Euro court fines Turkey over refusal to appoint woman as security guard

STRASBOURG

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has fined Turkey 11,000 euros over the government-owned electricity distribution company’s refusal to appoint a woman as a security officer on account of her gender.

The court said in its June 19-dated ruling that there had been a violation of Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights since “the decisions of the [Turkish] national authorities amounted to a discriminatory difference in treatment.”

The ruling follows the application of Hülya Ebru Demirel, a Turkish national who was born in 1976 and lives in the southeastern province of Kilis.

In October 1999 the applicant passed a civil service exam and was informed that she would be appointed as a security officer at the Kilis branch of the Turkish Electricity Distribution company (TEDAŞ).

However, the company refused to appoint her, citing her failure to fulfil the condition for the position to be “a man who has completed military service.” The applicant initially won a discrimination court case against the company in 2001 but that decision was overturned on appeal by the Supreme Administrative Court in December 2002.

Demirel’s subsequent appeals were all reported to be unsuccessful, which ultimately led her to lodge an appeal at the ECHR on June 17, 2008.

The court said in its ruling that the “domestic authorities did not give any reasons other than Ms. Demirel’s gender for her not being appointed.” It therefore ordered Turkey to pay her 11,000 euros in pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages.