European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ordered Turkey to pay 325,000 euros in damages to the families of five youths killed by the Turkish army.The youths, including a 22-year-old man, a 24-year-old woman, and three girls aged 13, 15, and 16, were killed in January 2005.
The incident occurred in the country's southeast where Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has been fighting for an autonomous Kurdish region since the 1980s.
The army claimed that the victims were armed PKK members who had opened fire on a group of soldiers patrolling in the mountains of the region.
On Tuesday, the Strasbourg-based Europe's rights court decreed that Turkey had presented no convincing evidence proving the claims that the youths were armed.
"The government failed to show to the court's satisfaction that the resort to the use of fatal force... had been absolutely necessary and proportionate," the court said.
The court also ruled that Turkey had failed to conduct a thorough investigation into the case.
"No meaningful investigation was conducted at the domestic level, capable of establishing the true facts surrounding the killings," the court added.
The compensation includes 65,000 euros for the parents of each of the victims, and 5,930 euros for court costs and expenses.
On Sunday, the Turkish police attacked thousands of Kurdish demonstrators in Diyarbakir, the main city in the countrys Kurdish-dominated southeast.
The protesters gathered in the center of the city to press the central government to advance the peace process with the PKK.
Earlier this year, the Turkish government and PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan launched an initiative to establish peace in Turkeys southeast.
The conflict between Ankara and the PKK has left tens of thousands of people dead.
The unrest in southeastern Turkey comes after weeks of unrelated anti-government protests in Istanbul, Ankara and dozens of other cities in which several people have died and thousands have been injured.
The protests began on May 31 after police broke up a sit-in held at Taksim Square to protest against a proposal to redevelop Gezi Park, which is a traditional gathering point for rallies and demonstrations as well as a popular tourist destination.
The demonstrators say the park is also one of Istanbul's last green public spaces.
By Press TV
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