An Armenian foundation has received back an Istanbul school building, following a court case that lasted 30 years.
The historic Bomonti Mıhitaryan School in Istanbul’s Bomonti neighborhood, which belonged to the Surp Ğazar Armenian Catholic Mıhitarist Monastery and School Foundation but was not registered in the 1936 Declaration, was returned to the foundation after a trial held on Nov. 1.
‘Justice has been served’
“Justice has been served,” the foundation’s head, Rita Nurnur, told the Hürriyet Daily News, adding that the Director General of Foundations, Adnan Ertem, had first advised them to open a law case on the issue.
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“When the foundation law entered into force, we filed two appeals with the Foundations Directorate General, but both of them were rejected. The esteemed Ertem then advised to us to open up a new case against the Directorate. Legally, the procedures should have progressed in that way originally,” Nurnur said.
Turkey’s minorities were obliged to declare their properties in 1936 upon a government request. However, many of the properties did not remain registered under the names of the minority foundations and many were even sold to third parties in subsequent years.
