The European Court of Human Rights (Second Section), sitting on 14 March 2017 as a Committee composed of: Nebojša Vučinić, President, Valeriu Griţco, Stéphanie Mourou-Vikström, judges, and Hasan Bakırcı, Deputy Section Registrar, Having regard to the above applications lodged on 13 April 2009 and 14 December 2010 respectively, Having regard to the observations submitted by the respondent Government and the observations in reply submitted by the applicants, Having deliberated, decides as follows: THE FACTS 1. The applicants are Turkish nationals. Their names and birth dates, as well as the names of their representatives, appear in the appendix. 2. In application no. 25631/09, one of the applicants, namely Ms Ayşe Güler died on 4 June 2012. On 9 December 2016 her heirs, Ms Nurhan Güler (Kayatürk), Ms Nurcan Güler (Hiştik) and Ms Aycan Güler (Çetindağ) applied to continue the...
SECOND SECTION DECISION Application nos. 25631/09 and 26315/11 Ayşe GÜLER and Others against Turkey and Kahraman BULUT and Others against Turkey The European Court of Human Rights (Second Section), sitting on 14 March 2017 as a Committee composed of: Nebojša Vučinić, President, Valeriu Griţco, Stéphanie Mourou-Vikström, judges, and Hasan Bakırcı, Deputy Section Registrar, Having regard to the above applications lodged on 13 April 2009 and 14 December 2010 respectively, Having regard to the observations submitted by the respondent Government and the observations in reply submitted by the applicants, Having deliberated, decides as follows: THE FACTS 1. The applicants are Turkish nationals. Their names and birth dates, as well as the names of their representatives, appear in the appendix. 2. In application no. 25631/09, one of the applicants, namely Ms Ayşe Güler died on 4 June 2012. On 9 December 2016 her heirs, Ms Nurhan Güler (Kayatürk), Ms Nurcan Güler (Hiştik) and Ms Aycan Güler (Çetindağ) applied to continue the application in her stead. 3. In application no. 26315/11, two of the applicants, namely Mr Atilla Bulut and Mr Mehmet Bulut died on 9 November 2009 and 30 September 2014 respectively. On 7 December 2016 their heirs, Ms Gülnihal Bulut, Ms Hülya Alptekin, Mr Kemal Bulut, Ms Ayla Karadağ, Ms Gülseren Kaplan, Mr İdris Bulut, Ms Nihayet Bulut, Mr Ozan Bulut, Ms Demet Bulut and Mr Muhammed Bilal Bulut indicated their wish to continue the application.
2 GÜLER AND OTHERS v. TURKEY AND BULUT AND OTHERS v. TURKEY DECISION 4. The Turkish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent. A. The circumstances of the cases 5. The facts of the cases, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows. 6. The applicants own plots of land. Following local land development plans, their plots of land were designated for public use. Subsequently, complaining about the decrease in the market value of the land and long-term uncertainty about the fate of their plots of land, the applicants initiated compensation proceedings before the civil courts and sought compensation. Their cases were dismissed and as a result they were unable to obtain any redress from the authorities. 7. The details of the applications are set out in the attached table. B. Relevant domestic law and practice 8. A description of the domestic law and practice with respect to the Compensation Commission (see paragraph 12 below) may be found in Paksoy and Others v. Turkey ((dec.), no. 19474/10, 7 June 2016). COMPLAINT 9. The applicants complained under Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention that as a result of the restrictions imposed on their land, their right to peaceful enjoyment of their possessions had been breached. In this connection, they claimed that the restrictions substantially decreased the market value of their land, caused uncertainty and restricted the use of their property. Furthermore, the applicants pointe...