Freedom of religion or belief and cultural rights The seccesionist regime denies the exercise of religious rights through the continuous "rejection" of requests from the occupied communities to hold mass in the occupied areas as well a through the systemic "rejection" of the appointment of priests to the enclaved communities. Property Rights In 1974 Turkish armed forces expelled and continue to prevent more than approximately 200.000 displaced persons from returning to their homes and to peacefully enjoy their properties. Turkish authorities have adopted and systematically apply a policy of unlawful exploitation of Greek Cypriot properties in the occupied part of Cyprus. This has now taken an unprecedented form of industrial proportions with large-scale development of housing units and complexes, villas and hotels, many of which have been illegally “transferred” to foreigners and have been built upon without the lawful owner’s consent. United Nations Security Council resolutions 541 (1983) and 550 (1984), call upon all states to respect the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the Republic of Cyprus and not to recognise any other state in Cyprus or assist the secessionist entity in any way. As such, the illegal secessionist entity in the occupied area of Cyprus does not have jurisdiction to perform valid transfers of property ownership. The European Court of Human Rights, in its Judgment of 18 December 1996, on the individual application of the Greek Cypriot displaced owner from Kyrenia, Ms Titina Loizidou, against Turkey, and in the Fourth Interstate Application of Cyprus against Turkey of 10 May 2001, upheld the rights of the refugees to their properties. The European Court of Human Rights, in its Judgment of 10th May 2001 following the Fourth Interstate Application of Cyprus v. Turkey, in respect of the rights of the displaced, found that there is a continuous violation of Article 8 of the ECHR, due to Turkey’s refusal to allow displaced persons to return to their homes in the occupied part of Cyprus. It further held that there is a continuing violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1, by virtue of the fact that the Greek Cypriots owners of property are being denied access, control, use and enjoyment of their property, as well as any compensation for the interference with their property rights. In the subsequent, Cyprus v. Turkey just satisfaction judgment of 2014, the ECtHR made it abundantly clear that the Committee of Ministers must ensure Turkey’s compliance. In specific, the ECtHR expressly held that Turkey has not complied with the principal judgment The Cyprus Question| A brief Introduction 34
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