of Europe system.
The dispute now adds another institutional layer to the Cyprus agenda at a time when the United Nations track is preparing for a new enlarged meeting. Ankara and the TRNC are framing the property chapter as a file that should have moved toward closure, while the Greek Cypriot position has long treated it as part of the unresolved consequences of the Cyprus conflict.
***Sources: Türkiye Ministry of Foreign Affairs, TRNC Foreign Ministry, Council of Europe, HUDOC-EXEC, Immovable Property Commission, Bosphorus News review.