A European Human Rights Court verdict that Turkey was guilty of human rights abuses after its 1974 invasion of north Cyprus may be politically exploited and does not help resolve the Cyprus problem, an Ankara official said on Friday.
"The decision is not a right one," the Ankara official said. "It is a wrong decision because it is open to political exploitation and it doesn't help the solution of the problem."
"It's not surprising but it's wrong," he added. He declined to be identified.
The court said in Thursday's judgment that Ankara had violated 14 articles of the European Human Rights convention, including the right to life, the right to liberty and security, the right to freedom of thought and the right to freedom of expression. The decision was passed by 16 votes to one.
The case was brought by the Cyprus government, which argued that the 27-year-old Turkish occupation of the northern third of the Mediterranean island had trampled on almost every article in the convention.
Cyprus has been effectively partitioned since Turkey's invasion after a brief, failed Greek Cypriot coup engineered by the military then ruling Greece. Only Ankara recognises the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
U.N.-sponsored talks for a settlement of the Cyprus issue stalled late last year when Turkish-Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash pulled out, saying he would not join negotiations unless he was recognised as an equal partner in the talks.
Cypriot Attorney General Alecos Markides said the ruling should strengthen Cyprus's bargaining position.
"We are negotiating to find proper ways within an acceptable political compromise to restore the human rights of all the people of Cyprus, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots alike," he told Reuters on Thursday.
Turkey, which is hoping to join the European Union, refused to attend the hearing when it opened last year and argued the Turkish Cypriot state was an independent entity.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry declined to comment. It said the verdict was being studied in northern Cyprus. Officials there also declined to comment immediately.
The court ruled that Ankara had deprived some 170,000 Greek Cypriot refugees of their rights by banning them from returning to their homes in the north, and deprived of the "right to life" about 1,500 people who disappeared during the invasion.
Turkey should be held accountable for the actions of the northern Cypriot administration, the court said, adding that it "survived by virtue of Turkish military and other support".
Ankara, which keeps around 30,000 troops on the island, has always denied accusations of rights violations.
The court has not yet decided whether to fine Turkey and will issue a full verdict in a few months. As a signatory of the convention, Ankara must comply with the final ruling.
A settlement on the island is becoming more urgent for Ankara as the Republic of Cyprus could enter the EU as early as next year.
Turkish newspapers gave little coverage to the European Court verdict, only one major daily, Zaman, splashing it across the front page under the headline "Turkey condemned.” -- ANKARA (Reuters)
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