Erdogan is making history on the Greeks’ fortunes

"Historic decision for minorities" reads the title of the headline article of the Turkish newspaper "Sabah", revealing that by presidential decree, the Erdogan government has decided to go back and record the land properties of all minority institutions which had been declared in 1936. This decree paves the way for thousands of Greek property items to be returned to Greeks, and damages can also be claimed for items seized by the Turkish state.

This means that if this decision is implemented, the Greek institutions in Constantinople will get back thousands of real estate property items as well as cemeteries, which thus far had been seized.

In addition, for all real estate property of institutions that were registered under the names of individuals and were seized in the past, there will be compensation by the Turkish state.

The announcement will be made by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the dinner which he will host on Sunday evening for 162 representatives of minority institutions, in the presence of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomeos.
"This decision is a vindication of our non-Muslim fellow citizens for the rights they had lost", said the lawyer of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Kezban Hatemi.