Turkey to return 162 of 1,410 confiscated assets to Armenian community

September 2, 2011 - 19:38 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Turkish government recently announced that real estate assets confiscated by the State, which once belonged to Armenian, Greek, and Jewish charitable foundations, would be returned to the rightful owners, and that the government would pay compensation for any confiscated property that has since been sold to third parties. The present government decree pledges to return 162 of the 1,410 assets confiscated in 1974.

The Armenian Weekly newspaper published a partial list of the Armenian charitable foundation assets to be returned by the government:

1. Gedikpasha Armenian Protestant primary school – the building is already demolished, at present used as a park 2. Gedikpasha Armenian Protestant Church – one apartment building in Kumkapi, a restaurant, a playground 3. Surp Harutyun Armenian Church – several flats in Beyoglu 4. Ferikoy Surp Vartanants Church – an apartment building and a vacant lot in Sisli 5. Kurucheshme Surp Khatch Yerevman Church – one building in Arnavutkoy 6. Kumkapi Surp Harutyun School – a store in Kumkapi and a store in Kadikoy 7. Kumkapi Mayr Asdvadzadzin Church – a flat in Eminonu 8. Yenikoy Surp Asdvadzadzin Church – a vacant lot in Istinye 9. Bomonti Mkhitaryan Armenian Catholic School – school buildings, two shops and a flat in Sisli 10. Yedikule Surp Prgitch (Holy Saviour) Armenian Hospital – a total of 19 properties, including one building lot, a house and four shared lots in Sariyer, a residential building in Moda, 2 residential buildings in Sisli, one flat in Beyoglu, one store in Kapalicarsi Covered Bazaar, a house in Uskudar, one apartment building, one flat and a warehouse in Kurtulus, a four storey hotel in Taksim, a retail and office commercial building in Beyoglu, a flat in Chamlica, a 47,500 sq. m. vacant lot in Beykoz, and a 44,000 sq. m. land adjacent to the Hospital, formerly the gardens of the Hospital, presently used as Zeytinburnu Soccer Stadium, a sports building, a parking lot and a tea garden, and last but not least, the valuable office building called Selamet Han in Eminonu, Istanbul.

This is definitely a long overdue positive step in the right direction by the Turkish government, when compared with decades long injustice and discrimination of the past Turkish governments against its non-Muslim citizens, according to The Armenian Weekly.

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