Armenian Patriarchate files suit to retrieve historical building in Istanbul

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Turkish-Armenian Patriarchate has filed a lawsuit in an unprecedented move to retrieve a historical Armenian building in Istanbul, the Sansaryan Han, despite the fact the building had not been registered on the 1936 declaration.

“Newly passed foundation laws gave us the opportunity to file this suit. The Patriarchate knew it owned the foundation. All that remained was to officially declare this,” Simon İş, the lawyer representing the Patriarchate in court, told the Hürriyet Daily News.

The court ruled to impose an interim injunction on the building located in Istanbul’s Eminönü district. Among the foundation properties owned by the shopping center is the Sansaryan School in the northeastern province of Erzurum.

“We are awaiting the return of the building, and we remain hopeful,” said İş, although he chose not to comment on whether another initiative might be undertaken to retrieve the building in Erzurum as well.

The Turkish government enacted a measure effective Aug. 27, 2011, to return properties seized from minority foundations through a proclamation that was declared in 1936. Minority groups gave the government a proclamation in 1936 detailing their realty properties. Over the years, however, these properties were not registered under the minority foundations’ names and some were even sold to third parties, HDN reported.