Turkey to return confiscated properties to non-Muslim minorities

**SageTree** · 08-30-2011, 11:09 AM

Turkey to return confiscated properties to non-Muslim minorities

Quote:

(Sumela Monastery, founded by Greek Orthodox Christians and now run by the state as a museum in the Black Sea coastal province of Trabzon, northeastern Turkey, August 15, 2010/Umit Bektas)

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The Turkish government is to return properties confiscated from religious minorities since 1936, in a step seen addressing European Union concerns about the treatment of minorities in the EU candidate country. According to a decree published in Turkey’s Official Gazette at the weekend, property taken away from minority religious foundations under a 1936 declaration will be returned to them.

The decision was announced ahead of a dinner to break the Ramadan fast that Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan attended with representatives of the Christian and Jewish communities in Istanbul on Sunday evening.

Some of the seized properties were hospitals, schools and cemeteries. In the case of minority groups’ properties that were sold to third parties, the religious foundations will be paid the market value of the properties by the Treasury. Turkey confiscated billions of dollars worth of property belonging to Armenian and Greek foundations when they fell into disuse. The European Court of Human Rights ruled that these seizures were illegal.

Most of Turkey’s Christians fled in the upheaval of World War One and the ensuing War of Independence. Hundreds of thousands of Armenians were massacred and 1.5 million Greeks deported in a population exchange. There are now around 100,000 Christians of different denominations and some 25,000 Jews among Turkey’s overwhelmingly Muslim population of 74 million.

There is a dwindling community of around 2,500 Greeks in Istanbul, capital of the Greek Orthodox Byzantine Empire until the Ottoman conquest of 1453. Some 60,000 Armenians and 15,000 Syriac Orthodox also live in Turkey, along with several other smaller religious minorities.

A treaty with Western powers in 1923 allowed Istanbul’s non-Muslim communities to retain special education and property rights.

by Daren Butler in Istanbul

zerodown · 08-30-2011, 02:42 PM

1936? Aint it a little too late? oh well, the world goes round and round.

**SageTree** · 08-31-2011, 05:04 AM

Thought it was worth noting given some of the past problems Turkey has been through/caused.

Staying hopeful for an apology and reconciliation with the Armenian people in and outside of Turkey.

Terry · 08-31-2011, 12:15 PM

Nice sentiment but it's gonna take a lot more than that to get in the EU.

**SageTree** · 08-31-2011, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Terry

Nice sentiment but it's gonna take a lot more than that to get in the EU.

No shit eh?

I heard a lot about this when I was in Instanbul.

Sounds like they've been trying to get in the EU for about as long as the EUs been around, more or less.

I DO in some part think it comes down to the Armenians who disappeared in Eastern Turkey, the one that seems to get the blow off by the Gov't.

To anyone who isn't aware, here is a link for ya':

Armenian Genocide

08-30-2011, 02:42 PM	#2 (permalink)
zerodown Mafutero Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: PR Posts: 782 Thanks: 41 Thanked 169 Times in 131 Posts	1936? Aint it a little too late? oh well, the world goes round and round. __________________ "I've seen people so poor all they got is money." We have to learn to unlearn Its not contradiction, its amendment Not everything we see is reality Not everything we hear is the truth Not everything we're taught helps us grow ~Cultura Profetica "La locura se lleva en la cabeza y las drogas en los bolsillos" ~Roberto Iniesta

08-31-2011, 05:04 AM	#3 (permalink)
SageTree ~Kalyāṇa-mitrā~ Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: In Love Posts: 23,414 Blog Entries: 26 Thanks: 13,070 Thanked 6,769 Times in 4,664 Posts	Thought it was worth noting given some of the past problems Turkey has been through/caused. Staying hopeful for an apology and reconciliation with the Armenian people in and outside of Turkey. __________________ "What's oppressive is letting your life be confined by old definitions of what everything is." -Zen Meister my_scatterheart YaHooka is.... Cannabis lovers from around the world pulling up a comfy chair, picking up a vaporizer, a bong, a brownie, a pipe, or a joint, getting high, stoned, buzzed or healthy. Uniting our minds in conversation...While Portraying a Positive Image of marijuana and marijuana users to the world. Treat your fellow YaHookans with kindness,respect and tolerance.

08-31-2011, 12:15 PM	#4 (permalink)
Terry Hello Darkness Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Moscow, Idaho Posts: 8,538 Thanks: 2,130 Thanked 2,392 Times in 1,189 Posts	Nice sentiment but it's gonna take a lot more than that to get in the EU. __________________ I don't know but I've been told, If you never die you'll never grow old

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