4.  The applicants are all Turkish nationals who live in Diyarbakır. 5.  In May 1999 the applicants were laid off by the Diyarbakır Sur municipality, with which they had been employed. 6.  Each of the applicants brought an action in the Diyarbakır Labour Court, claiming outstanding salaries, dismissal indemnities, severance pays and other pecuniary rights. 7.  On 11 November 1999 the court ruled in their favour and ordered the municipality to pay the following amounts in Turkish lira (TRL), including costs, together with interest running from June 1999: 8.  In the absence of an appeal the judgments became final on 19 November 1999. 9.  Within the following months, the applicants initiated enforcement proceedings in order to receive the due amounts. As their efforts proved fruitless, they requested the Diyarbakır Governorship to intervene to facilitate the enforcement of the court's judgments. The Governor's Office informed the applicants that they had requested the municipality to redress their grievances. However, the municipality did not make any payment since it was underfunded. 10.  At the date of introduction of the current applications, the relevant judgment debts were still outstanding. However, in the meantime, friendly settlement agreements were reached between the following applicants and the municipality on the dates indicated: 11.  No settlement was reached with the other applicants. However, the municipality deposited certain partial amounts in the relevant account at the local enforcement office, which amounts were made available to some applicants and later paid. 12.  On 9 November 2004 a settlement agreement was reached by the applicants' representative, Mr Sedat Çınar, and the authorities. The agreement concerned the outstanding legal fees stemming from the labour courts' judgments. Mr Çınar waived all of his rights and claims in connection with his representation of the applicants in the labour cases. 13.  On 28 March 2005 Mehmet Salih Kömekçi[5], Ahmet Hüseyinoğlu and M. Cihat Aydın initiated fresh claims against the municipality to recover their severance pay.