Minority foundation receives school back in Turkey

İSMAİL SAYMAZ ISTANBUL - Radikal

Meri Komarosano (L) receives the title deed of the Greek school back. Radikal photo

The title deed of an elementary school was returned to a Greek minority foundation in Turkey March 23, following an August 2011 bill stipulating the foundation’s properties should either be returned or compensated.

The head of the Greek School Foundation, Meri Komarosano, who received the title deed from Istanbul’s Beyoğlu Mayor’s Office, said the return of their property was a dream for them.

Komarosano said they are planning to turn the Galata Greek School building, where hundreds of students once studied, into a cultural center, pre-school and children’s museum. 

“We have had a negotiation with the Istanbul Foundation for Arts and Culture (IKSV). The school will be a venue for the next Istanbul Biennial next October,” she said.

The school had suspended to its education in 1985 due to lack of students. Although it was re-opened in 1996, it was shut down in 2007 for not having any rental income and transferred to Turkey’s Foundations Directorate General.