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ANKARA: Gov't Gives Go Ahead For Return Of Seized Property To Non-Mu

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  • ANKARA: Gov't Gives Go Ahead For Return Of Seized Property To Non-Mu

    GOV'T GIVES GO AHEAD FOR RETURN OF SEIZED PROPERTY TO NON-MUSLIM FOUNDATIONS

    Today's Zaman
    Aug 28, 2011
    Turkey

    The Turkish government has adopted a decree to return all confiscated
    immovable property belonging to minority foundations in Turkey,
    a long-overdue step to expand the rights of minorities in the country.

    According to this decree, which was published in the Official
    Gazette on Saturday, minority foundations will be able to reclaim
    real property that they had declared back in 1936. All real property,
    cemeteries and fountains will be returned to their rightful holders.

    Immoveable property currently belonging to third persons will also
    be paid for.

    The government's move to return seized property to non-Muslim
    foundations came just before a fast-breaking (iftar) dinner during
    which Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan came together with the
    representatives of non-Muslim communities in Turkey at the Ä°stanbul
    Archeology Museum on Sunday evening.

    "This is a first in the history of the Turkish Republic and a very
    significant move," said Kezban Hatemi, an attorney specializing in
    minority rights.

    "This is restoration of a right. This is a move that is a requirement
    of the Lausanne Treaty and one which makes our non-Muslim citizens
    feel like equal citizens in Turkey," Hatemi told Today's Zaman.

    She also noted that returning the seized properties of the non-Muslim
    foundations is the second most important thing following the end of
    the military tutelage in Turkey.

    Minority foundations will have to apply to the Turkish authorities
    within 12 months to reclaim their property.

    Confiscation of the properties of the minority foundations dates
    back to the early days of the Turkish Republic. The 1936 Law on
    Foundations, known as the 1936 Declaration, ordered all foundations to
    submit a property declaration listing immovables and other properties
    possessed by each and every foundation. Following the death of the
    nation's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, those property declarations
    were forgotten. When the Cyprus problem escalated in the 1970s, the
    General Directorate of Foundations asked non-Muslim foundations to
    resubmit their regulations. Yet those foundations did not have such
    regulations because of a practice during the Ottoman Empire where
    such foundations could only be established by individual decrees of
    the sultan of the day. Having received negative response from these
    foundations, the General Directorate of Foundations made a ruling that
    the declarations of 1936 would be considered their regulation. In
    case these declarations did not carry a special provision entitling
    the foundation to acquire immovable property, the General Directorate
    expropriated all the immovable property acquired after 1936.

    These expropriation acts were in violation of both the Lausanne
    agreement and property rights.

    The government's move has been welcomed by great joy among non-Muslim
    communities. Markar Esayan, a journalist of Armenian background, has
    said the move is of particular importance because it shows that the
    mentality of the state is undergoing a transformation in addition to
    making up for the unfair practices that were imposed on non-Muslims
    by the state for a long time.

    "The decision means more than eliminating unfair treatment against
    minority groups. The state mentality is changing. The state no
    longer sees its Greek, Armenian and Jewish citizens as the 'other'
    or a threat," Esayan said.

    Turkey's population of nearly 70 million, mostly Muslim, includes
    nearly 65,000 Armenian Orthodox Christians, 23,000 Jews and fewer
    than 2,500 Greek Orthodox Christians.

    Although Orhan Kemal Cengiz, a lawyer and a contributor to Today's
    Zaman, has found the government decision to return the confiscated
    property of the non-Muslim foundations a belated move, he said it is
    of crucial importance for ending longstanding unfair policies related
    to minority matters.

    "The new law was set after several trials in the European Court of
    Human Rights that had previously decided Turkey must pay compensation
    to the victims. The court then decided that the situation could not
    be dealt with compensation anymore. This law is a sign of change
    in state mentality. The unmovable property of minority communities
    will be given back due to a new codification of the law on immovable
    property," he said.

    Most recently, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ordered
    the Turkish government to reregister a historic Orthodox orphanage
    to the Ä°stanbul-based Fener Greek Orthodox Patriarchate and also
    told Ankara to pay 26,000 euros in total to the patriarchate for
    both non-pecuniary damages and costs and expenses. Turkey returned
    the orphanage to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in November 2010.

    Turkey has so far been ordered to pay hundreds of thousands of euros
    to minority foundations in accordance with European court rulings.

    With the government's latest move, Turkey will have returned the
    property of the minority foundations even before some of the ongoing
    cases are concluded at the ECtHR.

    Professor Ayhan Aktar, author of various books on minorities, said the
    decision on minority property is a revolutionary one which deserves
    applaud, adding that this step may encourage the government to take
    further steps to expand the rights of minorities in Turkey who have
    long been deprived of their rights.

    "The most important thing is Turkey has done it with its own will
    before facing foreign pressure. If government didn't take any
    initiative, Turkey would have been faced with severe sanctions from
    the ECtHR regarding ongoing trails," Aktar told Today's Zaman.

    Some of the properties that will be returned to minority foundations
    Gulbenkyan Selamet Public House, GedikpaÅ~_a Armenian Protestant
    School, a house, dining hall and playground belonging to GedikpaÅ~_a
    Armenian Protestant School, six houses, a shop and various buildings
    belonging to Yedikule Surp Pırgic Armenian Hospital, Yeniköy Panaia
    Church, two houses and one piece of land in Sarıyer, one cemetery,
    properties belonging to the Surp Harutyun Foundation, properties
    belonging to Balıklı Greek Hospital -- including 157 houses, 21
    apartment complexes, one factory, three cemeteries and three night
    clubs -- and property belonging to the Yeniköy Aya Nicola Church
    Foundation.

    *Abdullah Ayasun contributed to this report.

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