Communicated on 13 March 2019
SECOND SECTION
Application no. 38960/11
Turgut TOPLUSOY and ROMAN HAZIR GİYİM VE TEKSTİL
SAN. TİC. A.Ş.
against Turkey
lodged on 16 March 2011
SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE
The application concerns the applicants’ inability to obtain an amount of 500,000 United States dollars, which had been deposited in an account at a bank (Demirbank) in relation to a sales agreement between the applicant company and that bank. The account, where the said amount had been deposited, was blocked, that is, the applicants would be able to withdraw the money only once both parties fulfilled their contractual obligations.
On 6 December 2000 the Banking Regulation and Supervision Board (Bankalar Düzenleme ve Denetleme Kurulu) decided to transfer the management and control of Demirbank to the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (Tassarruf Mevduatı Sigorta Fonu). As a result, the Fund confiscated all properties belonging to Demirbank, including the amount at issue in the present case, as the block on the applicant’s account had not yet been lifted following the finalisation of the sales agreement.
The applicants unsuccessfully initiated civil proceedings against the Fund in an attempt to obtain the payment of the money deposited in the bank in their names.
Invoking Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention, the applicants complain that their right to property has been violated.
QUESTIONS tO THE PARTIES
1. Has there been an interference with the applicants’ peaceful enjoyment of possessions, within the meaning of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1?
2. If so, was that interference provided by law and did it pursue an aim in the public interest or the general interest? Did it impose an excessive individual burden on the applicants within the meaning of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 (see Immobiliare Saffi v. Italy, [GC], no. 22774/93, § 59, ECHR 1999-V)?
APPENDIX Turgut TOPLUSOY is a Turkish national who was born in 1949, lives in İstanbul and is represented by H. Akalp. ROMAN HAZIR GİYİM VE TEKSTİL SAN. TİC. A.Ş. is a company in İstanbul and is represented by H. Akalp.
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