Prime Minister Dervis Eroglu of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) said on Friday that comprehensive negotiations which have been continuing in Cyprus aiming to find a lasting and fair solution to the Cyprus issue was harmed by the European Court of Justice's ruling on the Orams case.

A British court ruled on January 19 that a British couple could not keep their holiday villa in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).

The court of appeal decision upheld an earlier European Court of Justice ruling that will return the property to Meletis Apostolides, whose Greek Cypriot family had to leave the northern part of the island in 1974 after the Cyprus Peace Operation.

The ruling establishes that he is the rightful owner of the property, which belonged to his family before the peace operation, and that David and Linda Orams have to demolish the villa they built on the land and abandon their claim to the property they purchased in 2002.

Eroglu gave a conference at Kadir Has University in Istanbul.

"Even if the Cyprus issue is solved, there is no guaranty if Turkey will join the EU or not. There is double standard here," he said.

There has been a political blackmail against Turkey over Cyprus, but Turkey is a powerful country having a sound economy, he said.

"We think that Cyprus issue and Turkey's EU accession process are two different issues," Eroglu said.

Eroglu said they respected basic principles of EU such as free market economy, respect for human rights and democracy. 
 

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