Top court rules against compensation

AYDIN - Hürriyet Daily News

A bomb explosion on a minibus killed five people in 2005 in Kuşadası. Hürriyet photo

Turkey’s Council of State has ruled against a court decision to pay 70,000 Turkish Liras in compensation to the families of three terror victims who were killed seven years ago on the grounds that “the one at fault is terror.”

A bomb attack seven years ago in the Aegean province of Aydın’s Kuşadası district killed Deniz Tutum (21), Ufuk Yücedeniz (23) and Eda Okyay (24), along with English tourist Helen Bennett (21) and Irish tourist Tana Whalen (17).

The decision to pay 70,000 liras compensation to the families of the deceased was withdrawn by the Council of State upon an objection by the Interior Ministry on the grounds that “the state was not negligent in any duty.”

The families of the deceased have reportedly been shocked by the decision; if the families lose their appeal, they will have to pay back the 70,000 liras with interest.

“I don’t want a penny. If the state was not at fault, then why couldn’t they bring my daughter back?” Tutum’s mother said. Amzi Okyay also said they had been forced to use some of the compensation. “We sacrificed our children to terror. The state gave us compensation which can never compensate for the loss of our children, and now they want to take the money back, as if the deaths were our fault,” he said.
On July 16, 2005, a bomb exploded on a minibus heading to Kuşadası, killed Tutum, Yücedeniz, Okyay, Whalen and Bennett. M.S.K., who organized the attack, was arrested in Elazığ.