The Directorate General of Foundations of Turkey has returned a portion of the property belonging to Istanbul’s Holy Savior Hospital Foundation that was confiscated in 1974. The newspaper Agos writes that in the history of the Republic of Turkey, this piece of land is one of the most valuable possessions that was confiscated from the Armenians. The final decision to return this property was made on January 22, 2014.
The property is situated in Yedikule which is right across the Holy Savior Hospital Foundation and covers an area of 42,259 sq/km. The director of the Holy Savior Hospital Foundation Bedros
Shirinoghlu considers the return of this property a great source of happiness. “Our struggle that has been going for years has finally reached its end. A very important piece of property has once again been returned to the Armenians of Turkey,” said Shirinoghlu.
In June, 2012 the Directorate General of Foundations had returned only 10% of the above mentioned property.
In August, 2011 a law was passed in Turkey on the return of confiscated church property to the country’s religious minorities.
A study titled, “2012 Declaration. The Property Confiscated from Istanbul’s Armenian Foundations” claims that 328 real estate properties belong to 53 Armenian foundations. In Istanbul nearly 661 real estate properties belonging to the Armenians had been confiscated for different reasons. In the past 10 years, of the 661 confiscated properties,143 (21%) has been returned.
