Author: Diana Dabaghian

The new Community Foundations Election Regulation, which addresses the crucial demand of Turkey’s minorities, received a mixed welcome, but communities largely hailed the news. The regulation is in response to a key matter for the communities’ future as foundations primarily oversee everyday affairs, from running places of worship to hospitals serving the communities.

The old regulation allowing the Community Foundations to elect their own board of directors was suspended in 2013. For the last nine years, a new regulation has been tried to put into action. Finally, it was issued by the government in June.

“We advise our community to focus on the positive aspects of the regulation. Since the regulation is new, it will start showing results in time. We believe that constructive dialogues between Armenian and other minority communities and with the General Directorate of Foundations (VGM) are essential and valuable at this stage,” said Sahak II, the Armenian patriarch of Turkey. “In this sense, we would like to thank President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, VGM and the Interior Ministry, who contributed to the preparation of this regulation that meets our needs,” Patriarch Sahak II added. “Minorities consist of 12 different communities with different needs. Therefore, it is nearly impossible to make a common regulation that meets the demands of every community. That is why we are grateful to (VGM) and the Ministry of Interior for their hard work,” Süleyman Can Ustabaşı, a member of the Assyrian community and the representative for all minorities at the Assembly of Foundations, said.

“It is very pleasing that elections are being held once again and that the staff will be renewed. After 10 years of obscurity in the election of foundations, I believe that a positive change will happen with the entry of new names into the cadres,” Karel Valansi, a columnist who is an expert on this subject, told Daily Sabah.

According to Article 40 of the Treaty of Lausanne, non-Muslim minorities have equal rights to establish, run and inspect their religious and social institutions as well as the other establishments. However, putting the elections off for nine years caused some setbacks.

“The Community Foundations Election Regulation was, of course, a highly desired and expected situation. However, there are many negative situations and destruction caused by the fact that a suspended regulation has not been renewed for as long as nine years,” Valansi, who pens columns for only Turkish Jewish weekly Şalom, said. “The right to vote and to be elected and freedom of association were disrupted. There was a delay for administrations that reflect the voters’ will to accede,” she added. “The status quo was maintained while the enthusiasm of the few young administrators in the foundations and candidates for elections diminished. The regulation should have been put into effect much earlier before the problems piled up,” she said. Valansi also voiced her concerns about what might be the possible outcomes of the new regulation. “There were some problems with the old regulation. Some of them have been resolved, however, the new regulation can lead to other problems. For example, Istanbul is divided into electoral districts just like in parliamentary elections and six months of residency is required to be able to be a voter and candidate. However, there are Anatolian foundations without communities,” she said.

The Armenian Patriarchate, meanwhile, welcomed the decision to add electoral districts to the regulation. “Our main complaint was the narrowness of electoral districts. We see that the new regulation mostly meets our demand to expand the election area. The administrations of districts with reduced population and some of our foundations with large incomes will be put under public control with the majority of votes,” Patriarch Sahak II said. Article 10 of the new regulation declares that after examining the information and documents required for the election, a certificate of authorization is given to the relevant foundation by the Regional Directorate of Foundations.

“How will the authorization certificate mentioned here be issued? How long does it take to be issued? What will happen in case of rejection? Will the elections be postponed again?” Valansi questioned. Valansi also stated that there were ambiguities in some articles such as Article 12, which states that the list of candidates should be sent beforehand to the Regional Directorate of Foundations.

On the other hand, the Armenian Patriarchate stated that they believe the authorities were always solution-oriented. “We believe that the authorities will have the same approach in enlightening the ambiguities and will complete what is lacking in the new regulation if there is anything,” Patriarch Sahak II said.

Minorities in Turkey have suffered from the deprivation of their basic rights for decades. Efforts to restore the oft-neglected rights of minorities took a landmark turn in 2011 as the country amended the laws for the return of properties without current owners to the minorities they were obtained from.

A 1936 charter enabled non-Muslim minorities to acquire properties. Despite all the improvements, this process came to a halt in 1974 when a new regulation was issued. Now, most of the confiscated properties have been returned to their rightful owners. Properties once owned by religious foundations of Armenian, Greek and Jewish communities were seized as part of discriminating state policies in the past. The properties, ranging from historical buildings and churches to schools were mostly sold to third parties by the Treasury after their confiscation.

The country returned 1,084 confiscated properties to minorities between 2003 and 2018, whereas compensation was paid for 21 properties’ value.

“The process of returning the properties ended at the end of 2014. Justice has been served for many properties, but there are also more properties that were not returned because of the shortcomings of the law. Thus, a new regulation is needed,” Ustabaşı said. “Our relationship with the government officials, especially with our honorable President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has been progressing well for the last two decades. We are aware of their good intentions to solve our problems,” he added.

Turkey hosts 167 minority foundations, including 77 Greek Orthodox, 54 Armenian, 19 Jewish, 10 Syriac, three Chaldean, two Bulgarian, one Georgian and one Maronite organization.

• Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan spoke directly with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for the first time.
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Credits: Ruptly

Armenian China-Eurasia Council and Renmin University of China logos

A memorandum of understanding was signed between China-Eurasia Council for Political and Strategic Research and the School of International Studies of Renmin University of China. The cooperation of the Parties within the framework of this Memorandum of Understanding will include the following directions: conducting joint conferences, seminars, courses, expert meetings and consultations, implementation of joint research projects and preparation of publications, exchange of academic information and publications.

During the last few years, China-Eurasia Council for Political and Strategic Research and School of International Studies of Renmin University of China have already established cooperation. Starting from 2019, researchers of both sides have attended academic conferences, courses, and seminars, such as: “Eurasian Research on Modern China and Eurasia,” “RUC Area Studies Forum,” “Rethinking China’s Rise under the Governance of the CPC: Achievements, Initiatives and Prospects,” “Rethinking China’s Foreign Policy,” as well as a book presentation, organized by each side. 

It is also worth to mention that on April 8, both sides jointly organized “First Armenia and China Forum” dedicated to the 30th Anniversary of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations. Researchers of both sides are among co-authors of “China and Eurasia: Rethinking Cooperation and Contradictions in the Era of Changing World Order,” a book published by Routledge in 2021.

The Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between the organizations was signed by Dr. Mher Sahakyan, the founding head of the China-Eurasia Council for Political and Strategic Research and Professor Yang Guangbin, the dean of Director of School of International Studies.

Dr. Mher Sahakyan emphasized the importance of this partnership, saying that the agreement will provide an added impetus to bust further cooperation and implementation of academic diplomacy between both institutions. He thanked Dr. Yuntian Zheng and Professor Yang Guangbin for their cooperation and support. 

“Congratulations on the Memorandum of Understanding between China-Eurasia Council for Political and Strategic Research and School of International Studies in Renmin University of China,” said Professor Yang Guangbin. “Renmin University of China, which has been fostering a large number of outstanding talents, is the first-class research base on international issues and political sciences in China. We genuinely hope to expand the academic and cultural communication between China and Armenia and enhance the relative research on this base to promote the relationship between the two countries.”

Dr. Yuntian Zheng mentioned that, the Memorandum of Understanding, which is signed under the background of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of Sino-Armenian diplomatic relations, truly represents the friendship between Chinese and Armenian people. In this changing era, Belt and Road Initiative is becoming more significant in Eurasia. The scholars should be responsible for contributing to promote the relative studies. As one of the best schools in area studies, School of International Studies in Renmin University of China will make more efforts on cooperating with Armenian think tanks and universities in the future.