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Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Dec 30 2011
Church asks for return of orphanage
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan ZiflioÄ?lu
An Armenian Protestant Church applies to the Foundations General
Directorate for the return of an Armenian orphanage that had been
expropriated in the wake of Turkey's 1980 military coup. Pasteur
Krikor AÄ?abaloÄ?lu says they will bring the case before the ECHR unless
the state returns the orphans' camp
The GedikpaÅ?a Armenian Protestant Church has filed a formal
application with the Foundations General Directorate for the return of
an Armenian orphanage in Istanbul's Tuzla district that had been
expropriated in the wake of Turkey's 1980 military coup.
`Orphans and the children of destitute families used to reside in the
camp. If the state is truly sincere and means well and if it is really
determined to return what belongs to us, then it ought to hand back to
our children their home,' Pasteur Krikor AÄ?abaloÄ?lu, the spiritual
head of the GedikpaÅ?a Armenian Protestant Church, told the Hürriyet
Daily News.
They would initiate legal proceedings and even bring the case before
the European Court of Human Rights unless the state returns the
orphans' camp, AÄ?abaloÄ?lu said.
Hrant Dink, a Turkish-Armenian journalist who was murdered in 2007,
also received education there and contributed to its construction with
his brothers. `The Swallow Nest' was what Dink, the former
editor-in-chief of weekly Agos, a paper published in both Turkish and
Armenian, used to call the orphanage.
`The state has returned only about 100 from thousands of foundation
properties,' AÄ?abaloÄ?lu said in relation to the new Foundations Law
enacted by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), adding that
he was skeptical about the government's sincerity.
No formal reasons were ever provided as to why the orphanage lands had
been expropriated, AÄ?abaloÄ?lu said. `The state wants us to prove the
title deeds of properties it expropriated. The state already knows why
and what it expropriated. All the documents and title deeds are in
their possession,' he said.
The camp bears great spiritual significance for us, AÄ?abaloÄ?lu said,
adding that Hrant Dink had also fought tooth and nail for the
orphanage to be returned during the concluding years of his life.
Simon Ä°Å?, a lawyer who represents minority foundations, told the Daily
News, however, he thought the whole process of returning the property
would be an agonizing one.
The camp currently lies in ruins, according to AÄ?abaloÄ?lu, but it
would undergo repairs if returned to the church, and its gates would
then be opened once more to orphans and children of the destitute.
In August 2011, the Turkish government signed a historic decree to
return property taken away from minority foundations 75 years ago.
Some of the property set to be returned to Armenian, Greek and Syriac
foundations include schools, churches, stores, hundreds of houses,
buildings and apartments, cemeteries, factories and even nightclubs.
December/30/2011
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/church-asks-for-return-of-orphanage.aspx?pageID=238&nID=10336&NewsCatID=339
Dec 30 2011
Church asks for return of orphanage
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan ZiflioÄ?lu
An Armenian Protestant Church applies to the Foundations General
Directorate for the return of an Armenian orphanage that had been
expropriated in the wake of Turkey's 1980 military coup. Pasteur
Krikor AÄ?abaloÄ?lu says they will bring the case before the ECHR unless
the state returns the orphans' camp
The GedikpaÅ?a Armenian Protestant Church has filed a formal
application with the Foundations General Directorate for the return of
an Armenian orphanage in Istanbul's Tuzla district that had been
expropriated in the wake of Turkey's 1980 military coup.
`Orphans and the children of destitute families used to reside in the
camp. If the state is truly sincere and means well and if it is really
determined to return what belongs to us, then it ought to hand back to
our children their home,' Pasteur Krikor AÄ?abaloÄ?lu, the spiritual
head of the GedikpaÅ?a Armenian Protestant Church, told the Hürriyet
Daily News.
They would initiate legal proceedings and even bring the case before
the European Court of Human Rights unless the state returns the
orphans' camp, AÄ?abaloÄ?lu said.
Hrant Dink, a Turkish-Armenian journalist who was murdered in 2007,
also received education there and contributed to its construction with
his brothers. `The Swallow Nest' was what Dink, the former
editor-in-chief of weekly Agos, a paper published in both Turkish and
Armenian, used to call the orphanage.
`The state has returned only about 100 from thousands of foundation
properties,' AÄ?abaloÄ?lu said in relation to the new Foundations Law
enacted by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), adding that
he was skeptical about the government's sincerity.
No formal reasons were ever provided as to why the orphanage lands had
been expropriated, AÄ?abaloÄ?lu said. `The state wants us to prove the
title deeds of properties it expropriated. The state already knows why
and what it expropriated. All the documents and title deeds are in
their possession,' he said.
The camp bears great spiritual significance for us, AÄ?abaloÄ?lu said,
adding that Hrant Dink had also fought tooth and nail for the
orphanage to be returned during the concluding years of his life.
Simon Ä°Å?, a lawyer who represents minority foundations, told the Daily
News, however, he thought the whole process of returning the property
would be an agonizing one.
The camp currently lies in ruins, according to AÄ?abaloÄ?lu, but it
would undergo repairs if returned to the church, and its gates would
then be opened once more to orphans and children of the destitute.
In August 2011, the Turkish government signed a historic decree to
return property taken away from minority foundations 75 years ago.
Some of the property set to be returned to Armenian, Greek and Syriac
foundations include schools, churches, stores, hundreds of houses,
buildings and apartments, cemeteries, factories and even nightclubs.
December/30/2011
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/church-asks-for-return-of-orphanage.aspx?pageID=238&nID=10336&NewsCatID=339