Examination of the roles of foundations on Turkish education system of Cyprus

Abstract

The foundation, to be recognized as a commodity which is used for the sake of humanity, is to remove from being a special commodity and to carry on and develop as a resource that could be benefited by society eternally for people’s service. After Cyprus was received by Ottoman Empire, some foundations were installed in order that people could meet their religious and social needs. British-Ottoman defense treaty in June 4, 1878 did not mortgage in any way any either Turkish people or assets in Cyprus. Foundation commodities and Land Registry Office were under the sovereignty and supervision of Ottoman Empire. No change was foreseen on immovable properties and especially status of immovable commodities belonging to the Foundations which are under the property of Ottoman Empire through this treaty. The British Colonial Administration changed the provisions of this treaty unilaterally, and developed a series of transactions towards invading the island. It firstly intervened in Foundations, and it settled an English administrator in pious foundation management. In 1914, it changed the island to be Royalty colony, namely; it acquired the island. Thanks to the royal charter enacted in November 30, 1915, the foundations started to manage with commissioners assigned to the management and benefit from the institution in order to control the commodities of the foundation. The foundations were transformed into Government Offices in 1928, and all of the foundation immovables were left to face the threat of intervention. The Turkish Cypriot foundation commodities and foundations management were exposed to continuous interventions, thus administrative and financial power of foundation institution were weakened. As a result of the changes in law that were made by British Colonial Administration, many lands belonging to the foundations and Varosha (Maras) Region which is the most important tourism center of Famagusta passed into the ownership of Greeks.