The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (CoE) decided in its last meeting, held between December 2-4, 2025 in Strasbourg, to resume consideration of the issue of the homes and property rights of displaced Greek Cypriots at a scheduled meeting in June 2026, the CoE announced on Thursday.
At the meeting, the Ministers’ Deputies supervised the execution of the European Court’s judgment in the “Cyprus v. Turkey” case.
Cyprus’ Foreign Ministry expressed satisfaction with the decision, noting in an announcement, on Thursday, that the outcome keeps open the supervision of the execution of the decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on the Fourth Interstate Application of the Republic of Cyprus against Turkey, regarding the property aspect of the displaced persons.
While examining the “Xenides-Arestis group v. Turkey” case, as concerns the payment of the just satisfaction awarded by the European Court in 30 cases of this group, the Deputies noted ‘with deep regret the absence of response from the Turkish authorities’ to an Interim Resolution, adopted in September 2023 and exhorted them to “comply with their unconditional obligation to pay the sums awarded by the Court, together with accrued default interest, without further delay.’
Moreover, they announced after the meeting that they took note of the payment of a global sum awarded to the applicants in the cases of “Saveriades v. Turkey” and “Ramon v. Turkey” by the ‘immovable property commission’, covering all aspects of their property claims, including the sums awarded by the European Court in these cases, together with default interest. Therefore, they decided to close their supervision of these cases and adopted a Final Resolution, according to a decision released on Thursday.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results.
The European Court of Human Rights sentenced Turkey in numerous cases, brought forward by Greek Cypriots, concerning the violation of their fundamental human rights, following the 1974 invasion, with regards to their property.