Three schools belonging to Istanbul’s Greek community will be formally closed due to lack of students, paving the way for the group to capitalize on the long-empty buildings’ value, according to foundation representatives.
The community has been unsuccessfully appealing to the authorities for years to close down the schools. Laki Vingas, a member of the General Directorate of Foundations and spokesperson for Greek Foundations in Turkey, said recently: “We haven’t had any students for years. This is a favorable decision.”
A recent court decision granted the community the authority to close down the Private Kurtuluş Greek Primary School in Şişli, the Arnavutköy Primary School in Beşiktaş and the Balat Ioakimion Girls’ Lyceum in Fatih. Only nine Greek community schools remain in operation following the closures; in 1870, 40 schools were operating.
Vingas said he was satisfied with the decision to close down the dormant schools after years of struggle as the community will now be able to gain income by turning over the empty buildings to other uses after long having been prevented from doing so, Hürriyet Daily News reported.
