No escape from int’l court, domestic trial is solution
Güncelleme Tarihi:
by Fulya Özerkan
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Ocak 27, 2009 00:00
ANKARA - While remarks made by a Turkish actor over killing 10 Greek Cypriots, including a prisoner of war, during Turkey's 1974 military operation in Cyprus have drawn fierce reactions, its legal implications are yet to stretch beyond national boundaries.
"Turkey must activate its legal system without delay and launch a probe into the case before it is forwarded to international courts," Yüksel İnan, professor of law at Ankara's private Bilkent University, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review yesterday.
Similar to previous cases of property and missing persons, Greek Cyprus is very likely to sue Turkey at the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights, or ECHR, taking the actor's controversial statements as an admission, according to İnan.
"But an immediate step taken by Turkey to launch an investigation into the event will first demonstrate the country has taken the primary responsibility in handling the case within the limits of its domestic law, while giving Turkey an upper hand in defending its claims before an international court," he stressed.
Actor Atilla Olgaç earlier told a Turkish television program that while serving in the Turkish army during the 1974 operation he shot at least one prisoner dead on orders from a superior. "The first person that I killed was a 19-year-old soldier who was taken prisoner. When I aimed my gun at his face, he spat on my face. I shot him in the forehead. He died. Later on, I killed nine more people during clashes," he said. Although retracted, his statements led to public outrage in Greece and Greek Cyprus, who urged Turkey to take immediate action to investigate the issue.
İnan said the issue could be pursued through three different avenues: the ECHR; the International Criminal Court on the basis of the Rome Convention; and the 1949 Geneva Convention. Turkey cannot be tried at the International Criminal Court because it has not signed the Rome Convention that makes either Greek Cyprus or any third party unable to lodge a complaint against Turkey and the Turkish actor, said İnan.
But a path for a trial based on the Geneva Convention is wide open as Turkey is party to the international agreement on the treatment of prisoners of war.
"As long as Atilla Olgaç is within Turkish borders he is subjected to Turkish judicial organs," said İnan. "But Greek Cypriots will keep the issue high on the agenda and demand the actor's arrest and trial as a war criminal, based on the Geneva Convention, the minute he goes abroad. Turkey also needs to open an investigation in this case as well," he added.
İnan said in order to minimize possible setbacks at the ECHR, Turkey needed to take precautionary measures. Recalling the statute of limitations principle in common law, he said Turkey may not be tried because the actor's statements had only been revealed recently but warned that if Turkey failed to act in a timely fashion at this current stage, the court would most probably hold the country responsible for neglect.
Similar to previous cases of property and missing persons, Greek Cyprus is very likely to sue Turkey at the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights, or ECHR, taking the actor's controversial statements as an admission, according to İnan.
"But an immediate step taken by Turkey to launch an investigation into the event will first demonstrate the country has taken the primary responsibility in handling the case within the limits of its domestic law, while giving Turkey an upper hand in defending its claims before an international court," he stressed.
Actor Atilla Olgaç earlier told a Turkish television program that while serving in the Turkish army during the 1974 operation he shot at least one prisoner dead on orders from a superior. "The first person that I killed was a 19-year-old soldier who was taken prisoner. When I aimed my gun at his face, he spat on my face. I shot him in the forehead. He died. Later on, I killed nine more people during clashes," he said. Although retracted, his statements led to public outrage in Greece and Greek Cyprus, who urged Turkey to take immediate action to investigate the issue.
İnan said the issue could be pursued through three different avenues: the ECHR; the International Criminal Court on the basis of the Rome Convention; and the 1949 Geneva Convention. Turkey cannot be tried at the International Criminal Court because it has not signed the Rome Convention that makes either Greek Cyprus or any third party unable to lodge a complaint against Turkey and the Turkish actor, said İnan.
But a path for a trial based on the Geneva Convention is wide open as Turkey is party to the international agreement on the treatment of prisoners of war.
"As long as Atilla Olgaç is within Turkish borders he is subjected to Turkish judicial organs," said İnan. "But Greek Cypriots will keep the issue high on the agenda and demand the actor's arrest and trial as a war criminal, based on the Geneva Convention, the minute he goes abroad. Turkey also needs to open an investigation in this case as well," he added.
İnan said in order to minimize possible setbacks at the ECHR, Turkey needed to take precautionary measures. Recalling the statute of limitations principle in common law, he said Turkey may not be tried because the actor's statements had only been revealed recently but warned that if Turkey failed to act in a timely fashion at this current stage, the court would most probably hold the country responsible for neglect.