ISTANBUL
The attempted demolition of a former Armenian camp building in Istanbul has been suspended on Thursday after protests.
Kamp Armen was constructed in 1962 by Istanbul-based Gedik Pasa Armenian Protestant Church and School Foundation and at one time was home to around 1,500 orphans.
Important one-time residents included Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, who was assassinated in 2007, his wife Rakel and pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party deputy Erol Dora.
On Wednesday, some bulldozers went to the area in the Tuzla district to demolish the building, which changed hands many times and had fallen out of use in recent years.
“We learned that the latest owner of the building wants to erect a villa here,” 22-year-old Armenian-Turk Arno Kalayci told reporters at the site.
Seven rooms including the quarters of former principal Hrant Guzelyan and a prayer site were razed to the ground on Wednesday, according to a report by the Istanbul-based Armenian weekly Agos newspaper.
“This building was constructed with the help of hundreds of children aged between 8 and 12 at that time,” Kalayci noted.
Rakel Dink also wrote an article for Agos on Thursday, running a photo of herself and her husband, together with other children.
“The biggest wish of my husband was for Kamp Armen to survive. I am now watching the demolition with my heart hurting,” she said.
A group of activists is currently waiting in front of the camp building to deter any further demolition attempt.
