Athens, 23 February 2010

With regard to the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights on the Agnidis v. Turkey case, which condemns Turkey, Foreign Ministry spokesman Gregory Delavekouras stated the following:

Once again, the European Court of Human Rights, in the judgment it handed down today on the Agnidis v. Turkey case, found Turkey to be in breach of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention (protection of property).

The right to inheritance of Greek citizens regarding property located in Istanbul is confirmed once again and the foundations for a positive outcome to other similar cases of property claims in Istanbul are strengthened.

As in earlier relevant cases, the Greek government actively intervened in the case by lodging written observations corroborating the applicants’ position. Turkey must comply with ECHR judgments and respect the inheritance rights of Greek citizens, something which has been repeatedly outlined by the competent EU bodies.

The Agnidis v. Turkey case concerns the questioning – by invoking the principle of reciprocity – of inheritance rights on property located in Turkey, due to the beneficiaries’ Greek nationality, 50 years following the death of the decedent and although the family have been paying property tax to the Turkish state for the past 50 years.

This judgment is yet another to be added to the settled ECHR case-law regarding Greek property rights in Turkey (judgments of 27/3/2007 Apostolidis and others v. Turkey, of 8/1/2008 Nacaryan and Deryan v. Turkey, and of 29/9/2009 Fokas v. Turkey).