Eviction case filed against Koç University’s building

ISTANBUL

An eviction case has been filed against the Koç University Rectorate by the Aya Paraskevi Greek Orthodox Church and the İlk Mektebi Foundation, the property owners, for allegedly not paying their rent regularly.

Mustafa Yaren, the lawyer of the church and the foundation, stated that the building and outbuildings of the Greek School in Istanbul’s Sarıyer district were rented to the Koç University Rectorate for 25 years.

According to the lease agreement between the parties, the rent is paid by the university until the fifth day of each month.

However, the defendant university did not pay the rent fees for the months of November and December 2022, upon which a warning was issued through a notary.

The termination of the lease agreement and eviction were requested as the tenant university caused two justified warnings within one rental period.

“They [Koç University] have been using this real estate since 2009. Although we have contacted them many times until now, they do not make their payments on a regular basis,” Yaren expressed.

Reminding that Koç University is one of the leading education institutions in the country and demands a high annual amount of 250,000 Turkish Liras ($12,800) from its students, Yaren underlined that the fee demanded by the church and the foundation for a building and garden in a luxurious neighborhood such as Büyükdere is only 25,000 liras ($1,280).

“Currently, even the lowest rent in Istanbul is nearly 15,000 liras ($770). Even though a huge school building and its garden are being rented with this figure, they still insist on not making payments. This is not acceptable for us,” Yaren said.

“As a foundation, we rented a building, and we are having trouble receiving our payments. When we look at the inflation value of these payments, the rent fee was undervalued.”