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ANKARA: Alevi Associations Demand Return Of Their Property

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  • ANKARA: Alevi Associations Demand Return Of Their Property

    ALEVI ASSOCIATIONS DEMAND RETURN OF THEIR PROPERTY

    Today's Zaman
    May 18 2012

    Alevi associations have demanded the return of confiscated properties
    at a meeting in Ä°stanbul focusing on expectations for the new
    constitution.

    Approximately 30 Alevi associations from Turkey met at the Å~^ahkulu
    Sultan Foundation in the district of Göztepe. The foundation's
    chairman, Mehmet Tural, said most of the properties confiscated in
    the years of the establishment of the Republic of Turkey should be
    returned. Tural referred to the governmental decree of 2011 ordering
    the return of properties belonging to Armenian and Greek minorities,
    and said the Alevi population should also benefit from the practice
    of returning confiscated properties.

    "We are very pleased with the decision to return confiscated
    properties to the Armenians and Greeks of Turkey as they are citizens
    of this country. But we are dismayed by the fact that there is no new
    regulation concerning return of property which used to belong to the
    Alevi foundations and dervish lodges, even though Alevis fought in
    the War of Independence on the front lines," he said.

    Tural also indicated that if their demands are not met inside Turkey's
    judicial system they will seek ways to raise it in international
    judicial institutions.

    Speaking at the meeting, lawyer Zeynel Ozturk said Turkey's new
    constitution should guarantee the judiciary's independence and
    neutrality. In addition he said there should no longer be provision
    for the establishment of special courts. Ozturk also said Alevi houses
    of worship, known as cemevi, should be awarded legal status.

    Further demands of the new constitution being made by Alevis include
    equal rights in relation to Turkish citizenship; abolition of mandatory
    religious education; a right to education in their mother-tongue;
    removal of the 10 percent election threshold and of immunity of
    parliamentary members outside parliament.


    From: Baghdasarian
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