50,000 complaints filed against Turkey in European human rights court

ANKARA, Turkey, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- Turkish Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin said more than 50,000 complaints were filed against Turkey at the European Court of Human Rights from 2002 to 2012.

Ergin told of the complaints in a written response to a motion submitted by Sezgin Tanrikulu, the deputy head of the main opposition Republican People's Party, the Hurriyet Daily News reported Monday.

Ergin said the Turkish government paid more than 1.7 million euros ($2.3 million) in compensation for violations handed down by the court between March 2002 and December 2012, the newspaper said.

The number of complaints rose from 3,862 in 2002 to 9,053 in 2012, Ergin said.