14.12.2006 - Source: Human Rights Watch

Report on the impact of the country's compensation law with respect to internally displaced people (IDPs) (background; impact of the ECtHR on provisions for displaced; forced conciliation; trends since the Içyer judgment; methods used by damage assessment commissions to reduce or avoid payment; inconsistency in conciliation payments) ("Turkey: Displaced Villagers Denied Fair Compensation") [ID 19672]

For detailed information on the compensation law and its impact on IDPs consult the original document

"More than two years after coming into force, Turkey’s law to compensate the several hundred thousand mainly Kurdish villagers forcibly displaced by the armed conflict in the southeast of the country is being implemented in a way contrary to the government’s stated purpose and principles of fair and appropriate redress. Rulings by provincial commissions charged with the law’s implementation are actually hindering those internally displaced who would like to return to their pre-conflict homes. [...]

The Law on Compensation for Damage Arising from Terror and Combating Terror (Compensation Law), was adopted by the Turkish parliament and went into effect in July 2004. The law was intended to indemnify victims of the armed conflict between Turkish government forces and the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK), which took place in southeastern Turkey from 1984 onward. Among these victims were the 378,335 villagers—mainly Kurdish farmers and their families—who were forcibly displaced from their homes and livelihoods by the conflict. Payments under the Compensation Law to this group are intended to cover losses arising from the original displacement, as well as those incurred during the decade or more that these families were unable to return to their property."

Document(s): Open document

23.02.2006 - Source: Human Rights Watch

High inconsistency in the rulings of provincial damage assessment commissions concerning internally displaced persons' applications for compensation under the Law on Compensation for Damage Arising from Terror and Combatting Terror ("Call for Urgent Review of Compensation Law Payments to Internally Displaced Families") [#44974],  [ID 13329]

Document(s): Open document

26.05.2005 - Source: Schweizerische Flüchtlingshilfe

Information as to threats of Turkish citizens of Kurdish origins when filing suits against the Turkish State ("Gefährdungsprofil für türkische Staatsangehörige kurdischer Herkunft bei Klagen gegen den türkischen Staat") [#33210],  [ID 13330]

Document(s): Open document

07.03.2005 - Source: Human Rights Watch

Law on compensation of displaced persons for material damage caused by armed opposition groups as well as by government security forces adopted in July 2004 ("“Still critical”: Prospects in 2005 for Internally Displaced Kurds in Turkey") [#29758],  [ID 13331]

"The Turkish government’s implementation during 2005 of its new Compensation Law will be a key test of its commitment to a new approach toward IDPs. Introduced as a reform to meet the political requirements for E.U. candidacy, the law is intended to provide compensation to displaced persons for material damage caused between 1987 and 2004 by armed opposition groups as well as by government security forces. The Law on Compensation for Damage Arising from Terror and Combatting Terror (Law 5233) was passed by the Turkish parliament on July 17, 2004. Regulations for implementing the law were published in the Official Gazette on October 20, 2004."

Document(s): Open document

07.03.2005 - Source: Human Rights Watch

Without critical interest from the international community there is a risk theat IDPs will be disappointed once again ("“Still critical”: Prospects in 2005 for Internally Displaced Kurds in Turkey") [#29758],  [ID 13332]

"If the government operationalizes its planned IDP agency, develops a credible plan for demobilizing the village guard system, participates in the UNDP project, and uses the Compensation Law to channel funds toward IDPs rather than as a bureaucratic scheme for withholding resources, it will have convincingly changed course. Whether it is ready to do this will become clear during 2005. Extremely close scrutiny by the relevant U.N. bodies and the E.U. throughout this critical year significantly increases the likelihood of progress. Without critical interest from the international community, an injection of a sense of urgency and sharp reminders of the standards contained by the U.N. Guiding Principles, there is a risk that the Turkish state’s well-established do-nothing policy will reassert itself and IDPs will be disappointed once again."

Document(s): Open document