Turkey has accused Cyprus of attempting to politicise the European Court on Human Rights (ECHR) after a Council of Europe decision to continue supervision of property rights, following discussions in Strasbourg this week.

The dispute centres on the implementation of judgments by the ECHR concerning property claims arising from the 1974 Turkish invasion and the rights of refugee Greek Cypriot owners.

Turkey had sought to end the Council of Europe’s monitoring process, arguing that its obligations had been fulfilled.

That effort failed during a meeting of the ministerial committee responsible for overseeing the execution of ECHR rulings.

According to the Foreign ministry, member states approved a proposal submitted by Cyprus requesting preparation of an interpretative question concerning a section of the court’s 2014 judgment.

The proposal secured the support of 25 member states, while two voted against and 19 abstained.

The decision means the committee will continue supervising implementation of the ruling rather than closing the case.

Responding on Saturday, Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Oncu Keceli claimed the outcome reflected efforts by the Republic to use the human rights system for political purposes.

He said it had “once again proved impossible” to close the group of cases concerning the property rights of displaced persons, despite what he described as recommendations from the Council of Europe secretariat to terminate supervision.

Keceli also referred to the committee’s instruction for the secretariat to prepare a study on the interpretation of property provisions contained in the 2014 judgment.

He described the move as an “exceptional procedure” used only when disagreements arise over the interpretation of a court ruling.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry further argued that the Republic’s actions were obstructing the effective functioning of the convention framework and demonstrating a “disingenuous attitude” towards efforts to resolve the Cyprus issue.

Ankara expressed concern over what it characterised as the erosion of the convention system for political reasons and said it would continue to monitor developments in coordination with the Turkish Cypriot side.

Cyprus has maintained that further clarification is required regarding the interpretation and implementation of specific aspects of the court’s judgment.

Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos welcomed the committee’s decision, stating that Turkey had failed to achieve its objective of ending international supervision of the property dimension of the case.

The committee has instructed its secretariat to prepare a draft interpretative question for possible referral to the ECHR.

The matter is expected to return to the committee next June, when member states will decide whether to proceed with a formal request for the court’s interpretation.