In the 1950s, the lower floor of the Gedikpaşa Surp Hovhannes Church was used as an orphanage for orphaned or poor Armenian children from Anatolia. As the number of children in need increased, the need arose for a place for them to stay and have a holiday in the summer.[3][4][5]
In November 1962, the leaders of the Gedikpaşa Surp Hovhannes Church bought a piece of land in Tuzla, Istanbul and registered it in the name of the church. Thirty children between the ages of 8 and 12, including Hrant Dink, started to work on the construction of the camp.[3][4]
In 1974, properties belonging to Christian Foundations were seized by authorities due to Turkey's political atmosphere which was affected by political activities outside the country. The land of the camp was one of those properties. The camp was closed in 1983 and the land of the orphanage was confiscated by the state before it was returned to its former owners.[6][7] Legal remedies were tried for the return of the camp, and the lawsuits filed for the payment of compensation for the facilities built on the land were also inconclusive.[8]
The camp was the subject of an exhibit by the Turkish Human Rights Association in 1996, the materials from which were published in book form in 2000, with a foreword by Orhan Pamuk and an afterword by Hrant Dink. In 2001 the camp grounds were sold to a local businessman who intended to build a house on the site until Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink contacted him and let him know that the land had belonged to an orphanage.[9] The businessman offered to donate the land back, but the law at the time did not permit it.[9]
In 2011, with the amendment made to the Law on Foundations, the process of returning the confiscated properties of minority foundations was initiated and applications were made again, but no compensation was paid.[10][11]
Plans of the orphanage being demolished to make room for more luxury housing surfaced on the news in April 2015.[12][13]
Demolition of the camp
Demolition works started on the camp on the morning of 6 May 2015, with reactions coming from Armenian foundations and activist groups based in Istanbul soon after.[14][15] While the restitution negotiations were ongoing, Nor Zartonk and Kamp Arman Solidarity started a protest against the demolition of the camp.[16][17][18] A Change.org campaign and a march were organized for the restitution, contributing heavily to the halt of demolition operations although the subcontracted workers who came to demolish the orphanage quit when they heard the story of the orphanage.[19][20][21] On the 175th day of the resistance, Fatih Ulusoy, who appeared as the owner of the land by law, donated the property to the Gedikpaşa Surp Hovhannes Church.[22][23] Ulusoy, who had also requested the orphanage to be demolished due to its risk of collapse later stated that he felt no remorse for it as he did not know the history of the camp.[24][25] The rest of the camp, which was expropriated by Tuzla Municipality, was requested to be returned.[26][27]
The first orphanage was completely demolished on 8 April 2017 for the construction of the new one.[28]
In December 2017, the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Parliament removed the "administrative facility" annotation on the land of the camp and declared it a "social and cultural facility area".[29][30]
On 19 January 2021, in line with the unanimous decision of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Parliament, the plan amendment regarding the area of the orphanage was approved and work began on the reconstruction of the camp.[31][32][2][29]
The process of earthworks on the land of the orphanage started in 2022 with the foundation of Camp Armen being laid in November 2023.[33][34][35]
Once built, the orphanage will be the home to a dormitory that can hold 100 people, a cultural center, a library, many multi-purpose halls, and an auditorium. Also, at the entrance of Kamp Armen, there will be the Kamp Armen Memory Center informing visitors about the history of the orphanage.[34][36][37]
"Camp Armen" Youth Center
On the 14th anniversary of the murder of Hrant Dink, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu stated that with the plan amendment regarding the area of the orphanage being approved, there would now be no obstacles blocking Camp Armen being transformed into a youth center. He also added that work had begun on the architectural project for the restoration of the camp.[38]
