Two Armenian foundations to get back property taken over by Treasury, rules top court

Sanasaryan Han in Fatih, İstanbul

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The Constitutional Court has ruled that the failure to return the immovable properties taken over by the Treasury to two Armenian foundations violated the right to property.

The Samandağ Vakıflı Village Armenian Orthodox Church Foundation and the Yedikule Surp Pırgiç Armenian Hospital Foundation applied to the top court in 2018, demanding the return of 41 properties in total.

The Samandağ foundation, based in Hatay, was not able to get back its properties because the province was not included in Türkiye's borders in 1936, when a declaration regarding minority foundations was issued.

The Surp Pırgiç Foundation's properties were taken over because of a 1974 decision of the Court of Cassation saying minority foundations cannot acquire immovable properties by will.

The foundations took legal action after the No. 5737 Foundations Law was enacted in 2008. The law allowed Türkiye's minority foundations to get back some of their properties.

After their applications were rejected by courts, the foundations filed individual applications with the Constitutional Court.

In the decision published in the Official Gazette today (January 6), the court said a copy of the decision should be sent to local courts for retrial. (HA/VK)