Return of Assets of Minority Foundations

In a significant move that appears to meet European Union demands, Turkish authorities have announced that they intend to return properties confiscated from religious minorities since 1936, and pay compensation for seized assets that have since been sold to third parties. Minority foundations are obliged to make an official appeal within 12 months to reclaim their immovables. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the decision formally on Sunday when he hosted religious leaders and the heads of about 160 minority trusts, at a fast-breaking dinner for the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.

Mavi Boncuk |Turkish FM Davutoglu described return of assets of minority foundations as a "historic step".

Davutoglu said the decision recently made public by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was not a gesture towards minorities, but the return of the rights of legally equal citizens. "We consider all these steps as the natural outcome of Turkey's commitment to its citizens and the citizens' commitment to their country. We hope these major steps can set an example for other countries," he said.
Davutoglu also said he hoped such decision could be an inspiration for the return of the foundation assets in the Balkans, coming from the Ottoman era, to the Turkish community living in the region.

Turkish government has recently issued a decree to return immovable properties belonging to minority foundations in Turkey. The decree was published in the Official Gazette on Saturday to return all immovable properties belonging to the minority foundations which they declared back in 1936 including their cemeteries and fountains. The country's population of 74 million, mostly Muslim, includes an estimated 65,000 Armenian Orthodox Christians, 23,000 Jews and fewer than 2,500 Greek Orthodox Christians.

Turkey is also under intense pressure to reopen a seminary that trained generations of Greek Orthodox patriarchs. The Halki Theological School on Heybeliada Island, near Istanbul, was closed to new students in 1971 under a law that put religious and military training under state control. The school closed its doors in 1985, when the last five students graduated.