The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) will deliver on Tuesday, January 29, its final judgement in the Güzelyurtlu case, after holding initially both Nicosia and Ankara responsible for not cooperating to solve the murder case.
In January 2005 Elmas Güzelyurtlu, his wife Zerrin, and their daughter Eylül were shot dead on the Nicosia-Larnaca highway and after the incident, their killers fled back to the Turkish-occupied areas of Cyprus.
In its Chamber judgement of April 4, 2017, the Court stated that Cyprus and Turkey were obliged to cooperate effectively to facilitate an effective investigation, however neither government had been prepared to compromise and find middle ground. “That position had arisen from political considerations, which reflected the long-standing political dispute between Cyprus and Turkey,” the Court noted.
It held, subsequently, by five votes to two, that there had been a violation of Article 2 by Cyprus and, unanimously, that there had been a violation of the same provision by Turkey.
On September 18, 2017, the Grand Chamber Panel accepted the requests of the governments of Cyprus and Turkey that the case be referred to the Grand Chamber.
Subsequently, a Grand Chamber hearing was held in Strasbourg on March 28, 2018.
The Court says that the AIRE Centre organization was granted leave to intervene in the written proceedings as a third party.
Grand Chamber judgments are final.
Turkey, whose troops occupy Cyprus’ northern part since 1974, does not recognize the Republic of Cyprus.
