KKTC has more doubts over European court judge’s impartiality

The ECJ ruled in late April that a 2004 Greek Cypriot court decision ordering a British couple, David and Linda Orams, to demolish their house in northern Cyprus is applicable in Britain as well because both Greek Cyprus and Britain are members of the European Union. A Greek Cypriot court ordered the couple to demolish their house and pay rent for the time they occupied the property to Greek Cypriot complainant Meletis Apostolides. Skouris received the award in November 2006, one year after the Orams' case had started, Turkish media reported last week.

Erçakıca, speaking at a weekly press briefing on Tuesday, noted that lawyers for the Orams couple sent a letter to the ECJ concerning the issue on June 23, to which they also attached documents showing a close relationship between Skouris and the Greek Cypriot administration. “… it has been confirmed that Skouris' relationship with the Greek Cypriot government was not limited to receiving the collar: Skouris came to Cyprus at the invitation of the Greek Cypriot side on Feb. 28, 2009, shortly before release of the decision in the Orams case, and a delegation from the Greek Cypriot Parliament Legal Affairs Committee held official meetings at the ECJ on March 13, 2009 and met with Skouris,” Erçakıca was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency. Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat over the weekend labeled Skouris' decoration a situation that “cannot be accepted.”