Minorities ‘given entire asset rights’

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Turkey’s Foundations Directorate General has organized a seminar on new regulations regarding minority foundations.

Held in Galata Greek School in Istanbul on Dec. 13, the seminar titled “The Legal Condition of the Minority Foundations” was the first of its kind in the Republican period.

Foundations Directorate General’s Chief Inspector Okan Saydam, the foundations’ Istanbul 1st Region deputy head Ebru Günaydın and Laki Vingas, who is in charge of minority foundations in the Directorate, were present at the seminar. Also, representatives of minority communities, including Armenian, Greek, Syriac and Jewish foundations showed a great interest in the seminar.

Saydam spoke to the Hürriyet Daily News about the latest developments the Directorate is working on. He said they cancelled the elective regulation of minority foundations and were working on a new one, which would be announced soon.

“Many law cases were opened to the elective processes of some foundations. Administrators could resist holding an election. Also, voter lists were not organized in an effective way. The new elective regulation we are working on will prevent such problems,” Saydam said.

“From now on, minority foundations will be able to invest in the stock market and they will be able to sell and buy stock certificates as long as they inform the Foundations Directorate General,” Saydam said.

With the new Foundation Law that came into effect in August 2011, a one-year period was given for the minority foundations to receive back their property. According to Vingas, 1,560 appeals were made for property return by Armenian, Greek, Jewish, and Syriac communities within this period. Vingas also remarked on the new elective regulation, saying they hoped the problems on election matters to be solved with the new system. Vingas, who is of Greek origin, also spoke specifically on the problems of Greek community foundations. “The population of the Greek community is very low, so we have problems in terms of administration,” Vingas said.