Although member of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), Member of Parliament Margar Yesayan had promised to return ownership of the Camp Armen Armenian orphanage in the Tuzla District of Istanbul to the Armenians prior to the parliamentary elections, he hasn’t taken any steps yet, writes yerkir.am.

It’s not by chance that Turkey’s New Awakening Armenian union issued a statement stating that Yesayan had apparently taken advantage of the name of the Armenian orphanage to carry out his political party’s campaign during the parliamentary elections.

However, the activists fighting against the demolition of the orphanage continue to spend nights at the orphanage and organize various events to prevent any possible attempts to demolish the orphanage. They also urge all Armenians to join them in their struggle.

The activists of the New Awakening union and members of the Camp Armen Solidarity Movement were holding a 19-day sitting strike with the demand to stop demolition of the building and return the orphanage to the rightful owners. On May 24, member of the union Alexis Kalk declared the following: “Camp Armen will be donated to the Armenian Protestant Church of the Getikpasha District and the School Fund. We will follow the transfer of the property, and our movement will continue until the end of the official procedure,” Kalk had said.

The activists who grew up at the orphanage and Armenian orphans had expressed their desire to see the camp serve Armenian orphans. Camp Armen was established after the Armenian Genocide of 1915. The orphans built the building of the orphanage with their own hands. The camp helped the Armenians preserve their national identity, culture and language because there was no school for Armenian children at the time. It had been announced that the old building would be renovated and would be used as an orphanage for 150 Armenian children.