The Maraş-related report and resolution, previously discussed last June, were once again addressed in the Political Affairs and Democracy Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).
Following Italian rapporteur Pierro Fassino’s decision to reopen the topic in order to monitor developments in Maraş, committee members and MPs Oğuzhan Hasipoğlu and Armağan Candan took the floor.
Hasipoğlu stated that although the current resolution claims the Immovable Property Commission (IPC) had not concluded any applications regarding closed-off Maraş, a recent case was in fact settled with compensation.
He added that 577 individuals had applied to the IPC for claims regarding their properties in Maraş.
Hasipoğlu argued that it was unfair to focus solely on Greek Cypriot property issues in Maraş without addressing the broader injustices and restrictions faced by Turkish Cypriots, and called for the matter to be removed from the committee’s agenda.
He stressed that while the Turkish Cypriot side offers legal remedies under the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), the Greek Cypriot Administration had began unlawful arrests in disregard of the European Convention on Human Rights, currently detaining five foreign nationals and placing TRNC citizens on global watch lists as a form of intimidation.
Hasipoğlu called on the committee to put an end to what he described as the Greek Cypriot Administration’s illegal approach, which he said targets both the IPC mechanism—recognized by the ECHR as an effective domestic remedy—and the TRNC economy as a whole.
Republican Turkish Party (CTP) MP, Armağan Candan, also addressed the committee, touching upon the upcoming international conference in New York in July, the property issue, and the IPC.
He noted that the property agenda in the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers had been postponed to December, and highlighted that the north will hold a presidential election in October, after which there may be a renewed possibility for negotiations on Cyprus.
Noting that the UN and the EU had each appointed special representatives for the Cyprus issue, and that the recent rapprochement between Türkiye and Greece was encouraging and should be reflected in Cyprus as well, Candan added that while many wars are ongoing in the world, creating a zone of cooperation and stability cantered around Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean would serve everyone’s interests.
