Armenian orphan camp demolition suspended in Istanbul

PanARMENIAN.Net - Demolition that began at Tuzla Children’s Camp, also known as Kamp Armen in Istanbul, Turkey, was stopped due to the intervention of activists, members of the public and politicians who gathered at the site, Agos reports.

The camp is among the most symbolically significant of Armenian community properties unlawfully seized by the state. The camp had become a home for impoverished Armenian children who in the aftermath of 1915, were forced to come to Istanbul since Anatolia had been left devoid of Armenian schools. The school was once home to around 1500 children including Hrant Dink, Rakel Dink and Member of Parliament Erol Dora.

Heavy demolition equipment belonging to a private company entered the Tuzla Camp and have already destroyed 5 rooms where the children stayed and the room of Hrant Güzelyan, the legendary director of the camp, the chapel and the peripheral walls.

Upon hearing the news, HDP (Peoples' Democratic Party) parliamentary candidates Garo Paylan, Sezin Uçar and Beste Kaplan, HDP provincial administrators, CHP Tuzla Province President Ali Çelik, Nor Zartonk activists, and former camp member Garabet Orunöz gathered at the site to stop the process.

The land of the camp, purchased by the Gedikpaşa Armenian Protestant Church Foundation, was returned - along with the facilities constructed on the site with the efforts of the children who studied there - by the state to its first owner on the basis of the 1936 Declaration, and the seizure process of the camp was completed when the Court of Cassation approved the decree of the local court in 1987.

The foundation administration tried all legal means for the return of the camp, however the efforts remained fruitless. Even the cases filed for compensation for the facilities built on the land were inconsequential.

When in 2011, a change in the Law on Foundations triggered a process for the return of seized foundation properties; an application was made to the Foundations General Directorate for the Tuzla Children’s Camp as well. However, the Foundations General Directorate, on the basis of the legal annulment of the sale of the Tuzla Camp, did not treat the file as a ‘seized property’ file, and thus the return of the camp or the payment of compensation did not take place.

The demolition of the camp was scheduled to begin within May.