Commenting on yesterday's Court of Appeal ruling that David and Linda Orams have to surrender their land in northern Cyprus to its original Greek Cypriot owner, Liberal Democrat European justice & human rights spokeswoman and London MEP Sarah Ludford said:
"The Cyprus property issue should not be settled in British courts in this way. A political solution re-uniting the island has to be found between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities."
"It is inconsistent that while north Cyprus is currently excluded from EU legal and economic rights, a British court is used as a conduit for enforcing EU law on that territory through the principle of mutual recognition. These disputes should be settled via the North Cyprus Property Commission, a body set up with the approval of the European Court of Human Rights."
"A real fear is that this judgement may prejudice the political talks, which are at a key stage. That would be tragic, and I urge the parties, whatever the feelings, to stay focussed on a positive outcome. The goal must be that at last all Cypriots become full EU citizens without the absurd distortions which the current division creates."
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