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MINORITIES APPEAL FOR RETURN OF 35 PROPERTIES
Hurriyet Daily News
Jan 23 2012
Turkey
The Foundations Directorate chair says they are now returning
properties that were expropriated from minorities, yet adds it that is
out of question to hand back those which are classified as 'registered
foundations' A recent ruling by an Istanbul court imposed an interim
injunction over Sansaryan Han in Istanbul, which was formerly owned
by the Armenian Patriarchate.
Turkey's Armenian, Greek and Syriac minorities have lodged an official
appeal for the return of 35 estates owned by 14 foundations following
the enactment of the Foundations Law last year.
"We have come [a long way] since the days when a permit was required to
even drive a single nail into a wall. We are now returning properties
that were usurped from the hands of [minority communities] back
to their real owners," Adnan Ertem, the head of the Prime Ministry
Foundations General Directorate, recently told the Hurriyet Daily News.
Representatives of Turkey's minority communities have filed 1,500
appeals to date since the legislation for the new Foundations Law
was enacted in two parts - first in 2008 and second in August 2011 -
but the Foundations General Directorate has approved a mere 181 of
them so far, Ertem said.
"If there are claims about the expropriation of the [estates in
question] by public institutions, then [minorities] can appeal to
the judiciary. There is no need to pass a law for this," Ertem said,
adding that it was out of question to hand back estates classified
as "Registered Foundations" and whose ownership had passed to the
Foundations General Directorate after they were left without an owner.
Minority communities have a grace period to apply for the return of
their properties until August 2012 as part of the law passed last
year. No appeals have yet been issued for any properties outside of
Istanbul, however.
In the meantime, the country's Syriac Christian community has also been
waging an uphill legal battle to retrieve their ancient monasteries
and foundation lands in eastern and southeastern Turkey.
Five lawsuits filed by the Forestry and Waterworks Ministry, the Land
Registry and Cadastre Directorate General, the Treasury and residents
from neighboring villages against the managers of the Syriac Mor
Gabriel Foundation on the grounds that the historical monastery is
occupying their lands have also made their way to the European Court
of Human Rights.
As more and more villagers began settling on the lands in question,
the 1,700-year-old Mor Gabriel Monastery (Deyr-ul Umur), the Syriacs'
most revered place of worship, was gradually encircled by farming
communities. The inhabitants of the villages of Yayvantepe, Candarlı
and Eglence subsequently filed a suit against the monastery in 2008
on the grounds that it was occupying their lands.
Although Syriacs are often regarded as a minority, they are exempt
from the terms of the Lausanne Treaty of 1923, which only recognized
Armenian, Greek and Jewish minorities in the country.
The issue of returning Syriac monasteries is a matter that is beyond
the directorate, Ertem said, adding that the Syriac community in
Istanbul had plans to establish a church there and that they were
ready to give the green light provided the community can find a tract
of foundation land.
Ertem also said they were working on the return of the Armenian Surp
Hac Tıbrevank Clerical School in Istanbul's Uskudar district.
"We are trying to get hold of an Ottoman-era document indicating that
the foundation was owned by the [Armenian] community. The community
is unable to present the document," he said.
Hurriyet Daily News
Jan 23 2012
Turkey
The Foundations Directorate chair says they are now returning
properties that were expropriated from minorities, yet adds it that is
out of question to hand back those which are classified as 'registered
foundations' A recent ruling by an Istanbul court imposed an interim
injunction over Sansaryan Han in Istanbul, which was formerly owned
by the Armenian Patriarchate.
Turkey's Armenian, Greek and Syriac minorities have lodged an official
appeal for the return of 35 estates owned by 14 foundations following
the enactment of the Foundations Law last year.
"We have come [a long way] since the days when a permit was required to
even drive a single nail into a wall. We are now returning properties
that were usurped from the hands of [minority communities] back
to their real owners," Adnan Ertem, the head of the Prime Ministry
Foundations General Directorate, recently told the Hurriyet Daily News.
Representatives of Turkey's minority communities have filed 1,500
appeals to date since the legislation for the new Foundations Law
was enacted in two parts - first in 2008 and second in August 2011 -
but the Foundations General Directorate has approved a mere 181 of
them so far, Ertem said.
"If there are claims about the expropriation of the [estates in
question] by public institutions, then [minorities] can appeal to
the judiciary. There is no need to pass a law for this," Ertem said,
adding that it was out of question to hand back estates classified
as "Registered Foundations" and whose ownership had passed to the
Foundations General Directorate after they were left without an owner.
Minority communities have a grace period to apply for the return of
their properties until August 2012 as part of the law passed last
year. No appeals have yet been issued for any properties outside of
Istanbul, however.
In the meantime, the country's Syriac Christian community has also been
waging an uphill legal battle to retrieve their ancient monasteries
and foundation lands in eastern and southeastern Turkey.
Five lawsuits filed by the Forestry and Waterworks Ministry, the Land
Registry and Cadastre Directorate General, the Treasury and residents
from neighboring villages against the managers of the Syriac Mor
Gabriel Foundation on the grounds that the historical monastery is
occupying their lands have also made their way to the European Court
of Human Rights.
As more and more villagers began settling on the lands in question,
the 1,700-year-old Mor Gabriel Monastery (Deyr-ul Umur), the Syriacs'
most revered place of worship, was gradually encircled by farming
communities. The inhabitants of the villages of Yayvantepe, Candarlı
and Eglence subsequently filed a suit against the monastery in 2008
on the grounds that it was occupying their lands.
Although Syriacs are often regarded as a minority, they are exempt
from the terms of the Lausanne Treaty of 1923, which only recognized
Armenian, Greek and Jewish minorities in the country.
The issue of returning Syriac monasteries is a matter that is beyond
the directorate, Ertem said, adding that the Syriac community in
Istanbul had plans to establish a church there and that they were
ready to give the green light provided the community can find a tract
of foundation land.
Ertem also said they were working on the return of the Armenian Surp
Hac Tıbrevank Clerical School in Istanbul's Uskudar district.
"We are trying to get hold of an Ottoman-era document indicating that
the foundation was owned by the [Armenian] community. The community
is unable to present the document," he said.