Monday, February 20, 2017

Nicosia, Cyprus

One of my more intriguing experiences in Cyprus happened in Nicosia.  We went to Ledras Street and walked towards the north.  When my wife and I climbed up an observation tower in the middle of Ledras Street we were able to look to the north, across the buffer zone, towards “North Cyprus”.  We could see Selimiye Mosque, which was originally St. Sophia Cathedral, a catholic church.  We could see the white-on-red Turkish flag, and side by side, the red-on-white “Northern Cyprus” flag. 

Under an umbrella in the middle of Ledras street, we found the checkpoint between Republic Cyprus and “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus”.  We watched people entering Northern Cyprus freely.  When they return from the north, it seemed that they need to produce their passport.  I was tempted to venture into Northern Cyprus but decided not to take the risk.  


Cyprus was settled by the Greeks more than 1,000 years BC.  It was, in turn, occupied by the Assyrians, Egyptians, Persians, Romans, Byzantines, …  Between 1571 and 1878 it was occupied by the Ottoman Empire and Turks settled in the north.  In 1914 Cyprus was annexed by the British.  In 1960 Cyprus became independent.  In 1974 Turkey invaded and occupied northern Cyprus. In 1983 the occupied north declared independence but was recognised only by Turkey.  Nicosia has remained divided ever since.  

Cyprus history has taken many turns.  Will the north and the south reunite?  Who knows?



4 comments:

alexyflemming said...

NORTHERN CYPRUS IS LEGAL (1):

1. LEGALITY AND RECOGNITION ARE TWO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THINGS
(Neither of them is a "necessary" or a "sufficient" condition for the other one)

Recognition is completely a political notion/act (as stated by International Court of Justice, Kosovo 2010 decision) and has nothing to do with legality. 1/193 country recognizes Northern Cyprus; but even if 0/193 countries recognize NC, this has nothing to do with legality of NC.

The President of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Hisashi OWADA (2010): "International law contains no prohibition on declarations of independence."
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-10730573

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) (2010): "while the declaration may not have been illegal, the issue of RECOGNITION was a POLITICAL one".
(in OSHISANYA 2016, An Almanac of Contemporary and Comperative Judicial Restatement, p.64)
https://books.google.com.tr/books?id=xMvOBAAAQBAJ

Recognition is a political, not a legal matter.

That is to say, "being recognized/not recognized does not affect legality/illegality of a country". Recognition is a political action.

2. NORTHERN CYPRUS BEING A COUNTRY IS NOT DISPUTED
The definition of "country" is bigger than whether being a UN member or not. There are countries that are not member of UN. See, "country" definition in Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Country

A "country" is a region identified as a distinct entity in political geography. A country may be an independent sovereign state or one that is occupied by another state, as a non-sovereign or formerly sovereign political division, or "a geographic region associated with sets of" previously independent or "differently associated peoples with distinct political characteristics.

That’s why, even the sources from United Nations (UN) cite Northern Cyprus as a different country: World Happiness Report 2015 of United Nations’ Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) ranked Northern Cyprus 66th among 158 countries, directly above the Republic of Cyprus, which was ranked 67th.
UN SDSN World Happiness Report 2015, p.27: 2012-2014 country rankings.
http://worldhappiness.report/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/04/WHR15.pdf

United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) World Happiness Report 2016.
http://5c28efcb768db11c7204-4ffd2ff276d22135df4d1a53ae141422.r82.cf5.rackcdn.com/HR-V1_web.pdf
See "Figure 2.2: Ranking of Happiness 2013-2015 (Part 2)"
North Cyprus: 62th among 157 countries (1:best, 157:worst)
(South, Greek) Cyprus: 69th among 157 countries.

3. THERE IS "NO PROHIBITION" ON DECLARATIONS OF INDEPENDENCE IN INTERNATIONAL LAW
The President of the Int’l Court of Justice (ICJ) Hisashi OWADA, 2010: "International law contains "NO PROHIBITION" on declarations of independence."

alexyflemming said...

NORTHERN CYPRUS IS LEGAL (2):
4. THE OPERATIONS OF UNITED NATIONS PEACE FORCE IN CYPRUS (UNFICYP) IN NORTH OF CYPRUS ISLAND ARE BASED ON THE LAWS OF NORTHERN CYPRUS
Without a status-of-forces agreement (or similar arrangements) between the United Nations and the Government of the TRNC UNFICYP operates solely within the framework of the laws, rules and regulations of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus which may be altered by the TRNC authorities unilaterally and without prior notice.
(Stefan Talmon, "Impediments to Peacekeeping: The Case of Cyprus", p.58-59.,
http://users.ox.ac.uk/~sann2029/International%20Peacekeeping%208%20(2002),%2033-63.pdf
in "International Peacekeeping: The Yearbook of International Peace Operations", Vol.8, 2002)

SINCE NORTHERN CYPRUS IS LEGAL, ALL ITS COURTS AND LAWS ARE ACCEPTED IN THE WORLD: SEE 5 & 6 BELOW.

5. ALL LAWS OF NORTHERN CYPRUS ARE ACCEPTED IN EUROPE (EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS; ECtHR)
5.1 IN NORTHERN CYPRUS, LAWS OF TURKISH REPUBLIC OF NORTHERN CYPRUS ARE VALID:
ECtHR’s 02.07.2013 Decision: http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-122907
("In north of Cyprus island, the laws of Northern Cyprus are valid") "...notwithstanding the lack of international recognition of the regime in the northern area, a de facto recognition of its acts may be rendered necessary for practical purposes. Thus, THE ADOPTION BY THE AUTHORITIES OF THE "TRNC" OF CIVIL, ADMINISTRATIVE OR CRIMINAL LAW MEASURES, AND THEIR APPLICATION OR ENFORCEMENT WITHIN THAT TERRITORY, may be regarded as HAVING A LEGAL basis in domestic law for the purposes of the Convention".

Note: In the related ECtHR’s decision above, the case application of the Greek Cypriot was IMMEDIATELY REJECTED; i.e., his application was found INADMISSABLE. That is to say, he was expelled by ECtHR just at the beginning; therefore, his case was not handled (no sessions were held) by ECtHR at all.

alexyflemming said...

NORTHERN CYPRUS IS LEGAL (3):
5.2 IN NORTH OF CYPRUS ISLAND, THE ONLY COUNTRY WHOSE LAWS ARE VALID IS NORTHERN CYPRUS:
European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), Article 35/1 Admissibility criteria: http://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/Admissibility_guide_ENG.pdf
"The Court may ONLY deal with the matter after ALL DOMESTIC REMEDIES have been exhausted, according to the generally recognised rules of international law."

In order to apply to ECtHR for an issue related in Poland, Poland's ALL DOMESTIC REMEDIES MUST be exhausted. Similarly:
In order to apply to ECtHR for an issue related in north of Cyprus island, Northern Cyprus' ALL DOMESTIC REMEDIES MUST be exhausted.

If the legal domestic system of Republic of Cyprus had any validity in north Cyprus, then before taking the case to ECtHR, RoC's ALL DOMESTIC REMEDIES MUST have been exhausted AS WELL besides those of Northern Cyprus. Since, according to ECtHR, legal system of Republic of Cyprus has NO validity in north Cyprus, ECtHR accepts cases from north Cyprus AS SOON AS Northern Cyprus' ALL DOMESTIC REMEDIES are exhausted.

5.3 ALL THE PEOPLE OF REP. OF CYPRUS (EVEN THE PRESIDENT OF RoC) MUST APPLY TO THE LEGAL SYSTEM OF NORTHERN CYPRUS ABOUT AN ISSUE RELATED WITH NORTH OF CYPRUS IN ORDER TO TAKE THEIR CASES TO THE ECtHR:
ECtHR 04.01.2011 decision:http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-103100
"the procedure before the Immovable Property Commission ("IPC"), and further appeal to the "TRNC" High Administrative Court, provided for in Law 67/2005, were to be regarded as "domestic remedies" of the respondent State and that NO GROUND OF EXEMPTION has been established in that regard".
In the last part: "Court unanimously Declares the APPLICATION INADMISSIBLE" means "EXHAUST ALL DOMESTIC REMEDIES OF TRNC (Northern Cyprus) first, before coming to ECtHR".

5.4 THE COURTS OF NORTHERN CYPRUS ARE INDEPENDENT AND IMPARTIAL
ECtHR’s 02.09.2015 Decision: http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-155000
"..the COURT SYSTEM in the "TRNC", including both civil and criminal courts, reflected the judicial and common-law tradition of Cyprus in its functioning and procedures, and that the "TRNC" COURTS were thus to be considered as "ESTABLISHED BY LAW" with reference to the "constitutional and legal basis" on which they operated...the Court has already found that the COURT SYSTEM set up in the "TRNC" was to be considered to have been "established by law" with reference to the "constitutional and legal basis" on which it operated, and it has NOT ACCEPTED THE ALLEGATION that the "TRNC" COURTS as a whole LACKED INDEPENDENCE and/or IMPARTIALITY...when an act of the "TRNC" authorities was in compliance with LAWS IN FORCE WITHIN THE TERRITORY OF NORTHERN CYPRUS, those acts should in principle be regarded as having a legal basis in domestic law for the purposes of the Convention.."

Note: Here, what ECtHR means by "laws in force within the territory of northern Cyprus" is the laws that TRNC published and put into implementation (See: ECtHR’s 02.07.2013 decision above).

alexyflemming said...

NORTHERN CYPRUS IS LEGAL (4):
6. UNITED STATES’ FEDERAL COURT: "TURKISH REPUBLIC OF NORTHERN CYPRUS IS A DEMOCRATIC COUNTRY"
USA Federal Court (09.10.2014): "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is a democratic country"
"Although the United States does not recognize it as a state, the TRNC purportedly operates as a DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC with a president, prime minister, legislature and judiciary...TRNC is NOT VULNERABLE to a lawsuit in Washington"

The news of the Court decision (13.10.2014) http://www.courthousenews.com/2014/10/13/72392.htm
Page of the Court case (The Defendant: Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus) http://dockets.justia.com/docket/district-of-columbia/dcdce/1:2009cv01967/139002
Decision of the Court: http://docs.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/district-of-columbia/dcdce/1:2009cv01967/139002/53

7. UNITED KINGDOM'S HIGH COURT: "THERE IS NOTHING IN UK'S LAW TO REFRAIN UK FROM RECOGNIZING NORTHERN CYPRUS"

UK's High Court (03.02.2017) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/02/03/criminals-fleeing-british-justice-can-no-longer-use-cyprus-safe
"THERE WAS NO DUTY IN UK LAW UPON THE GOVERNMENT TO REFRAIN FROM RECOGNISING NORTHERN CYPRUS. The United Nations itself works with Northern Cyprus law enforcement agencies and facilitates cooperation between the two parts of the island."

High Court judges dismissed a challenge ... that co-operation between UK police and law agencies in northern Cyprus was illegal.
(http://ambamarblearch-media.com/sites/default/files/dpp_files/TT.pdf, page 6).