Greek community brings all foundations under one roof

Bringing a total of 67 foundations under a single roof, the Greek community in Turkey has managed to get organized. ‘Such an entity existed 60 years ago,’ says one of the founders of the association, Dimitri Zotos. ‘We aim to build communication among foundations under the association’s roof. We will find out what the problems are and seek solutions,’ adds another founder, Anastasia-Sula Kapudağ
After a long struggle, Turkey’s Greek-descent Rum community is organizing and bringing 67 foundations under the roof of the Association for Supporting Rum Community Foundations, or Rum-VADER.

Located in the property of the Hagia Triada Church Foundation in Istanbul’s Taksim district, the association aims to resolve problems of the foundations with the assistance of experts. It will also organize cultural and social activities open to public.

Such an entity existed 60 years ago, said one the founding names of the institution, Dimitri Zotos, who is the president of the Kurtuluş Rum Orthodox Church Foundation in Istanbul’s Şişli district. “Sixty years ago, there was a high board supervising all foundations, but it was closed during the political turmoil in that period. We were unable to make elections from 1991 to 2008. Foundations are vulnerable to being exploited.”

Another founding member, Anastasia-Sula Kapudağ, summarized their objective as an effort to build communication between the foundations. “We will find out what the problems are and seek solutions through experts. We will also provide consultation for foundations with no income.”

Most Greek foundations are located in Istanbul and there are some real estate properties on Gökçeada and Bozcaada islands in the upper Aegean Sea.

Retrieval of historic buildings

The Justice and Development Party, or AKP, passed a bill on foundations in 2008 with a few regulations. Noting that the new law is crucial for the foundations, Zotos said, “Previously, we could not make elections in our foundations, but this problem was solved.”

“We were unable to close our schools even if they had no students and remained inactive. But the path has been cleared. We couldn’t receive donations from abroad, but now we can. The AKP government passed a ‘kind of revolutionary’ law. Of course, it has discrepancies, but I believe all will be fixed in time.”

Three historic Greek school buildings were closed in Istanbul recently. One of these buildings is the Kurtuluş Private Rum School, at which Zotos is both a teacher and the chairman of the foundation. “The closing is saddening, but we wanted it so because we didn’t have any students,” Zotos said. “There are a few students in classrooms and this has a negative impact on students’ psychologies. We are talking about historic buildings in the heart of Istanbul. They will be come back to life as culture centers, perhaps a guesthouse or a nursing home. Our goal is to keep these buildings up and running and provide income for the community’s institutions.”

Three historic schools to remain open

According to official data, the Greek population in Turkey stands at 3,000 and the number of Greek students is 200. The historic Zapyon, Zoğrafyan in Taksim and the Rum High School in Fener will be kept opened, Kapudağ said. “For now only Turkish citizens are being admitted to our schools. We want to give Greek students education opportunities after the required permissions are granted,” she said.

The schools announced to be closed recently included Ioakimian School in Fener, Private Arnavutköy Rum School (built in 1902) and Tatavla Boys School (built in 1887) in Sefa Square in Şişli.

Source : Hurriyet Daily News