The Greek judicial system has refused to recognise that Greek soldiers of the Hellenic Force in Cyprus (ELDYK) fought in Cyprus during the Turkish invasion in July and August 1974 despite their services being recorded in the official documents of the Defence Ministry.
Forty-seven years after the invasion of Cyprus by Turkey, the Greek soldiers who served there are still being dragged through the Greek courts as they are trying to prove the obvious, namely, that they actually did serve in the war.
Surprisingly, the Greek state refused to recognise this reality for decades, until the adoption of a law in 1998 which acknowledged their military service but left a large gap of 24 years (from 1974 to 1998) of non-recognition.
The veteran heroes of Cyprus who have appealed to the courts cannot be vindicated, as the Greek Justice system is referring them either to administrative or civil courts as being the competent bodies to resolve their claim. The Administrative Courts of First Instance and the Court of Appeals award damages for non-pecuniary damage while the Council of State (CoS) tells them that the civil courts have jurisdiction and to go there again to claim damages.
The even more egregious thing is that the Greek State is demanding these veterans, who served their country by fighting in Cyprus, to return the compensation in case a court had declared a provisionally enforceable decision and had ordered the payment of part of the total compensation it had awarded.
Ten Greek veterans, mostly infantrymen, from 7/20/1974 to 8/20/1974, served in the Hellenic Army in Cyprus, where they had been deployed by the Greek Army to reinforce the Greek Cypriot forces and took part in military operations against the Turkish invasion. Their presence there is even confirmed by the General Staff of the Army.
The Lawsuit
In 2003, these 10 men filed a lawsuit against the State in the Administrative Court of Athens, claiming that, although they fought against the Turks in Cyprus by order of authorised officers of the Greek state, the State refused to recognise their military service there from the end of 1974 to the issuance of law 2641/1998, when their duty was finally recognised. They claimed that their personality and reputation had been insulted (moral damage) and that this omission of the State had violated the European Convention on Human Rights. In fact, this moral damage was aggravated by “the fact that a portion of the Greeks considers them as participants in the coup against the legitimate government of Cyprus.” They claimed 200,000 euros with the legal interest on arrears, as monetary satisfaction for the restoration of their moral damage. The Administrative Court of First Instance of Athens ruled in their favour and awarded each one the amount of 100,000 euros as monetary satisfaction.
The Appeal
The State rescinded to the Administrative Court of Appeal of the first instance decision, which in 2011 ruled that this omission of the State “was illegal as contrary to respect for the value of man, which, according to article 2 par. 1 of the Constitution, is primary obligation of the State “.
The appellants also pointed out that the participants “in these military operations, fulfilling their supreme obligation as Greek citizens, expected that their offer would be recognized at least by the official State and would not be ignored or silenced” and ratified the amount as compensation of 100,000 euros awarded to them.
Again, the State filed an appeal with the Court of Appeals against the appellate decision. Ten years after the State’s appeal, the State Councilors ruled that the reasonable time in which the ten citizens could claim their claims in the administrative courts had expired and that “the civil courts now have jurisdiction”.
In other words, 47 years after the invasion of Cyprus, 24 years after the partial recognition by the Greek state of their military service in Cyprus, 18 years after the filing of the lawsuit in the Court of First Instance, and 10 years after the stay of the appeal in the SC against of the Court of Appeal, the State Counselors are now saying to those who fought in Cyprus against the invader to start from scratch in the civil courts (Court of First Instance).
The absurdity
As if all this were not enough, the State requested the Council of State (CoS) to return the amount of compensation that had probably been temporarily awarded to them. The State Council rejected the request, as it did not appear that part of the compensation had been given.
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