‘ALL FOUNDATIONS NEED TO BE EQUAL’

Hurriyet
March 16 2009
Turkey

ISTANBUL – A think-tank releases a report that says minority
foundations should be granted equal rights or Turkey will end up
paying lots of compensation in regard to cases taken to the European
Court of Human Rights. The report examined cases of property seizure
by the state

Minority foundations in Turkey should enjoy the same rights as the rest
of the countries organizations, according to a report released Saturday
by the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation, or TESEV.

Proposing solutions to minority foundations’ property problems,
TESEV requested the proposals be followed, and warned that otherwise,
Turkey would have to pay more compensation in cases that would be
brought to the European Court of Human Rights, or ECHR.

"History and legal procedures show that the state has a policy that
wants non-Muslims to leave Turkey and leave their property and goods
behind," Etyen Mahcupyan, director of TESEV Democratization Program and
a columnist at daily Taraf, said at a panel Saturday. Mahcupyan said
the difficulties minority foundations are facing today and incidents
like the wealth tax introduced in 1942 and the state’s seizure of
minorities’ properties lead to more perceptions supporting that view.

TESEV’s report, "The Story of an Alien(ation): Real Estate Ownership
Problems of Non-Muslim Foundations and Communities in Turkey,"
examined the history and legal procedures of how some foundations’
properties were seized by the state.

The report revealed that minority foundations faced many problems,
mainly the inability to purchase any new property or open new
foundations. Although the law enables minority foundations to reclaim
their confiscated property from the state, a jurist from TESEV,
Dilek Kurban, said, "It fails to address a number of problems, such
as the taking back of some properties that have been re-sold to a
third party after government expropriation."

In 1936, a declaration was sent to all minority foundations asking
them to report their properties. Later, the properties that were not
declared were confiscated by the state. This declaration should no
longer be a basis for the current status of the minority foundations,
experts said.

"Those foundations did not say in the declaration that they might have
additional properties in the future through inheritance or donations,"
said Kezban Hatemi, a lawyer. Minority foundations cannot have new
properties, she said. "According to a recent law numbered 5737, they
cannot even start new foundations or build an orphanage or hospital
in a certain community."

The Lausanne Treaty, which is seen as a significant document and first
gave broad rights to minorities, is misinterpreted in some ways, said
experts. The Lausanne Treaty defined who is considered a minority in
Turkey. "The treaty defines minorities, but minorities other than
the Greek, Armenian and Jewish communities, such as Catholics and
Assyrian Catholics, could not benefit from that treaty and faced
problems owning property and establishing foundations," said Hatemi.

In order to solve all these problems, a law better than 5737 should
be introduced, read the report. That will also pave the way to
solve the problems in domestic jurisdiction without making Turkey
pay compensation in cases that go to the ECHR. The properties that
are confiscated by the state should be given back to the communities
and non-Muslim as well as Muslim communities should be allowed to open
foundations for their communities, advised the report. The reciprocity
principle cannot be viewed in the case of minority foundations because
there is no addressee in cases of Armenian and Jewish communities,
according to experts.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress