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Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
May 4 2012
Catholic Armenians fight to regain school
by Vercihan ZiflioÄ?lu
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Photo: `We paid for the building's purchase, but we are paying rent
nonetheless, says Rita Nurnur, head of an Istanbul Catholic Armenian
school's foundation. DAILY NEWS photo, Emrah GÃ`REL
Turkey's Catholic Armenians are waging a legal battle to retrieve the
property rights for an Armenian Catholic school that was confiscated
by the Foundations Directorate General, despite the fact that it had
not been proclaimed under the 1936 Declaration.
`We paid for the building's purchase, and we are in possession of its
title deed. We also have the document [showing] the back-then Istanbul
governor's approval for the purchase, but we are paying rent
nonetheless,' Rita Nurnur, head of the Armenian school's foundation,
told the Hürriyet Daily News.
Meeting with Charter Commission
Nurnur said that they had already met with European Union (EU)
Minister Egemen BaÄ?ıÅ? over the matter and that Parliament's
Constitution Commission had also taken up the issue at the start of
this week. The number of students attending the school fell to as low
as 35 due to the fear that it would be shut down.
Adnan Ertem, the head of the Foundations Directorate General, has
provided much support for their cause, according to Rita Nurnur. `He
encouraged us to file a new suit as the foundation, [and] the process
is still underway.'
`The process is quite thorny even if the Foundations Directorate
General does its best, as the [foundation] was not registered on the
1936 Declaration. The [decision] to return [the property] has been
overturned for now. It is clear the foundation is facing a rights
violation. It needs to push forward with its legal battle,' Laki
Vingas, a representative for all minority foundations in the
Foundations Directorate General, told Daily News.
Turkey's minorities declared their properties in 1936 upon the
government's request, but many of those properties did not remain
registered under the names of minority foundations, and many were even
sold to third parties in the following years.
May/04/2012
May 4 2012
Catholic Armenians fight to regain school
by Vercihan ZiflioÄ?lu
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Photo: `We paid for the building's purchase, but we are paying rent
nonetheless, says Rita Nurnur, head of an Istanbul Catholic Armenian
school's foundation. DAILY NEWS photo, Emrah GÃ`REL
Turkey's Catholic Armenians are waging a legal battle to retrieve the
property rights for an Armenian Catholic school that was confiscated
by the Foundations Directorate General, despite the fact that it had
not been proclaimed under the 1936 Declaration.
`We paid for the building's purchase, and we are in possession of its
title deed. We also have the document [showing] the back-then Istanbul
governor's approval for the purchase, but we are paying rent
nonetheless,' Rita Nurnur, head of the Armenian school's foundation,
told the Hürriyet Daily News.
Meeting with Charter Commission
Nurnur said that they had already met with European Union (EU)
Minister Egemen BaÄ?ıÅ? over the matter and that Parliament's
Constitution Commission had also taken up the issue at the start of
this week. The number of students attending the school fell to as low
as 35 due to the fear that it would be shut down.
Adnan Ertem, the head of the Foundations Directorate General, has
provided much support for their cause, according to Rita Nurnur. `He
encouraged us to file a new suit as the foundation, [and] the process
is still underway.'
`The process is quite thorny even if the Foundations Directorate
General does its best, as the [foundation] was not registered on the
1936 Declaration. The [decision] to return [the property] has been
overturned for now. It is clear the foundation is facing a rights
violation. It needs to push forward with its legal battle,' Laki
Vingas, a representative for all minority foundations in the
Foundations Directorate General, told Daily News.
Turkey's minorities declared their properties in 1936 upon the
government's request, but many of those properties did not remain
registered under the names of minority foundations, and many were even
sold to third parties in the following years.
May/04/2012