About Tribunal
Property Rights Tribunal Turkey
Property Rights Violations in Turkey
In Turkey, particularly in the post-2014 period, systematic violations of property rights have been carried out, heavily involving state institutions. Numerous violations have taken place and continue in different areas, such as: the closure of institutions and the transfer of their assets to the state treasury without compensation through Decree-Laws (KHKs) enacted during the state of emergency; the appointment of the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF), a state institution, as trustee to companies through unlawful terrorism investigations; the management of these companies by TMSF and individuals close to the AKP government assigned by it; the dismissal of hundreds of thousands of people from their jobs in the public and private sectors through KHKs; and the confiscation of individuals’ and companies’ real estate, vehicles, and assets through court decisions based on unlawful prosecutions.
The Property Rights Tribunal’s mission is to independently and professionally document and report on property rights violations in Türkiye, based on standards and principles elaborated by international courts and utilizing best practices from national courts.
As the Property Rights Tribunal, the aim is to identify, document, and adjudicate systematic property rights violations in Turkey, in which state institutions, political authorities, judicial organs, law enforcement, and many other actors are involved, in line with universal tribunal standards.
The effort of the Property Rights Tribunal to expose systematic property rights violations in Turkey—violations that have led to a massive legal and humanitarian crisis and amount to billions of dollars—stems from the responsibility to respond to the cry for justice of victims whose assets were unlawfully confiscated. Through these proceedings, it is intended to establish and categorize the property rights violations committed, pave the way for that perpetrators are judged in accordance with universal law, and the compensation of victims’ losses.