Thursday, April 7, 2022 at 7:45pm Eastern / 4:45pm Pacific
IN PERSON at St. Leon Armenian Church, Abajian Hall. 12-61 Saddle River Road, Fair Lawn, NJ. 
ON Zoom and St. Leon Events YouTube channel.

Presentation in Turkish and English.

PRESENTERS
ÖMER KANTIK, Legal Counsel
DESTINA KANTIK, Attorney

MODERATOR
AYDA ERBAL, Adjunct Professor of Politics, New York University and Bogazici University

Turkish authorities have confiscated assets belonging to non-Muslim foundations and individuals—from the beginning of the 20th Century until the 2000s—thereby eroding their capacity to serve and support their communities. There have been some positive developments since 2000.

Ömer Kantik, a member of the Turkey’s Armenian community, who aims to reverse a more than century-long practice of administrative and judicial confiscation, is currently involved in over 100 restitution cases with attorneys Destina Kantik and Arda Kantik. Some properties have already been recovered through legal and administrative processes. He will share the little-known story of legal reform in contemporary Turkey, the ways in which the claims process affects minority communities, the impact of decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, pending judicial actions, and other developments.

Ömer Kantik represents various Armenian—Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox—foundations including Surp Haç Tibrevank Ermeni Lisesi Vakfi. He also represents the various Jewish, Greek and Chaldean Foundations in Turkey, and numerous individuals.

Attorney Destina Kantik will join and translate for her father. She is a graduate of Harvard Law School, Robert College, and Istanbul University Law Faculty summa cum laude. She works on minority issues and matters of commercial law and arbitration.

Ayda Erbal is adjunct professor of politics at New York University and Bogazici University. She is also a managing editor of Hyetert, a multilingual news aggregation site in Turkey. 

CO-SPONSORS
AGBU Ararat
Ararat-Eskijian Museum
Armenian Bar Association
Armenian Network of America-Greater NY
Constantinople Armenian Relief Society (C.A.R.S.)
Daughters of Vartan, Sahaganoush Otyag
Knights of Vartan, Bakradouny Lodge
NAASR/Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Lecture Series on Contemporary Armenian Issues
St. Leon Armenian Church
Tibrevank Alumni Inc.