Tufan Erhürman: “Property issue should not be treated as an individual matter”

President Tufan Erhürman stated that a significant development had taken place in France with regard to European Arrest Warrants (EAW) relating to property issues. He noted that the French court had rejected an application concerning a person whose extradition to South Cyprus had been requested, on the grounds that European law is not applied and remains suspended within the territory of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).

Stressing that individuals should not pay the price for problems arising from the lack of a settlement, Erhürman said that it was unacceptable to treat the property issue as if it were a matter arising from individuals’ personal actions or transactions.

In his written statement, Erhürman noted that the individual concerned has investments in the TRNC and that the French court’s rejection of the extradition request to South Cyprus was an expected development.

Pointing out that the property issue is one of the six core chapters of comprehensive settlement negotiations, Erhürman underlined that the Immovable Property Commission (IPC) was established as an effective domestic legal remedy under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) until a final solution is reached.

In his statement, Erhürman stressed that such approaches, which negatively affect the climate needed for a solution in the new period, should be avoided and stated that they should be replaced with the adoption of confidence-building and solution-oriented policies.