YEREVAN. - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s decision to implement the 1974 ruling of Turkish Court of Cassation and return the property of ethnic minorities as described in 1936 is very positive and important. Ethnic minorities fought for decades to get this done, Ara Gochunian, the editor of Istanbul based Zhamanak newspaper told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

According to him, each of the minority communities in Turkey is given exactly one year to file an application for the return of confiscated estates and restore the right of ownership to them.

"It is not yet decided when the representatives of the Armenian community will submit the application, said Gochunian, adding that representatives of national minorities in Turkey have done a great deal of preparatory work of in this direction, in terms of making lists, preparing the necessary documents and so on.

The editor of Zhamanak refused to comment on the statement the Washington office of Hay Dat, which called this decision of the Turkish government a smokescreen that will result in the return of less than 1% of Armenian churches and property.

"I would not like comment on the statements of other centers, especially when people who are far away from here are never able to sensibly evaluate the atmosphere," he added.