US embassy cable - 05ANKARA2190

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 002190 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/18/2015 
TAGS: PREL, CY, TU 
SUBJECT: TURKISH MFA ON ECHR ACCEPTANCE OF XENIDES-ARESTIS 
CASE 
 
 
(U) Classified by Political Counselor John Kunstadter, E.O. 
12958, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1.  (C) Turkish MFA Northeast Mediterranean Affairs Acting 
DDG Bilman told us MFA and legal experts met in the wake of 
the ECHR's April 6 decision to admit the Xenides-Arestis v. 
Turkey Cyprus property case.  Bilman maintained the ECHR had 
not questioned the legality of the "TRNC" compensation 
scheme, only its effectiveness. 
 
2.  (C) When we pointed out the Court's emphasis on the 
failure of the "TRNC" scheme to allow restitution of 
property, Bilman told us the MFA is considering whether there 
could be "partial restitution" (NFI) of property.  Bilman 
also argued that the Court "left open" the possibility of 
compensation in lieu of restitution under certain 
circumstances.  Apparently the MFA believes that a scheme 
providing for restitution but with exceptions recognized in 
international law might be acceptable to the ECHR. 
 
3.  (C)  Bilman said that Turkey may still appeal the 
admissibility ruling to the ECHR Grand Chamber.  Aside from 
Turkish media spinning the decision as positive for its 
"recognition" of the "TRNC" scheme, we have not yet detected 
any immediate fallout to the ECHR admissibility decision 
here.  However, Bilman emphasized that FM Gul remains focused 
on the property case issue, and has requested an briefing on 
the subject this week. 
 
4.  (C) Comment:  We leave it to L and others to analyze the 
ECHR ruling in depth.  Our first reading suggests the Turks 
are being overly optimistic about the "TRNC's" ability to 
cope with this ruling -- particularly if, as we suspect, the 
Turks' primary goal is to avoid the good-faith restitution of 
property required by the Court.  End Comment 
EDELMAN