The Orthodox Patriarchate of Constantinople illustrated to the European Court for the Rights of Man its recourse against Turkey for a dispute concerning the property of a long-standing orphanage on the Island of Buyukada, near Istanbul. The orphanage, considered the biggest wooden building in Europe, belongs to the patriarchate since 1902 and was transferred to Turkish foundations management in 1977 with a ruling establishing that the orphanage had ceased its charitable mission. In 1964 Turkish authorities had ordered its evacuation for security reason and since then, the lawyers claim, nothing was done, to the point that the orphanage now is at risk. The dispute has been the object of various appeals to the Turkish courts since 1999 which ended with a ruling by the Court of Cassation establishing that the Patriarch was wrong. This led to the decision to appeal to the European Court on the basis of the articles of the European Convention on Human Rights which envisage the prohibition to discrimination, property protection and the right to an equal trial. The Greek-Orthodox patriarchate of Istanbul, which represents a community of less than 3000 people, claims the recovery of goods confiscated by Turkish authorities throughout the years. This debate is closely linked to the problems of the freedom of worship which the EU has often asked Turkey to implement in the framework of adhesion negotiations.
