Zaman, Turkey
Sept 11 2005

ECHR’s Decision on Minority Foundations on Sept. 20
By Emre Demir
Published: Saturday, September 10, 2005
zaman.com

European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) will announce its critical
decision about the property problems of the minority foundations on
September 20.

ECHR will adjudicate the cases applied by Yedikule Surp Pirgic
Armenian Hospital Foundation and Fener Greek Boys High School
Foundation against Turkey.

The Court is also expected to adopt a new practice regarding the
Lausanne Treaty’s articles on religious minority foundations.

In recent years, ECHR accepted the applications from the
aforementioned two foundations against Turkey for the “violation of
property and discrimination”.

The foundations demanded the restitution of the buildings, which the
Supreme Court of Appeals decided to restore to their former owners,
to provide other minority foundations to have same property rights.

Yedikule Surp Pirgic Armenian Foundation demand the restitution of
two buildings in Istanbul, owned by donation in 1943 and 1967. Fener
Greek Boys High School demand the restitution of the school building
of which some parts were owned by donation in 1952 and the remaining
was bought in 1958.

These buildings were taken from the foundations by an application to
the Office of Treasury Undersecretary channeling the Supreme Court of
Appeals.

The Court of Appeals seized the buildings of the Greek foundation by
a court decision on 7 March 1996 and the buildings of the Armenian
foundation by the decisions taken on 30 November 1997 and 24 February
1998.

If ECHR case ends up against Turkey, hundreds of buildings seized by
the court of appeal’s decision in 1974 may be restituted.

Minority foundations, which demanded the return of the real estates
they formerly restituted to Turkey, are closely following the
decision due by ECHR.