In a verdict released on January 22, the European Court of Human Rights ordered Turkey to pay 10,000 Euros each to five politicians convicted for speaking Kurdish during election campaigns from 2001-2007.

The court found Turkey guilty of violating the European Declaration of Human Rights Article 10.

The verdict underlined that "while states had discretion to determine their linguistic policies and were entitled to regulate the use of languages during election campaigns, a blanket ban on the use of unofficial languages coupled with criminal sanctions were not compatible with freedom of expression".

The five listed politicians are Sukran Aydın, Ayse Gokkan, Ayhan Erkmen, Orhan Miroglu and Mesut Bektas.