Greek Cypriot Constantinos Lordos, together with 12 co-plaintiffs, filed a case with the ECtHR in 1990 after the Turkish military intervention blocked access to their properties in the district of Maras.
In its principal judgment, delivered on Nov. 2, 2010, the ECtHR ruled that the military activity had violated the right to “protection of property” of eight applicants and the right to “respect for private and family life” of a further seven.
In a judgment rendered on Jan. 10, 2012, the court awarded the applicants between 100,000 and 8,000,000 euros each for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages, as well as a further 15,000 euros, to be shared between all applicants, for costs and expenses incurred during the process.
Following the outcome of the 2010 Demopoulos v. Turkey case, the ECtHR recognized the Immovable Property Commission, founded by the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC) as “an appropriate domestic body” for dealing with disputes and subsequently directed more than 1,400 cases to the commission. The court had previously ruled that decisions concerning compensation claims by Greek Cypriots that were made before the Demopoulos decision would be handled by the ECtHR. As a result, Lordos and Others v. Turkey will be the last case to be heard by the court.
As of Jan. 10, 2012, 2,801 applications have been lodged with the commission. Of these, 194 have been concluded through out-of-court settlements and seven through formal hearings. To date, the KKTC government has paid more than 77 million euros to applicants in compensation.
