Turkey says UK ruling may lead Greeks to quit Cyprus peace talks

Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said Tuesday the British Court of Appeals' latest decision on the Orams case was "thought provoking" from many perspectives.

The British court's decision would complicate the Cyprus problem at a time when comprehensive negotiations are taking place within the UN perimeters designed to establish a new partnership based on bi-zonality, political equality and two founding states, the MFA stated in a statement issued on Tuesday.

Such a decision may result in the Greek Cypriot administration's withdrawal from the goal of a solution, the MFA stressed.

The British court decided that a decision taken by a Greek Cypriot court could be implemented in Britain. The decision of the British court is against the nature of a new partnership in the island. The decision shows how the Greek Cypriot administration betrays its EU membership gained in an unfair manner, the MFA stressed.

The timing of the British court is fatal from the perspective of good will and legal character when one considers the negotiations in the island, the MFA said.

The British court has disregarded the existence of a legal system in North Cyprus as was referred to in the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, the MFA said.

The precautions to be taken after the British court's decision will jointly be evaluated with officials from the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, the MFA also said.

The "Orams case" involved a litigation by a Greek Cypriot, Meletis Apostolides, who sued in 2004 in a Greek Cyprus court for the return of land his family abandoned after Turkey's intervention in 1974.

Linda and David Orams built a house on the property that was claimed by Apostolides and his family.

Reacting to the British court's decision on Tuesday, Foreign Minister of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Huseyin Ozgurgun said that the Turkish Cypriots lived in security and peace in the TRNC.

The issue of Cyprus can not be solved by legal cases, Ozgurgun stressed.

Such cases aim at hiding the truth in Cyprus, Ozgurgun noted.

What was experienced can not be forgotten. It is out of question to reach any success by cases involving property in Cyprus, Ozgurgun also said.

/World Bulletin/