Turkey set to return minorities' properties

[poutismalakas]

I'll believe it when it happens! I hope it happens though;)


ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- Turkey's parliament is poised to approve a law allowing 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 its club, 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 government opponent and he vetoed it.

The country of 70 million people, most of them Muslim, includes 65,000 Armenian Orthodox Christians, 23,000 Jews, and fewer than 2,500 Greek Orthodox Christians

[Bosnian Unit]

What ?

That is still a problem over there ?

Not even Bosnia have this problem anymore. I can say 99% of the properties are returned or owner sold it.

For example one have property in mostly Bosniak populated city, he will sell that and move where his people are majority :D. Or people would just exchange their properties in such situation. But still most of the people returned, and live where they used to before war, of course is not the same as it was but.......

[Bosnian Unit]

well apparently your brothers the Turks are not so secular as you claim! The Greek Orthodox seminary in Haliki has been closed for over 30 years with the Turkish government refusing to reopen it! The Patriachate is not called by it proper title Ecumenical.

As far as that thread is concerned I was asked to delete by a few people who felt offended by it so I did.


Well we didnt even discuss much about Turks out here, i knew females cant wear hijab and go to school over there:boo:, so we have a lot of students from Turkey in Bosnia going to colleges.

I think Turks are forcing secularism on its people, and its sad when a 90% Muslim populated country have such a law, let alone France wich did the same thing but that is a Christian nation !

About that thread, who would feel offended ? There was nothing racist or anything in there. Meybe someone didnt like the truth, truth sometimes hurts, and its sad that we cant have a thread wich is writen by a reporter, and wich was probably in some magazine/newpaper.

Whoever was offended by the truth, and ashamed of it they should stop being cry babies and face it like a real human being. Otherwise it will hunt them until the rest of their lifes.

[el Turco]

Well we didnt even discuss much about Turks out here, i knew females cant wear hijab and go to school over there:boo:, so we have a lot of students from Turkey in Bosnia going to colleges.

I think Turks are forcing secularism on its people, and its sad when a 90% Muslim populated country have such a law, let alone France wich did the same thing but that is a Christian nation !

About that thread, who would feel offended ? There was nothing racist or anything in there. Meybe someone didnt like the truth, truth sometimes hurts, and its sad that we cant have a thread wich is writen by a reporter, and wich was probably in some magazine/newpaper.

Whoever was offended by the truth, and ashamed of it they should stop being cry babies and face it like a real human being. Otherwise it will hunt them until the rest of their lifes.

Hijab ban was lifted 2 days ago by Turkish Parliament.

[Bosnian Unit]

Hijab ban was lifted 2 days ago by Turkish Parliament.


:Peace:

That is great for Turkey, very important . I belive in individual freedom and if someone wants to wear it why try to stop them.

[FR Sloboda]

well apparently your brothers the Turks are not so secular as you claim! The Greek Orthodox seminary in Haliki has been closed for over 30 years with the Turkish government refusing to reopen it! The Patriachate is not called by it proper title Ecumenical.

As far as that thread is concerned I was asked to delete by a few people who felt offended by it so I did.


May i re-correct you please, the Turks are not my brothers, the Bosnjaks and Turks have nothing connected to each other.

And the Greeks and Serbs are not brothers either, they just have good diplomatic relations with each other.

we Bosnjaks are most likley brothers with Croatians or Bulgarians as there were old Bosnjak race Bogomils that lived there.

now on topic: This is good news for minorities in Turkey now when will the Turkish goverment stop forcing minorty peoples to change there surname when the gain citizenship.

[SiN]

I have made a thread about the Turban law in the Turkish Section, if anyone wants to talk there. All my views are expressed over there.

[poutismalakas]

You are full of :censored:

:mad2:

NO i am not! Insult me again and I'll start acting like some of the sensitive people here! If you want the thread open... open it your self but if some complains bye bye thread! Also bosnia has NOTHING to do with Minorities in Turkey!

[PAO_HELLAS]

I am curious if the properties of the Patriarchate are going to be returned as well. Most possibly the law concerns the private individuals. They will find away to "illegalize" the Patriarchate and excluded it, we know well how the Turkish government is with these.

Even if they had such an intention though, I don't think there is a way to calculate the amount of property that is confiscated from the Patriarchate. This it is happening for centuries.

[poutismalakas]

I am curious if the properties of the Patriarchate are going to be returned as well. Most possibly the law concerns the private individuals. They will find away to "illegalize" the Patriarchate and excluded it, we know well how the Turkish government is with these.

Even if they had such an intention though, I don't think there is a way to calculate the amount of property that is confiscated from the Patriarchate. This it is happening for centuries.

Well i hope this allows the school in Haliki to be reopened?!! If that happens along with the return property Hellenism may survive in Turkey!

[PAO_HELLAS]

Well... It would be more realistic to talk about keeping the Patriarchate open, than to talk about the re-opening of Halki theological school. We are familiar with the Turkish regime.

Except if the government of Erdogan will decide to ignore the nationalistic parastate on this issue, but this isn't something easy.

[poutismalakas]

I agree on that pao. i just don't understand the logic here! The Patriachate could be used to make Istanbul some serious cash from the hotels, Resturants, vendors used by the Religous Tourist who come for Pascha, Christmas and the various hoildays!

[aslanlar]

When why and what did the Turkish government confiscate?

[poutismalakas]

When why and what did the Turkish government confiscate?

IMO racism also it happened around the Cyprus invasion by turkey

[aslanlar]

Why = racism apperently
Now when and what did the Turkish government confiscate?

[poutismalakas]

Why = racism apperentlywell actions of the government and certain people towards the ethnic Greeks and their Church such as the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istanbul_Pogrom

As private insurance did not exist in Turkey at the time, the only hope the pogrom's victims had for compensation was from the Turkish state. Although Turkish President Celal Bayar announced that “the victims of the destruction shall be compensated”, there was little political will or financial means to carry out such a promise. In the end, Greeks ended up receiving about 20 percent of their claims due to the fact that the assessed values of their properties had already been vastly reduced.

Tensions continued and in 1958–1959, Turkish nationalist students embarked on a campaign encouraging the boycott of all Greek businesses. The task was completed eight years later in 1964 when the Ankara government reneged on the 1930 Greco-Turkish Ankara Convention, which established the right of Greek etablis (Greeks who were born and lived in Istanbul but held Greek citizenship) to live and work in Turkey. Deported with two day’s notice, the Greek community of Istanbul shrunk from 80,000 (or 100,000 by some accounts) persons in 1955 to only 48,000 in 1965. Today, the Greek community numbers about 5,000, mostly older, Greeks.

After the military coup of 1960, Menderes and Zorlu were charged, at the Yassiada Trial in 1960–61, with violating the constitution. The trial also made reference to the pogrom, for which they were blamed. While the accused were denied fundamental rights regarding their defence, they were found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging.

Oktay Engin, the agent who attempted the arson in Salonica, had continued to work at MİT for years until 1992 when he was promoted to the office of governor for Nevşehir Province.

In August 1995, the US Senate passed a special resolution marking the September 1955 pogrom, calling on the President of the United States Bill Clinton to proclaim 6 September as a Day of Memory for the victims of the pogrom.


Now when and what did the Turkish government confiscate? It was closed in 1971



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halki_seminary

[PAO_HELLAS]

The question should not be "What did the Turkish government confiscate" but "What did the Turkish government did not confiscate". As I said it is not possible to calculate the amount of property confiscated by the Patriarchate because it happening for centuries

Really, what did the Turkish government did not confiscate? Is the only property of the Ecumenical Pariarchate today the 3-story building it is housed in?

[aslanlar]

Ok, so, have i got the story correct?

Following Cyprus, the Turkish government *supported* (allowed) racist claims by the public, and eventually the public trashed the property of the greeks n to a lesser extent, the armenians. Since there was no private insurance, the greeks did not get as much compensation as needed. And now, 50 years later, the Turkish government is planning to give compensation for the 5000 greeks that still live there.

And the then the Halki seminary was closed. These 5000 greeks are really gonna be upset. You know, the germans don't allow Turkish school in germany. Are there any in greece? (honest question, i'd be happy to know if there are).

[poutismalakas]

Ok, so, have i got the story correct?

Following Cyprus, the Turkish government *supported* (allowed) racist claims by the public, and eventually the public trashed the property of the greeks n to a lesser extent, the armenians. Since there was no private insurance, the greeks did not get as much compensation as needed. And now, 50 years later, the Turkish government is planning to give compensation for the 5000 greeks that still live there.

And the then the Halki seminary was closed. These 5000 greeks are really gonna be upset. You know, the germans don't allow Turkish school in germany. Are there any in greece? (honest question, i'd be happy to know if there are).
Found it for you also they didn't just trash the property they murdered maimed and raped dozens of people who where greek! friend's mom was born in the Fanar and fled to Athens in the 1960's as a child because of that!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_minority_of_Greece
Politics
The minority is always represented in the Greek parliament,[5] and is currently represented by PASOK members Çetin Mandacı and Ahmet Hacıosman. During the 2002 local elections, approximately 250 Muslim municipal and prefectural councillors and mayors were elected, and the Vice-Prefect of Rhodope is also a Muslim.[5] The main minority rights activist organization of the Turkish community within the minority is the "Turkish Minority Movement for Human and Minority Rights" (Greek: Τούρκικη Μειονοτική Κίνηση για τα Ανθρώπινα και Μειονοτικά Δικαιώματα, Toúrkiki Meionotikí Kínisi yia ta Avthrópina kai Meionotiká Dikaiómata, Turkish: İnsan ve Azınlık Hakları için Türk Azınlık Hareketi).


[edit] Education

Pomak village in Xanthi Prefecture.In Thrace today there are 235 minority primary schools, where education is in the Greek and Turkish languages,[2] and there are also two minority secondary schools, one in Xanthi and one in Komotini, where most of the minority is concentrated.[2] In the remote mountainous areas of Xanthi where the Pomak element is dominant, the Greek government has set up Greek language secondary education schools in which religious studies is taught in Turkish and the Koran is taught in Arabic.[2] The Pomak language (which is essentially considered a dialect of Bulgarian), however, is not taught at any level of the education system.[6] The government finances the transportation to and from the schools for students who live in remote areas, and in the academic year 1997-98, approximately 195,000 USD was spent on transportation.[2]

There are two Islamic theological seminaries, one in Komotini, and one in Echinos (a small town in Xanthi Prefecture inhabited almost exclusively by Pomaks), and under Law 2621/1998, the qualification awarded by these institutions has been recognized as equal to that of the Greek Orthodox seminaries in the country.[2]
Finally, 0.5% of places in Greek higher education institutions are reserved for members of the minority.[5]

All the aforementioned institutions are funded by the state.[7]

[PAO_HELLAS]

And the then the Halki seminary was closed. These 5000 greeks are really gonna be upset. You know, the germans don't allow Turkish school in germany. Are there any in greece? (honest question, i'd be happy to know if there are).

The issues of the Patriarchate and the Chalki seminary are not issues that concern the 5000 Greeks of the city. They are issues that concern the 300 millions of Orthodox that exist on this planet.

The Patriarch is the spiritual leader of 300 million people and it's ungraceful (to say it in a polite way) to be threatened by some thousands of gray wolves or any kind of nationalists.