Greece To Pay Compensation To Ten Persons Living In Western Thrace

STRASBOURG - In line with the verdict of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), Greece will pay compensation to ten persons of Turkish origin living in Western Thrace.
Greece will pay totally 1.66 million Euros including costs and expenses to ten persons who owned olive grove in Chalkidiki (northern Greece). Greece state occupied the grove in 1925 with a view to settling refugees from Turkey there. The land in question was expropriated in 1933 and compensation proceedings began in December 1933. The Greek courts repeatedly dismissed objections by the State that the applicants' right to compensation had lapsed. However, on 17 July 1995 the Court of Appeal held that the applicants' right to compensation had lapsed since at least 1971. The proceedings ended on 15 July 1997 when the Court of Cassation gave judgment upholding that ruling. The applicants were not awarded any compensation.
Under Article 41 (just satisfaction) of the Convention, the European Court of Human Rights on Thursday awarded the applicants jointly EUR 1,600,000 for pecuniary damage and EUR 60,000 for costs and expenses.
In a judgment of 6 December 2001 the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) held that that the applicants had suffered a disproportionate restriction on their right of access to a court and that their case had not been heard within a reasonable time. It further held that that the lack of any compensation for the taking of the applicants' possessions had upset the fair balance that should be struck between the protection of property and the requirements of the general interest. It therefore held that there had been a violation of Article 6/1 (right to a fair hearing within a reasonable time) and of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 (protection of property) and reserved the question of just satisfaction, which was not ready for decision.
Greece will pay compensation to Fatma Ayten Yagcilar, Mustafa Aykut Yagcilar, Yakut Yagcilar, Nermin Baykal, Bahadir Atik, Feriha Neriman Atik, Alan Osman, Mukaddes Saracoglu, Rikkat Karaoglu, and Kenan Haciosmanoglu.
Diplomatic sources in ECHR said that the decision was important, adding that it could constitute a model for other applications from Western Thrace.
(Öª) 15.01.2004