Turkish minority foundations entering a new stage

Monday, February 7, 2011

VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU

ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News

A representative for all minority foundations in the General Directorate of Foundations is working toward a better future for minorities in Turkey. Laki Vingas, of Greek-Turkish origin, is the spokesperson for all minority communities in Turkey at the directorate. There are 161 foundations in total under his responsibility

A Greek-Turkish man is leading an assembly representing all minority foundations under the General Directorate of Foundations, in a bid to provide a united voice for minorities in Turkey.

Laki Vingas was elected to the post with a majority of the votes from representatives of the Greek-Turkish, Armenian-Turkish and Syriac foundations.

Vingas is an advocate in the general directorate for the problems of not only the foundations of these three communities but also the Apostolic, Catholic, Protestant, Armenian and Bulgarian foundations.

Speaking to the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review, Vingas spoke about some of the projects he plans to pursue in the near future.

"It is high time that we, as the minority foundations, undertake some social projects,” he said. “We can no longer afford to think only about our own communities. Our target should be joint efforts for cultural and educational issues as well as for the future of foundations.”

Vingas said it has not been easy to come to the current situation. “We saw the days when it was not even allowed to drive a nail into a foundation property. I am the first to hold this post [head of the minority foundations’ assembly] through the whole history of the republic and I know others will follow me.”

Vingas said the minority communities used to be scared of even entering the door of the General Directorate of Foundations, but thanks to European Union harmonization laws that problem was overcome.

Harutyun Şanlı, a member of the coordination committee of the Armenian Foundations Solidarity Platform, or VADIP, told the Daily News that the Armenian community was readying to gather its 40 foundations, 36 in Istanbul and the rest in Anatolian cities, under one roof.

Kenan Altınışık, chairman of the Istanbul Syriac Orthodox Community Foundation, said, “We have chronic problems dating back 90 years, but our meetings with Ankara have been very fruitful.”

Şanlı and Altınışık both agree that Vingas will do an invaluable job in his new post.

‘Greek community in danger’

The minorities with the highest number of foundations in Turkey are the Greek Turks and Armenian Turks. According to data provided by Vingas, the 2,500 Greeks in Turkey have 75 foundations and according to figures by Şanlı 60,000 Armenians in the country have 40 foundations.

Syriacs, who have a total population of 25,000, have only 19 foundations. A great majority of them are in the southeastern provinces of Diyarbakır and Mardin.

Vingas said he had been a foundation chairman in the past, noting that the biggest problem of the Greek-Turkish foundations was the administrations.

"Due to old-fashioned mentalities, the administrative boards are never changing,” he said. “The same people have been administering these foundations for decades without giving an account of anything they have done. We cannot get over the problems and corruption if this continues.”

Vingas said the Greek-Turkish population was getting older and their numbers were decreasing day by day. "If a new restructuring is not implemented, the future of the Greek-Turkish community is at stake. The foundations need to receive professional aid and learn how to incorporate.”

Armenians active, Syriacs hesitant

Turkey’s biggest minority community, with a population of 60,000, the Armenian-Turks have recently made some acquisitions in foundations and a renewed sense of movement has begun.

A shopping mall and skyscraper construction project is ongoing on the premises of the Karagözyan Orphanage Foundation in Istanbul’s Şişli neighborhood. The luxury Lotus houses’ construction recently finished on a 45,000-square-meter area on a hill by the Bosphorus.

"If we could formalize the umbrella organization [VADIP], then all our revenue will be collected in a single bank account and this will prevent corruption,” said Şanlı.

Altınışık said Syriacs were not very keen about coming together. "Every foundation has a different mission and is of different importance,” he said. “A uniformist attitude could cause administrative problems.”