European court orders Turkey to pay 15m euros in Cyprus compensation

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Turkey should pay Greek Cypriots 15 million euros in damages for violating property rights on the island, according to a statement released by the court Tuesday.

According to Hurriyet Daily News, the court ruled in September and October 2009 that the Turkish state had violated the principles of protection of property rights and respecting private and family life in 19 cases. The court had postponed announcing the amount of the fine until Tuesday.

According to the ruling, Turkey was ordered to pay the plaintiffs 15 million euros within three months in the largest fine the court has ever handed out in one sitting.

The applicants to the court said they were not able to return to their homes after Turkey intervened in an Athens-backed military coup aimed at uniting the island of Cyprus with Greece in 1974. The complainants claimed that this was act of violation of human rights.

The applications to the court were made between 1990 and 1999, pre-dating the regulatory commission in Turkish Cyprus that acts as the current authority on property rights cases opened by Greek Cypriots against the Turkish state.