According to a news report in today’s Hurriyet, Pastor Krikor Ağabaloğlu of the Gedikpaşa Armenian Protestant Church has filed a formal application with Turkey’s Foundations General Directorate for the return of an Armenian orphanage in Istanbul’s Tuzla district that had been expropriated in the wake of Turkey’s 1980 military coup.

Murdered journalist and human rights activist Hrant Dink also received an education at the Tuzla orphanage and contributed to its construction with his brothers.

No formal reasons were ever provided as to why the orphanage lands had been expropriated, Ağabaloğlu said. “The state wants us to prove the title deeds of properties it expropriated. The state already knows why and what it expropriated. All the documents and title deeds are in their possession,” he said.