Michaelidou and Tymvios v. Turkey (16163/90)

Date	20080428
Article	1(1)
Decision	friendly s.

Three Turkish judgments concerning loss of property rights in Northern Cyprus

The European Court of Human Rights has today notified in writing three Chamber judgments1 – available only in English – concerning applicants who have been unable to access or use their property in the northern part of Cyprus as a result of the 1974 Turkish invasion.

Friendly settlement

Article 41

Eugenia Michaelidou Developments Ltd and Michael Tymvios v. Turkey (no. 16163/90)

A friendly settlement has been agreed in which the applicant has been awarded one million United States dollars for any pecuniary, non-pecuniary damage, costs and expenses. The agreement also provides for the exchange of property insofar as the exchange decision can be executed within the control and power of the authorities of the “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” (“TRNC”); the transfer would have to be executed in the Republic of Cyprus, which is outside Turkey’s jurisdiction.

Summary of the judgments2

All the applicants claimed that they were prevented by Turkish armed forces from having access to their property, using and enjoying possession of it or developing it, relying on Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 (protection of property) to the European Convention on Human Rights.

Eugenia Michaelidou Developments Ltd and Michael Tymvios

The applicants are Eugenia Michaelidou Developments Ltd, a Cypriot-registered private company, registered in Nicosia in 1986, and Michael Tymvios, a Cypriot national who was born in 1948 and lives in Nicosia. He is the director and major shareholder of the applicant company. For the purposes of the application, Mr Tymvios was regarded as the applicant. On 3 April 1988 the company became the co-owner of 51 plots of land by way of gift in the village of Tymvou, in the northern district of Nicosia.

On 31 July 2003, in its principal Chamber judgment in the case, the Court found a violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1.