New Europe interviewed the Mayor of the Municipality of Pendeli, Greece Dimitrios Stergiou-Kapsali to discuss his recent assertions that he will pursue in national and international courts seeking damages against the Turkish government for the major destruction caused by the Penteli fire of 1995.

New Europe: Is it true that you will proceed with filing a claim against the Turkish government for damages that was caused by the major forest fire in the Municipality of Penteli in 1995?

Stergiou-Kapsali: Yes, this information is completely true. It was also documented and reported from the decision taken by the Town Council of Pendeli on 3 January 2012 that the Municipality of Pendeli will file a claim in the Greek and international courts in accordance with the existing procedure based on international jurisprudence in order to seek damages of €50 million for the implementation of Municipality's project of planting trees in the 25,000 acres that were destroyed in the major fire in 1995. The former Turkish Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mesut Yilmaz stated that the fire was caused by Turkish sabateour agents in Greece. It should be noted that there is no possibility for natural reforestation to occur.

This movement is not one that is aspiring to stop only at Pendeli, but we hope that it will become a pan-municipal one because during that period of the tragic forest fires, the acres in Pendeli were not the only ones that were burnt, but also islands close to the coast of Turkey, as well as in Peloponniso and in Attica. These operations will start gradually, and when the case is brought before the Greek courts and is tried, then we will go to the Hague tribunal for our final vindication.

You understand that only States can bring cases and be parties in contentious case brought before the International Court of Justice in the Hague according to Court's statutes. How will you overcome this issue of standing and do you already have the support of the Greek state?

As I understand it, not only can States be parties in a case but also local authorites and individuals to file a case, if not at the International Cour of Justice in The Hague then with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Therefore, after we are finished with the Greek courts, then we will seek to proceed with our claim on the international forum.

If the Greek state decides during the course of these proceedings that they will or will not support us, it will not change our decision to claim for damages, not for the purpose of rebuilding the areas that were destroyed, but to achieve the environmental resurrection of the municipality, as I mentioned before, by planting 3,750,000 trees in the 25,000 acres of destroyed land, in accordance with the relavant environmental survey conducted.

What will be the legal basis for the lawsuit and what will be your arguments/evidence to support your claims?

We will focus on the recorded statements made by such a significant person, as is [Mesut] Yilmaz, the former prime minister and minister of foreign affairs. He stated, and I do not know the reasons for why he made the statements that Turkey, together with sabateour agents, purposely set fires in Pendeli during the period of 1995-97 plus the testimonials of people who witnessed certain events and occurrences that will go to prove that the fires were not accidental but that it was arson, and that this arson was not caused by domestic terrorism but on the contrary, from external terrorism.

...apart from this, do you have any other evidence to support your claim?

I think this is a matter for the trial lawyers who have undertaken this case, and hopefully, after the pre-trial proceedings at first instance, we will be able to say more.

I would like to add at this point, that if we will succeed with our claim for damages, then we are planning to include Turkish volunteers in the reforestation given that the area that was damaged in Pendeli, will not be only for the benefit of the Greek citizen, but also for the Turkish citizen, as the environment does not have boundaries.

The major forest fire occurred in 1995. What prompted you to take action now, in 2012?

I am referring to the major forest fire in 1995 in Penteli, as this was the one that [Mesut] Yilmaz referred to in his statements. We also had major forest fires in 1998, 2007, and 2009. I want to believe that Turkish sabateour agents did not act in the same way as in 1995 to cause the latter ones also.

Nevertheless, the reason we are taking action now is because the statements by the former Turkish prime minister were made just 10 days ago.

The jurisdiction of the ICJ is not compulsory. Only 66 States, which are also United Nation members, recognise the jurisdiction of the Court as compulsory. Although both Greece and Turkey are entitled to appear before the Court, only Greece is included in the 66 States which recognise the jurisdiction as compulsory. If Turkey does not recognise the ICJ's jurisdiction as compulsory, do you find this a problem to bring the case to the Court and to bind Turkey in a negative decision against them?

I would like to believe that the filing of the suit in Greece will give us the guidance needed to be able to file the case in The Hague or in Strasbourg. However, the steps needed to take to proceed to the international forum will be formulated and assesed, legally and practically, once we have finished with our domestic proceedings, which as you are aware, will be time consuming. We will face that issue when we reach that stage.