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{
    "pk": 64614,
    "title": "Abuse of \"Necessity\": The Case of Cyprus and the (Mis) Management of Turkish Properties",
    "subtitle": null,
    "abstract": "<p>Arguably the most complicated financial and political aspect of the ongoing tension between the members of the Greek and Turkish communities of Cyprus, commonly referred to as the “Cyprus Problem,” is the property issue. Since July 20, 1974, around 160,000 Greek-Cypriot refugees have fled to areas south of the United Nations-controlled buffer zone and around 40,000 Turkish-Cypriots have fled north. On August 2, 1975, at the third round of the Vienna talks, an agreement was reached between the two sides for the voluntary regrouping of populations. The agreement made it possible for the Turkish and Greek-Cypriots to live in two geographically separate areas and under their own administrations. Critically, it made no provision regarding existing property rights.</p>\n<p>The legal developments concerning the land of the Greek-Cypriot refugees in Turkish-controlled areas over the past 50 years have been subjected to intense political and legal scrutiny at the international level. This scrutiny includes some seminal judgements delivered by the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice. The same cannot be said for the southern properties the members of the Turkish community left in areas controlled by the Republic of Cyprus following the military operations in 1974. An international legal body is yet to conduct a comprehensive study and issue a ruling on the matter. This Article aims to provide insight into this complicated and politically sensitive issue.</p>\n<p>Part I of this Article provides a general overview of the legal framework governing the matter and proceeds with a more detailed examination on the scope of Law 139/1991. Part II considers the overall legal and procedural difficulties the Turkish-Cypriots face in pursuing judicial review proceedings against governmental authorities. Part III entails a more detailed checklist of the problematic areas under international law and examines the potential infringements of the human rights jurisprudence with a special focus on the principles on the right to free movement, respect for home and family life, rights to property and access to court, and discrimination based on residence or race. With the perspective that the identified violations cannot be justified based on an á-la-carte invocation of the “doctrine of necessity,” Part IV of this Article briefly discusses the ethical and legal considerations that should be noted in regard to the custodianship status of a non-Muslim individual over the properties of Muslim pious foundations established with the objective of promoting religious and charitable activities. In conclusion, this Article assesses the statutory amendments adopted in 2010 and comments on whether they have had any practical consequences in the name of improving the legal climate for members of the Turkish community.</p>",
    "language": "eng",
    "license": {
        "name": "All rights reserved",
        "short_name": "Copyright",
        "text": "© the author(s). All rights reserved.",
        "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/authors"
    },
    "keywords": [
        {
            "word": "Cyprus Problem"
        },
        {
            "word": "Human Rights"
        },
        {
            "word": "Property"
        },
        {
            "word": "Turkish-Cypriot"
        },
        {
            "word": "Necessity"
        }
    ],
    "section": "Articles",
    "is_remote": true,
    "remote_url": "https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6q14b46m",
    "frozenauthors": [
        {
            "first_name": "Murat",
            "middle_name": "Metin",
            "last_name": "Hakki",
            "name_suffix": "",
            "institution": "",
            "department": ""
        }
    ],
    "date_submitted": null,
    "date_accepted": null,
    "date_published": "2026-04-21T09:18:00+03:00",
    "render_galley": null,
    "galleys": [
        {
            "label": "PDF",
            "type": "pdf",
            "path": "https://journalpub.escholarship.org/jilfa/article/64614/galley/49437/download/"
        }
    ]
}