By Menekse Tokyay for Southeast European Times in Istanbul -- 06/09/11
Of nearly 74 million people in Turkey, less than 1% belong to religious minorities. [Reuters]
According to the decree, published in the Official Gazette on August 27th, minority foundations can reclaim property -- including cemeteries, fountains, schools, hospitals and orphanages -- that they have declared since 1936. Real estate that has been re-sold to third parties will also be paid for after the current value is determined by the Ministry of Finance.
"Like everyone else, we also know about the injustices that different religious groups have been subjected to because of their differences," said Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a dinner he attended with the representatives of Christian and Jewish foundations.
To reclaim their property, minority foundations must apply to Turkish authorities within a year. Each application must be approved by parliament, after which the property will be registered in the name of the foundation by the registration office.
Coming on Monday (September 12th): a special webpage dedicated to news and information from Turkey.
Pazartesi (12. Eylül) Türkiye ile ilgili özel bir haber sitesi geliyor.
The Lausanne Treaty defines as minority Greek Orthodox, Armenian and Jewish communities.
Turkey's Law on Foundations, adopted in 1936, ordered that all foundations must submit a property declaration including all real estate and other properties they possess, while in 1974, a separate ruling by the Court of Cassation banned minority groups from purchasing and registering any new property.
In 2008, parliament amended the Foundations Law, expanding the rights of minority religious groups to acquire new property and recover their confiscated property. However, "although 2008 amendments did allow for the return of some of the properties, restrictions remained, and the issue of properties sold to third parties was left unsolved," says Professor Armagan Cakir of Marmara University.
Armenian-Turkish journalist and Director of the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV) Democratisation Programme Etyen Mahcupyan, says the timing of this decree is important.
"First of all, the government took this decision before the upcoming discussions on the new constitution, meaning it does not want to leave this delicate question to be resolved within the constitutional structure," he explained.
Erdogan has said he wants a constitution that is "free of the democratic shames of the past: not exclusive but inclusive, not alienating but embracing, not discriminating but integrating, and not oppressive but liberating".
According to Mahcupyan, the ruling AKP wants to obtain civilian control over the state structure and its ideology, most recently reflected in changes in civilian-military relations.
"I believe that this decision was also a proactive move serving another purpose: the AKP government tries to redefine 'Turkish citizenship' in more liberal, civilian and modern terms -- which is mistakenly interpreted as neo-Ottomanism by some," says Cakir.
As Ayhan Aktar of Bilgi University points out, "The early Republican period of modern Turkey showed a state policy that wanted non-Muslims to leave Turkey and, if possible, by leaving their property and goods behind them." Therefore, the new decree can be seen in light of the state redefining its relationship with religious minority groups.
The timing of this move also suggests a determination by the government to meet demands of the EU, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and the US Congress, which have pressed the country in this direction for decades.
According to the 2010 Progress Report for Turkey prepared by the European Commission, the EU requires that the legal framework in Turkey addresses cases of properties seized and sold to third parties, emphasising the need for ensuring full respect of the property rights of all non-Muslim religious communities.
If the government had not taken up the issue of minority properties now, Aktar says, it would have left itself vulnerable to significant compensation in cases that go before the ECHR.
Experts say the government's next step should be to re-establish the reputations of minority groups' members who lost their citizenship, including opening up the possibility of dual citizenship and passports.
Source: SETimes.com
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