Tweet
TURKEY GIVES UP SEIZED PROPERTY
Kathimerini
http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_29/08/2011_403993
Aug 29, 2011
Greece
Erdogan tells patriarch authorities will return assets taken from
minorities
In a significant move that appears to meet European Union demands,
Turkish authorities have announced that they intend to return
properties confiscated from religious minorities since 1936, and
pay compensation for seized assets that have since been sold to
third parties.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the decision
Sunday ahead of a dinner in Istanbul marking the break of the Ramadan
fast that was attended by representatives of the city's Christian
and Jewish communities - including Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios.
A government decree was issued during the weekend in the face of
opposition from the Kemalist CHP and smaller nationalist parties.
"This is not about doing a favor; this is about rectifying an
injustice," Erdogan said of the landmark decision, which concerns
hundreds of hospitals, schools, cemeteries and orphanages as listed
in a 1936 census.
The European Union, which has regularly scolded Ankara for its
treatment of minorities, has set the assets' return as a condition
for membership of the bloc.
The European Court of Human Rights, moreover, has previously condemned
the seizures as illegal.
Istanbul's Greek Orthodox population is today estimated at 2,500
people. Up to 1,500 properties are to be returned to some 70 Christian
trusts according to a Kathimerini report, while the Turkish Sabah
daily puts the number at 350.
Apart from Turkey's Christians - about 120,000 people - the Armenian,
Jewish and Assyrian communities are also expected to benefit from
the campaign.
Erdogan's previous attempts to ensure the return of confiscated
buildings in 2002 and 2008 had come up against domestic opposition.
"Like everyone else, we also do know about the injustices that various
religious groups have been subjected to because of their differences,"
Erdogan told the minority officials. "The times when a citizen of ours
would be oppressed due to his religious, ethnic origin or different
way of life are over," he said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Kathimerini
http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_29/08/2011_403993
Aug 29, 2011
Greece
Erdogan tells patriarch authorities will return assets taken from
minorities
In a significant move that appears to meet European Union demands,
Turkish authorities have announced that they intend to return
properties confiscated from religious minorities since 1936, and
pay compensation for seized assets that have since been sold to
third parties.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the decision
Sunday ahead of a dinner in Istanbul marking the break of the Ramadan
fast that was attended by representatives of the city's Christian
and Jewish communities - including Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios.
A government decree was issued during the weekend in the face of
opposition from the Kemalist CHP and smaller nationalist parties.
"This is not about doing a favor; this is about rectifying an
injustice," Erdogan said of the landmark decision, which concerns
hundreds of hospitals, schools, cemeteries and orphanages as listed
in a 1936 census.
The European Union, which has regularly scolded Ankara for its
treatment of minorities, has set the assets' return as a condition
for membership of the bloc.
The European Court of Human Rights, moreover, has previously condemned
the seizures as illegal.
Istanbul's Greek Orthodox population is today estimated at 2,500
people. Up to 1,500 properties are to be returned to some 70 Christian
trusts according to a Kathimerini report, while the Turkish Sabah
daily puts the number at 350.
Apart from Turkey's Christians - about 120,000 people - the Armenian,
Jewish and Assyrian communities are also expected to benefit from
the campaign.
Erdogan's previous attempts to ensure the return of confiscated
buildings in 2002 and 2008 had come up against domestic opposition.
"Like everyone else, we also do know about the injustices that various
religious groups have been subjected to because of their differences,"
Erdogan told the minority officials. "The times when a citizen of ours
would be oppressed due to his religious, ethnic origin or different
way of life are over," he said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress