Istanbul City Hall to pay $37 million to Armenian foundation

By Asbarez | Monday, 05 October 2015

The Surp Agop Armenian Hospital Foundation (Source: Public Radio of Armenia)

The Surp Agop Armenian Hospital Foundation (Source: Public Radio of Armenia)

ISTANBUL (Public Radio of Armenia)—Istanbul City Hall will pay 111,850,000 Turkish liras (about $37,280,000) to the Surp Agop Armenian Hospital Foundation for a 4,474 square kilometer area belonging to the Armenian cemetery in Istanbul that had been previously seized from the foundation and not returned, Ermenihaber.am reports.

According to Turkish cadastral records, an area of 41,430 square kilometers had been used as an Armenian cemetery by the foundation since 1936. The land was seized by the state in 1971. Municipal authorities used 4.47 square kilometers of the land to build roads, underground passages, and sidewalks.

Later, under Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s decision to return the real estate belonging to national minorities to their rightful owners, the land was returned to the Surp Agop Armenian Hospital foundation without the 4.474 square kilometer piece of land that was used for the roads and passages.

The Foundation filed a suit two years ago for the land’s return. The First Instance Court of Istanbul obliged City Hall to pay 111,850,000 liras, equal to the sum the area cost two years ago. The Court also ruled that some percentages of the sum should be paid to the Armenian foundation for the last two years.


comments

Advertisement