Turkey going to return property to Christian and Jewish minority foundations

PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkey's parliament is considering a law that would allow properties confiscated by the state to be returned to Christian and Jewish minority foundations.



The reform appears designed to meet conditions set by the European Union for Turkey's membership in the bloc, but critics say the measure would not go far enough. Parliament is expected to vote as soon as next week on returning property to religious minorities, and the ruling party of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has the majority required to approve the law.



Parliament first approved it in November 2006. But the president at the time, Ahmet Necdet Sezer, was a secularist who was often at odds with Erdogan's Islamic-rooted government, and he vetoed it. The country's population of 70 million, mostly Muslim, includes 65,000 Armenian Orthodox Christians, 23,000 Jews, and fewer than 2,500 Greek Orthodox Christians.



The law would allow foundations to recover confiscated properties, but it was not clear if they would be allowed to reclaim property that has been sold or whether they would be compensated for the loss of such properties. President Abdullah Gul, a close associate of Erdogan, is expected to approve the measure, the AP reports.