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SULTAN ABDUL HAMID'S HEIRS DEMAND CONFISCATED DYNASTIC PROPERTIES
Asbarez Staff
Thursday, June 17th, 2010
Orhan Osmanoglu shows the documents he owns about the property that
belonged to Sultan Abdul Hamid.
ISTANBUL (HURRIYET)-The heirs of Sultan Abdul Hamid II, the last
Ottoman sultan to rule with absolute power, have filed a complaint
for damages amounting up to $18 billion regarding 4,200 properties
that were once owned by Ottoman dynasty members and later seized by
the state.
Known as the bloody sultan, Abdul Hamid was responsible for massacring
300,000 Armenians between 1894-96.
The first hearing of the case was held last week, and the second
hearing is scheduled for Sept. 30. Scattered around the world, the
members of the family will reportedly reunite in Istanbul to attend
the hearing.
The 48 plaintiffs are even planning to carry the case to the European
Court of Human Rights if they lose.
Orhan Osmanoglu, one of the plaintiffs and a third generation grandson
of Abdul Hamid, defined the case as the "lawsuit of the century,"
adding that, "If we win the case, then we are ready to settle for a
reasonable amount."
"We do not demand the palaces. We just want the property bought by
our grandfather with his own money," Osmanoglu, speaking on behalf of
the plaintiffs, said in an interview with the Hurriyet Daily News
& Economic Review. "Abdul Hamid's personal assets have not been
transferred to the state treasury yet."
However, the demand has already raised some eyebrows in the country.
The Topkapi Palace Museum manager Ilber Ortayli, who is renowned for
his research on the Ottoman dynasty, said it was a strange situation.
"I am trying to figure out what they are trying to do despite my
amazement," he said. "I can't say I have been successful yet."
Lawyer Deniz Ketenci, on the other hand, said the first thing to
do should be to check the land registry documents. "Also there is a
further complication in that the claims are coming from grandsons of
grandsons, namely, there are a few generations in between," he said.
"Therefore, I do not think my commentary on the lawsuit could be
sound now. We had better see the process."
If the case is won, part of the indemnity will be distributed among
the heirs, and the rest will be transferred to the Ottoman Dynasty
Foundation, which is planned to be established in a few months.
Speaking to Hurriyet recently, Beyzade Bulent Osman, a great grandson
of Sultan Abdul Hamid II, said he was about to take legal action
for oil reserves in Mosul. Commenting on that, Osmanoglu said his
enterprise would end up at nothing, just like a similar case in the
1940s. "Mosul aside, we also have personal assets in Greece and Egypt,
but we first want our assets in Turkey back," he said.
Adding that his attorneys conducted research into the state archives
before the lawsuit, Osmanoglu said he had acquired 16 land registry
documents. "We do not need to present a land registry document. The
General Directorate of the National Estate already knows what used to
be ours. There is a lot of profit involved in this business. If we win
the case, we will not reclaim the lands owned by the military or the
state, but we will protect our rights about the rest until the end."
After their exile, the Ottoman family members were scattered across
the world, and most of them had extreme economic hardships, said
Osmanoglu, adding that their financial exile still continued. "The
government has launched initiatives one after another. They could as
well make an Ottoman Initiative. But we do not want much. We just want
our rights protected. There is still a huge bias against the Ottomans."
The women members of the dynasty scattered to metropolises like Paris,
London and New York and were repatriated by virtue of a law passed in
1952 during the Adnan Menderes government. The men, on the other hand,
could only be granted the same rights in 1974 by the general amnesty
law passed during Bulent Ecevit's Prime Ministry. Osmanoglu said he
came back from Syria with his family after the law passed in 1974,
adding that he could not use his citizenship rights for 10 years.
"My childhood in Syria was tough, both economically and in terms
of morale," said Osmanoglu. "In addition to economic hardships, our
teachers always would attack me, saying 'You invaded our country.'
There was a huge hatred against the Ottomans. My education life
included many overwhelming struggles."
From: A. Papazian
Asbarez Staff
Thursday, June 17th, 2010
Orhan Osmanoglu shows the documents he owns about the property that
belonged to Sultan Abdul Hamid.
ISTANBUL (HURRIYET)-The heirs of Sultan Abdul Hamid II, the last
Ottoman sultan to rule with absolute power, have filed a complaint
for damages amounting up to $18 billion regarding 4,200 properties
that were once owned by Ottoman dynasty members and later seized by
the state.
Known as the bloody sultan, Abdul Hamid was responsible for massacring
300,000 Armenians between 1894-96.
The first hearing of the case was held last week, and the second
hearing is scheduled for Sept. 30. Scattered around the world, the
members of the family will reportedly reunite in Istanbul to attend
the hearing.
The 48 plaintiffs are even planning to carry the case to the European
Court of Human Rights if they lose.
Orhan Osmanoglu, one of the plaintiffs and a third generation grandson
of Abdul Hamid, defined the case as the "lawsuit of the century,"
adding that, "If we win the case, then we are ready to settle for a
reasonable amount."
"We do not demand the palaces. We just want the property bought by
our grandfather with his own money," Osmanoglu, speaking on behalf of
the plaintiffs, said in an interview with the Hurriyet Daily News
& Economic Review. "Abdul Hamid's personal assets have not been
transferred to the state treasury yet."
However, the demand has already raised some eyebrows in the country.
The Topkapi Palace Museum manager Ilber Ortayli, who is renowned for
his research on the Ottoman dynasty, said it was a strange situation.
"I am trying to figure out what they are trying to do despite my
amazement," he said. "I can't say I have been successful yet."
Lawyer Deniz Ketenci, on the other hand, said the first thing to
do should be to check the land registry documents. "Also there is a
further complication in that the claims are coming from grandsons of
grandsons, namely, there are a few generations in between," he said.
"Therefore, I do not think my commentary on the lawsuit could be
sound now. We had better see the process."
If the case is won, part of the indemnity will be distributed among
the heirs, and the rest will be transferred to the Ottoman Dynasty
Foundation, which is planned to be established in a few months.
Speaking to Hurriyet recently, Beyzade Bulent Osman, a great grandson
of Sultan Abdul Hamid II, said he was about to take legal action
for oil reserves in Mosul. Commenting on that, Osmanoglu said his
enterprise would end up at nothing, just like a similar case in the
1940s. "Mosul aside, we also have personal assets in Greece and Egypt,
but we first want our assets in Turkey back," he said.
Adding that his attorneys conducted research into the state archives
before the lawsuit, Osmanoglu said he had acquired 16 land registry
documents. "We do not need to present a land registry document. The
General Directorate of the National Estate already knows what used to
be ours. There is a lot of profit involved in this business. If we win
the case, we will not reclaim the lands owned by the military or the
state, but we will protect our rights about the rest until the end."
After their exile, the Ottoman family members were scattered across
the world, and most of them had extreme economic hardships, said
Osmanoglu, adding that their financial exile still continued. "The
government has launched initiatives one after another. They could as
well make an Ottoman Initiative. But we do not want much. We just want
our rights protected. There is still a huge bias against the Ottomans."
The women members of the dynasty scattered to metropolises like Paris,
London and New York and were repatriated by virtue of a law passed in
1952 during the Adnan Menderes government. The men, on the other hand,
could only be granted the same rights in 1974 by the general amnesty
law passed during Bulent Ecevit's Prime Ministry. Osmanoglu said he
came back from Syria with his family after the law passed in 1974,
adding that he could not use his citizenship rights for 10 years.
"My childhood in Syria was tough, both economically and in terms
of morale," said Osmanoglu. "In addition to economic hardships, our
teachers always would attack me, saying 'You invaded our country.'
There was a huge hatred against the Ottomans. My education life
included many overwhelming struggles."
From: A. Papazian