Turkey says ECJ ruling on Cyprus property case hurts peace talks

"Attempts to hurt the peace process in Cyprus by individual court decisions, such as the Orams case, are unacceptable," Turkish Foreign Ministry said Friday in a statement.

The European Court of Justice ruled in favor of a Greek Cypriot, Meletis Apostolides, who in 2004 appealed to a Greek Cyprus court for the return of land his family abandoned after Turkey's military intervention in 1974.

By that time, the property in a village in Turkish Cyprus had been bought by a British couple, Linda and David Orams.

"The 'Cyprus Republic' does not exist anymore as a partnership state which was founded in 1960, and the Greek Cypriots do not have any jurisdiction over Turkish Cypriots nor authority to represent the entire island," the statement said.

The heart of the Orams case was whether the decision given by a Greek court was applicable in the United Kingdom, referring to all other EU-member states.

The British High Court applied to the ECJ on the grounds that the final decision would affect all similar cases in the member states of the EU.

The ECJ's ruling implied the Greek Cypriot judiciary had also authority in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and the decisions to be made by Greek Cypriot judiciary should be implemented in all EU countries.