The European Court of Human Rights’ Grand Chamber has ordered Turkey to pay 108 thousand Euros in compensation to the families of 18 Greek Cypriots claimed to have gone missing or killed during the 1974 .
The court also ordered Turkey to pay 72 thousand Euros for the court’s expenses but stopped short of holding Ankara responsible for the deaths of the Greek Cypriots.
Each of the Greek Cypriot applicants will be paid 12 thousand Euros in compensation.
The case brought before the European Court of Human Right’s Grand Chamber concerns an application brought by the families of 18 Greek Cypriots, nine of whom disappeared after being captured and detained during the 1974 Turkish Peace Operation.
The nine other applicants are or were relatives of the men who went missing.
In a earlier judgment on the 10th January 2008, the Court held, by six votes to one, that there had been a continuing violation of Article 2,3 and 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights concerning Turkey’s failure to conduct an effective investigation into the whereabouts and fate of the applicants.
The ruling which is the first on a missing persons claim is important as it could set an example for similar cases in the future.
The court ruled that Turkey violated articles 2,3,4,5,8,10,12,13,14 of the European Convention of Human Rights.