Constitutional Court paves way for terror victims to finally receive compensation

Oya Armutçu ANKARA

Turkey’s Constitutional Court has ruled that the rights of two terror victims were violated by separate courts that had refused their compensation demands for losses, on the grounds that “their villages had not been evacuated completely.”

The rulings pave the way for those who were not paid compensation on the same grounds to launch new legal processes.

In the first case, the compensation demand of a mother in the southeastern province of Batman, whose son was kidnapped and killed by a terrorist organization, was rejected by the court, saying the settlement in which the woman and her son were living had not been completely evacuated due to terrorist incidents at the time.

Another person in Batman opened a lawsuit to claim damages after his father was killed and he was wounded in a terrorist attack. Following examinations, his demand was rejected as a damage determination committee said there was no movable or real estate registered to the complainant. The Council of State also rejected his appeal on the same grounds as in the other case.

Following the individual complaints, the Constitutional Court ruled that the court decisions based on settlement evacuation criteria were unlawful. The rulings did not comply with the aim of a law enacted to cover the losses incurred within the framework of the fight against terrorism, it said.

According to data from the Interior Ministry, a 171 million-Turkish Lira fund was put at the disposal of the governors’ offices of 14 provinces between 1999 and 2013 as part of rehabilitation works for those whose villages were evacuated. A total of 3 billion Turkish Liras was also paid as compensation to victims over nine years.