Turkey returns Greek Orthodox orphanage to Constantinople Patriarchate

Turkey has obeyed a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights and
returned to the Constantinople Patriarchate the building of the Greek
male refugee, which was in the center of a litigation case over the
past 40 years, RIA Novosti reports, citing local media.

The multi-storey building, which was once used as a shelter for
Christians, was built on the Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara
near Istanbul in the late XIX century by a French architect and is one
of the largest wooden buildings in Europe. At the beginning of the
last century, the mansion. acquired by the Greek Eleni Zarifis, was
donated to the Patriarchate of Constantinople. It was subsequently
confiscated by the Turkish authorities.

In July of this year the court in Strasbourg ordered the Turkish
authorities to return the shelter to the Patriarchate of
Constantinople.

The Greek community in Istanbul at the time amounted to about 120,000
people. At the present time, there are a little over three thousand
people in the community.