THIRD SECTION

DECISION [1]

Application no. 74608/01 by Fikriye YOMAK and Others against Turkey

The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting on 18 September 2003 as a Chamber composed of

Mr G. Ress , President , Mr I. Cabral Barreto , Mr L. Caflisch , Mr R. Türmen , Mr B. Zupančič , Mrs H.S. Greve , Mr K. Traja, judges , and Mr V. Berger , Section Registrar ,

Having regard to the above application lodged with the European Commission of Human Rights on 20 July 1998,

Having regard to the formal declarations accepting a friendly settlement of the case submitted by the applicant and the Government on 9 June 2003 and 23 June 2003 respectively,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

THE FACTS

The applicants, Fikriye Yomak, Hasibe (Yomak) Sarısakal, Nurdiye (Yomak) Aydoğdu, Nurgül (Yomak) Dural and Hülya (Yomak) Balcıoğlu, are Turkish nationals, who were born in 1930, 1954, 1958, 1960 and 1965 respectively and live in Aydın. They are represented before the Court by Mr Nezettin Akkuzu, a lawyer practising in Aydın.

The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows.

The General Directorate of National Roads and Highways expropriated a plot of land belonging to the applicants in Aydın in order to build a motorway. A committee of experts assessed the value of the plot of land belonging to the applicants and this amount was paid to them when the expropriation took place.

Following the applicants' request for increased compensation, on 8 July 1996 the Aydın Civil Court of General Jurisdiction awarded them additional compensation plus an interest at the statutory rate of 30 % per annum from 5 January 1996. This decision was upheld by the Court of Cassation on 8 April 1997 and the due amount was paid to the applicants on 2 February 1998.

Details are indicated in the table below:

DATE OF FINAL THE DECISION DELIVERED BY THE COURT OF CASSATION  AS REGARDS ADDITIONAL COMPENSATION

AMOUNT OF ADDITIONAL COMPENSATION (INTERESTS AND LEGAL COSTS ARE NOT INCLUDED)

(In Turkish liras)

DATE OF PAYMENT

AMOUNT OF PAYMENT (INCLUDING STATUTORY INTEREST AT THE RATE OF 30 % PER ANNUM AND COSTS)

(in Turkish liras)

08.04.1997

7,357,324,600

02.02.1998

12,442,491,000

COMPLAINT

The applicants complain under Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 that at a time when the annual rate of inflation in Turkey had been very high, they had been paid insufficient interest on additional compensation received following the expropriation of their land and the authorities had delayed in paying them the relevant amount.

THE LAW

Following informal contacts between the applicants' and the Government's representatives, the Section Registrar was asked to assist the parties in reaching a solution to the matter. As a result, the Registrar addressed draft declarations to the parties.

The Court received the following declaration from the Government:

“I declare that the Government of the Republic of Turkey offer to pay ex gratia to the applicants an all-inclusive amount of EUR 15,000 (fifteen thousand euros) with a view to securing a friendly settlement of their application registered under no. 74608/01. This sum, which also covers legal expenses connected with the case, shall be free of any tax that may be applicable and be paid in euros , to be converted into Turkish liras at the rate applicable at the date of payment, to a bank account named by the applicants and/or their duly authorised representative. This sum shall be payable within three months from the date of the notification of the decision delivered by the Court ...

This payment will constitute the final settlement of the case...”

The Court received the following declaration from the representative of the applicants:

“We note that the Government of Turkey are prepared to pay us ex gratia the sum of EUR 15,000 (fifteen thousand euros) with a view to securing a friendly settlement of our application registered under no. 74608/01 . This sum, which is to cover any pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage as well as legal costs and expenses connected with the case, shall be paid in euros, to be converted into Turkish liras at the rate applicable at the date of payment, to a bank account named by us. The sum shall be payable, free of any taxes that may be applicable, within three months from the date of the decision delivered by the Court .. .

We accept the proposal and waive any further claims against Turkey in respect of the facts of this application. We declare that this constitutes a final settlement of the case.

This declaration is made in the context of a friendly settlement which the Government and we have reached.”

The Court takes note of the agreement reached between the parties. It is satisfied that the settlement is based on respect for human rights as defined in the Convention or its Protocols and considers that there is no reason which would justify the continuation of the examination of the application (Article 37 § 1 in fine of the Convention and Rule 62 § 3 of the Rules of the Court).

For these reasons, the Court unanimously

Decides to strike the application out of its list of cases.

Vincent Berger Georg Ress Registrar President

[1] . This version has been rectified under Rule 81 of the Rules of Court on 11 March 2004.