PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 18361/91) against the Republic of Turkey lodged with the European Commission of Human Rights (“the Commission”) under former Article 25 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by a Cypriot national, Mr Michalis Michael (“the applicant”), on 7 June 1991.

The applicant was represented by Mr K. Chrysostomides, a lawyer practising in Nicosia. The Turkish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mr Z.M. Necatigil.

The applicant alleged that the Turkish occupation of the northern part of Cyprus had deprived him of his home and properties.

The application was transmitted to the Court on 1 November 1998, when Protocol No. 11 to the Convention came into force (Article 5 § 2 of Protocol No. 11).

By a decision of 24 August 1999 the Court declared the application admissible.

The applicant and the Government each filed observations on the merits (Rule 59 § 1). In addition, third-party comments were received from the Government of Cyprus, which had exercised its right to intervene (Article 36 § 1 of the Convention and Rule 44 § 1 (b)).

THE FACTS

The applicant was born in 1957 and lives in Nicosia.

The applicant stated that he had been living in a house in Kyrenia and was the owner of a field with trees in the village of Ayios Epiktitos. As a result of the 1974 Turkish military intervention he had been deprived of his property rights, his property being located in the area which was under the occupation and the overall control of the Turkish military authorities. The latter had prevented him from having access to and using his house and property. He was being continuously prevented from entering the northern part of Cyprus because of his Greek-Cypriot origin.

The applicant produced two certificates from the Department of Lands and Surveys of the Republic of Cyprus, stating that he was the legal and registered owner of the following immovable property in the District of Kyrenia:

Kyrenia, Ayios Epiktitos, Mevlitoudi, field with trees, sheet/plan 13/25, plot no. 120, surface: hectares 2, decares 2, sq. m 663, share: ¼.

The applicant acquired ownership of this property on 27 June 1990, when it was transferred to him by way of inheritance from his grandfather and a gift from his parents.

On 9 December 1990 the applicant made one further attempt to return to his property in northern Cyprus by participating in a convoy of cars of fellow refugees intending to return home during a peaceful march towards their villages. The applicant and his fellow refugees, who had informed the Commander of the United Nations (UN) forces in Cyprus of their intentions, stopped at the check point in the “buffer zone”, on the main road linking Nicosia with Ayios Amvrosios and Kyrenia. There, they asked the UN officer on duty to be allowed to return to their homes, property and villages. They requested the same officer to forward their demand to the Turkish military authorities. The officer replied that the latter had refused their request.