The Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople has filed a landmark suit in Ankara for the return of the historical Sansaryan School in the eastern province of Erzurum, this according to a Hurriyet News report today.

“Some other foundations belong to [minority] communities, but the Sansaryan Foundation was granted to the patriarchate by philanthropist Mıgırdiç Sansaryan in the 1800s. The administration and management of the Sansaryan Foundation legally belong to the patriarchate,” said lawyer Ali Elbeyoğlu, who represents the Patriarchate.

The Patriarchate has also demanded the return of other properties in the Central Anatolian province of Sivas formerly owned by the Sansaryan Foundation in the lawsuit it filed March 14.

“We are not going to content ourselves with the mere return of historical buildings. We are also going to demand compensation from the Foundations General Directorate for all material losses incurred by the Patriarchate since 1936,” Elbeyoğlu said.

The Armenian community currently owns three small foundations across the whole of Anatolia. If the patriarchate wins its lawsuit, it will mark the first time that Turkey’s Armenian community has regained control of a foundation in Anatolia.

Upon the government’s request, Turkey’s minority groups in 1936 gave the government declarations detailing their real property. Over the years, however, many of these properties did not remain registered under the minority foundations’ names, and some were even sold to third parties.