A day earlier, the European Court of Human Rights decision ordered Turkey, which exercises military control over the northern third of the island, to settle the property issue, which goes to the very heart of Cyprus's division.
The ECHR said Turkey was guilty of human rights violations for denying Greek Cypriots access to their property in the breakaway north of the island and must seek a "domestic remedy" to compensate the property owners.
It ruled that Greek Cypriot plaintiff Myra Xenides-Arestis was deprived of the right to use her property, but it adjourned the case and ordered Turkey to set up an "effective reparation mechanism" for the plaintiff and about 1,400 similar cases pending at the court.
"Such a remedy should be available within three months and redress should occur three months after that," the court said.
Though the Cypriot government would prefer the court itself set the level of compensation in each case and order the restoration of property to refugees, Xenides-Arestis's lawyer said on Friday that the case was unprecedented.
"For the first time Turkey has been given a time limit for finding a satisfactory remedy. Basically, within six months they must give my client her house back and allow her back to that property," Achilleas Demetriades said.
"This is a pilot case but it applies to other persons and works for every refugee. If Turkey does not do it, compensation should be awarded and political pressure applied," he added.
Property issues are among the most contentious disputes in Cyprus, divided along ethnic lines since Turkey seized the north in response to an Athens-engineered coup aiming to unite Cyprus with Greece.
More than 165,000 Greek Cypriots fled the north as a result of the invasion, making property a hot issue in Cyprus. Displaced Greek Cypriots outnumber Turkish Cypriots, most of whom fled north, by about four to one.
Earlier this month, lawyer Cherie Blair, the wife of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, came under heavy criticism in Cyprus after she took on the case of a British couple told to demolish their home after building it on Greek Cypriot property in the north.
Blair is fighting the case in Britain's High Court, and the Cypriot government strongly protested to London over the move, which it sees as political involvement from Tony Blair's wife.
Cypriot government spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides described the ECHR ruling as further proof of human rights violations by Turkey but said it now had a "window of opportunity" to put things right.
"An effective remedy means restoration of properties and compensation for 31 years loss of use," Chrysostomides said.
He added that it remained to be seen whether Turkey would find a satisfactory remedy.
In anticipation of the judgement, the self-styled Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), recognized only by Ankara, adopted legislation on Monday aimed at accelerating the settlement of property disputes.
The move was reportedly undertaken through pressure from Ankara, anxious to curb the avalanche of petitions since it was ordered by the European court in 1998 to pay compensation to another Greek Cypriot woman.
Turkish Cypriot authorities nationalized all land and property belonging to Greek Cypriots before 1974 and most was distributed to Turkish Cypriots displaced from the south and to settlers from Turkey.
The TRNC law allows Greek Cypriots to seek both compensation and the return of their properties before a special commission.
The Greek Cypriots question whether the compensation deal would go far enough.
Critics say Turkey has been "let off the hook" and that Ankara will be able to drag its feet over the issue while the pending cases before the ECHR remain in limbo.
A United Nations peace plan to reunify Cyprus failed in April 2004 when Greek Cypriots voted it down, even though the Turkish Cypriots gave it overwhelming support.
A key reason for Greek Cypriot dissent were concerns over reparations for lost property in the proposed land-redistribution process.
The ECHR said rejection of the UN plan had no legal consequences on ending the continuing rights violations of displaced persons.
© 2005 Agence France-Presse
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