Turkey’s Constitutional Court has issued a ruling in favor of the “Maryakob” (“St. Hagop”) Armenian church foundation, which belongs to the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem. By the Constitutional Court’s decision, the lower court’s ruling to transfer the administration of the Armenian foundation to Turkey’s General Directorate of Foundations has been annulled. This was reported by ermenihaber.
The high court also ruled that the church foundation’s right to appeal to the court had been violated, since the case of the foundation, which had applied to the court demanding the return of its properties in Turkey, was not examined; moreover, it was decided to transfer its administration to Turkey’s General Directorate of Foundations.
The Constitutional Court sent the case back to Ankara’s 15th Administrative Court for a retrial. The ruling states that at this level it is not appropriate to examine the foundation’s claim regarding the violation of property rights.
It was noted that in the event that the earlier ruling by the administrative court is annulled, a path opens for the foundation to reclaim its more than 100 properties.
The “Maryakob” Armenian church foundation had applied to Turkey’s Constitutional Court on August 26, 2016, stating that the documents of the General Directorate of Foundations also show that the center of the Armenian foundation is located in Jerusalem, and that forcibly taking over the administration of a foreign foundation cannot be recorded in the minutes.
