SECOND SECTION
CASE OF KÖSE v. TURKEY
(Application no. 37616/02)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
7 December 2010
FINAL
07/03/2011
This judgment has become final under Article 44 § 2 of the Convention. It may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Köse v. Turkey,
The European Court of Human Rights (Second Section), sitting as a Chamber composed of:
Ireneu Cabral Barreto, President,
Danutė Jočienė,
Dragoljub Popović,
András Sajó,
Nona Tsotsoria,
Işıl Karakaş,
Kristina Pardalos, judges,
and Stanley Naismith, Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 16 November 2010,
Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:
PROCEDURE
1. The case originated in an application (no. 37616/02) against the Republic of Turkey lodged with the European Commission of Human Rights (“the Commission”) under former Article 25 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by six Turkish nationals, Bozan Köse, İbrahim Halil Köse, Mehmet Köse, Meryem Köse, Müslüm Köse and Zöhre Köse (“the applicants”), on 17 May 1997.
2. The applicants were represented by Mr M. Erkmen, a lawyer practising in Şanlıurfa. The Turkish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent.
3. On 4 November 2008 the Court declared the application partly inadmissible in respect of Mr Müslüm Köse, Mr Mehmet Köse, Mr Bozan Köse and Ms Meryem Köse and decided to communicate the application to the Government in respect of the other applicants, İbrahim Halil Köse and Zöhre Köse, in relation to parcels nos. 155, 193, 157, 195, 27, 150, 171, 135, 203 and 129 owned by them. It also decided to examine the merits of the application at the same time as its admissibility (former Article 29 § 3).
THE FACTS
I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE
4. The applicants İbrahim Halil Köse and Zöhre Köse are Turkish nationals who were born in 1955 and 1927 respectively and live in Şanlıurfa. They are represented before the Court by Mr M. Erkmen, a lawyer practising in Şanlıurfa.
5. On an unspecified date the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources expropriated several plots of land, namely parcels nos. 155, 193, 157, 195, 27, 150, 171, 135, 203 and 129, belonging to the applicants in the Meteler village of Birecik, in Şanlıurfa, for the construction of the Birecik Dam.
6. In 1996, the applicants commenced proceedings before the Birecik Civil Court for additional compensation for their respective plots. Following the applicants’ requests, the Birecik Civil Court of First Instance awarded them additional compensation plus interest at the statutory rate. However, no interest was awarded for parcels nos. 203 and 129. The Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources appealed and the Court of Cassation upheld the judgments of the first instance court.
7. In February and June 1997 the administration made payments to the applicants of additional compensation. The details regarding the proceedings and payments are indicated in the table below:
NAMES OF THE
APPLICANTS
DATE ON WHICH THE APPLICANTS INITIATED PROCEEDINGS FOR ADDITIONAL COMPENSATION
DATE OF FIRST-INSTANCE COURT DECISION
DATE OF COURT OF CASSATION DECISION
AMOUNT OF ADDITIONAL COMPENSATION AWARDED
(in Turkish liras (TRL))
DATES AND
AMOUNTS OF PAYMENT
(INCLUDING STATUTORY INTEREST
AT THE RATE OF 30 %
PER ANNUM AND COSTS)
(in TRL)
İ. Halil Köse
Zöhre Köse
(parcel no. 155)
19/03/1996
26/08/1996
18/11/1996
1,868,488,592
14/02/1997
2,324,891,115
İ. Halil Köse
Zöhre Köse
(parcel no. 193)
19/03/1996
26/08/1996
18/11/1996
2,161,447,064
14/02/1997
2,698,610,288
İ. Halil Köse
Zöhre Köse
(parcel no. 157)
19/03/1996
26/08/1996
18/11/1996
1,063,296,256
14/02/1997
1,300,603,385
İ. Halil Köse
Zöhre Köse
(parcel no. 195)
19/03/1996
26/08/1996
18/11/1996
1,850,677,152
14/02/1997
2,301,699,955
İ. Halil Köse
Zöhre Köse
(parcel no. 27)
19/03/1996
27/08/1996
27/12/1996
406,275,000
10/06/1997
495,477,646
İ. Halil Köse
Zöhre Köse
(parcel no. 150)
19/03/1996
5/07/1996
25/11/1996
209,207,112
14/02/1997
228,681,850
İ. Halil Köse
Zöhre Köse
(parcel no. 171)
19/03/1996
26/08/1996
18/11/1996
772,542,480
14/02/1997
931,692,931
İ. Halil Köse
Zöhre Köse
(parcel no. 135)
19/03/1996
26/08/1996
25/11/1996
627,694,984
14/02/1997
747,662,131
İ. Halil Köse
(parcel no. 203)
19/03/1996
27/08/1996
23/12/1996
2,667,498,900
10/06/1997
2,595,161,406
İ. Halil Köse
(parcel no. 129)
19/03/1996
11/10/1996
23/12/1996
688,410,160
10/06/1997
632,468,110
II. RELEVANT DOMESTIC LAW AND PRACTICE
8. The relevant domestic law and practice are set out in the cases of Akkuş v. Turkey (9 July 1997, Reports of Judgments and Decisions 1997‑IV), Aka v. Tur
