Turkey: Government Adopts Decree to Return Seized Property to Minority Foundations

PM Recep Tayyip ErdoğanThe Turkish government has adopted a decree to return all confiscated immovable property belonging to minority foundations in Turkey, a long-overdue step to expand the rights of minorities in the country. According to this decree, which was published in the Official Gazette on Saturday, minority foundations will be able to reclaim real property that they had declared back in 1936. All real property, cemeteries and fountains will be returned to their rightful holders. Immoveable property currently belonging to third persons will also be paid for.

The government’s move to return seized property to non-Muslim foundations came just before a fast-breaking (iftar) dinner during which Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan came together with the representatives of non-Muslim communities in Turkey at the İstanbul Archeology Museum on Sunday evening.

“This is a first in the history of the Turkish Republic and a very significant move,” said Kezban Hatemi, an attorney specializing in minority rights.

“This is restoration of a right. This is a move that is a requirement of the Lausanne Treaty and one which makes our non-Muslim citizens feel like equal citizens in Turkey,” Hatemi told Today’s Zaman.

She also noted that returning the seized properties of the non-Muslim foundations is the second most important thing following the end of the military tutelage in Turkey.

Minority foundations will have to apply to the Turkish authorities within 12 months to reclaim their property.

Confiscation of the properties of the minority foundations dates back to the early days of the Turkish Republic. The 1936 Law on Foundations, known as the 1936 Declaration, ordered all foundations to submit a property declaration listing immovables and other properties possessed by each and every foundation. Following the death of the nation’s founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, those property declarations were forgotten. When the Cyprus problem escalated in the 1970s, the General Directorate of Foundations asked non-Muslim foundations to resubmit their regulations. Yet those foundations did not have such regulations because of a practice during the Ottoman Empire where such foundations could only be established by individual decrees of the sultan of the day. Having received negative response from these foundations, the General Directorate of Foundations made a ruling that the declarations of 1936 would be considered their regulation. In case these declarations did not carry a special provision entitling the foundation to acquire immovable property, the General Directorate expropriated all the immovable property acquired after 1936.

These expropriation acts were in violation of both the Lausanne agreement and property rights.

The government’s move has been welcomed by great joy among non-Muslim communities. Markar Esayan, a journalist of Armenian background, has said the move is of particular importance because it shows that the mentality of the state is undergoing a transformation in addition to making up for the unfair practices that were imposed on non-Muslims by the state for a long time.

“The decision means more than eliminating unfair treatment against minority groups. The state mentality is changing. The state no longer sees its Greek, Armenian and Jewish citizens as the ‘other’ or a threat,” Esayan said.

Turkey’s population of nearly 70 million, mostly Muslim, includes nearly 65,000 Armenian Orthodox Christians, 23,000 Jews and fewer than 2,500 Greek Orthodox Christians.

Although Orhan Kemal Cengiz, a lawyer and a contributor to Today’s Zaman, has found the government decision to return the confiscated property of the non-Muslim foundations a belated move, he said it is of crucial importance for ending longstanding unfair policies related to minority matters.

“The new law was set after several trials in the European Court of Human Rights that had previously decided Turkey must pay compensation to the victims. The court then decided that the situation could not be dealt with compensation anymore. This law is a sign of change in state mentality. The unmovable property of minority communities will be given back due to a new codification of the law on immovable property,” he said.

Most recently, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ordered the Turkish government to reregister a historic Orthodox orphanage to the İstanbul-based Fener Greek Orthodox Patriarchate and also told Ankara to pay 26,000 euros in total to the patriarchate for both non-pecuniary damages and costs and expenses. Turkey returned the orphanage to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in November 2010.

Turkey has so far been ordered to pay hundreds of thousands of euros to minority foundations in accordance with European court rulings. With the government’s latest move, Turkey will have returned the property of the minority foundations even before some of the ongoing cases are concluded at the ECtHR.

Professor Ayhan Aktar, author of various books on minorities, said the decision on minority property is a revolutionary one which deserves applaud, adding that this step may encourage the government to take further steps to expand the rights of minorities in Turkey who have long been deprived of their rights.

“The most important thing is Turkey has done it with its own will before facing foreign pressure. If government didn’t take any initiative, Turkey would have been faced with severe sanctions from the ECtHR regarding ongoing trails,” Aktar told Today’s Zaman.

Some of the properties that will be returned to minority foundations

Gülbenkyan Selamet Public House, Gedikpaşa Armenian Protestant School, a house, dining hall and playground belonging to Gedikpaşa Armenian Protestant School, six houses, a shop and various buildings belonging to Yedikule Surp Pırgiç Armenian Hospital, Yeniköy Panaia Church, two houses and one piece of land in Sarıyer, one cemetery, properties belonging to the Surp Harutyun Foundation, properties belonging to Balıklı Greek Hospital — including 157 houses, 21 apartment complexes, one factory, three cemeteries and three night clubs — and property belonging to the Yeniköy Aya Nicola Church Foundation.

28 August 2011
SOURCE: TODAYS ZAMAN