Turkish court to send notification of lease case to France

ISTANBUL

In the compensation lawsuit filed by a tourism company to the French Consulate in Istanbul’s Beyoğlu district for unilateral termination of their lease agreements, the court has decided to issue a notification to France as the embassy did not receive notifications.

The Robela Tourism company leased the area in the garden of the French Consulate General of France and the French Cultural Center on Istiklal Street to operate as a cafe on July 24, 2015.

In the contract, the ambassador of France to Türkiye was the lessor on behalf of the French Republic, and the tourism company was the lessee.

The French Embassy terminated the contract with a letter sent to Robela Tourism on March 22, 2021, and requested release until June 25 of the same year.

Robela Tourism, which operated the cafe for seven years, filed a compensation lawsuit against the French Republic as the embassy unilaterally terminated the lease agreement last year.

The company’s lawyers demanded compensation of 6,000 Turkish Liras ($321) on the grounds that their client suffered material and moral damage.

The court dealing with the compensation case sent two notifications to the French Embassy in Türkiye, which the court considered as the representative of the French Republic.

Since the embassy did not receive these notifications, the court decided to issue a notification to the French Republic.

“The court sent the petition of the case to the embassy. The embassy did not receive the notification. Now the notification will be made to France,” explained Cem Murat Sofuoğlu, one of the lawyers of the company.

“Due to this crisis, the hearing was postponed to Oct. 12, 2023. The longer the case goes on, the longer a fair decision gets delayed. The client’s grievance cannot be resolved due to the notification problem,” Sofuoğlu stated.

The tourism company also filed a criminal complaint against five people, including French Ambassador to Türkiye Herve Magro and French Consul General in Istanbul Olivier Gauvin.