According to Turkish historian Baskin Oran, the Turkish presidential palace (Çankaya Mansion) used to belong to the Armenian family of Kasabians who lived there before the Armenian Genocide of 1915. The historian published his statement in “Milliyet” in response to an article in the Ankara newspaper titled “The Presidential Palace is a gift from the people of Ankara to Ataturk.”
In Oran’s response, it was said that the palace was not a gift to Ataturk from the Ankara people but a robbery of an Armenian family deported in 1915. The robbery of the presidential palace was just part of robberies against Armenians and their property.
Turkish authorities banned this subject. According to authorities, the house was bought from Rifat Efendi. A grandson of the Kasabian family said in 2007 that they had not sold the house to anyone. On the eve of the presidential election in Turkey, a report on the country’s presidential palace was published on the website Bayanat.org, confirming that it used to belong to an Armenian family that was killed in 1915.
The Turkish government insists that the palace has been sold by the Kasabian family to the Bulgurluzâde family. But the third-generation members of the Kasabian family currently living in Ottawa, Canada, presented a completely different biography, claiming that the palace still belongs to the Kasabian family.
The consequences of the Armenian Genocide continue to show themselves even after 104 years.
Original publication: khabararmani.com
