A number of non-Muslim foundations have applied to the General Directorate of Foundations (VGM) to ask for the return of their immovable properties following a government move to allow properties confiscated from religious minorities since 1936 to be returned. Nineteen non-Muslim foundations applied to the VGM recently for 57 immovable properties, particularly their cemeteries. Among those foundations is the Galata Greek Primary School Foundation, which applied for the return of the Galata Greek Primary School, a property the VGM decided to return to the Greek foundation. The school was confiscated in 1968 and given to the Ministry of Education. It is currently closed because of the declining Greek population in Turkey, but the Galata Greek Primary School Foundation is planning to have the building serve as a cultural center. In addition, the Beyoğlu Y