Ara Papyan, Head of the Modus Vivendi center, considers justified Turkish analysts’ concerns over the possibility of a process of restitution of 
Turkish-Armenians’ immovable property on the threshold of the centennial of the Armenian Genocide.
“Turkish analysts’ concerned are justified if we gather the evidence and produce it in one package,” Papyan told journalists on Thursday.
Restitution of property can be at the individual and community levels. In the first case, the heirs of Turkish Armenians can produce relevant property certificates. In the second case, it is Armenian churches and numerous other assets.
“Quite a large number of documents still in force are kept in Turkish archives. They were archived during the Armenian Genocide. Following Jews’ example, Armenians can now produce property certificates and get restitution,” Papyan said.
The restitution process requires time. The first stage envisages legal proceedings in Turkey, and the second stage is application to the European Court of Human Rights.
He proposed opening an office to start registration of individuals. “The the people will be sent to different countries and separate the cases that are promising,” he said.
Moreover, the legal advice offices may earn money from the process. “That is, the offices get part of the amount, the owners get their part and the state gets its part, which was the case with Israel. Armenia has never seen such huge funds,” Papyan said.
“About 1,000 pieces of property have been returned to the heirs of Armenian proprietors. Most of the cases are in France,” he said.