Fused foundations within the scope of turkish civil law: A review specific to the Bezmi Alem Foundation

Following the proclamation of the republic in Turkey, foundation has been one of pending Ottoman issues, which is in need for adaptations to integrate into the new legal system. With the Turkish Civil Code numbered 743, the Legislative Instrument divided foundations into two categories: new and old foundation. In this sense, a new legal regime was adopted for foundations founded after the enforcement of the Code 743, while old foundations, which were founded in the Ottoman period and which still remain in operation, are subjected to different regulations. One of the most adversely affected institutions by the transition process in the Turkish legal system was fused foundations, which constitute the largest subdivision within the old foundations and are conducted and represented by the Directorate General of Foundations. Fused foundations were liquidated and their properties were nationalized or sold out by government interventions in contravention of the basic principles of the foundations law. Since fused foundations still exist and are subject to court decisions owing to the said process of repression, a holistic, comprehensive and comparative approach is required to study the issue. The significance of fused foundation administration and the legal status of their properties can be understood when considering the case of the Bezmi Alem Foundation; as a fused foundation, it is the founder of two well-known institutions in Turkey, Bezmi Alem Vakif Hospital and Bezmi Alem Vakif University. In this thesis, both the historical process of fused foundations within the framework of the Bezmi Alem Foundation and current legal regulations pertaining to them were studied from a comparative perspective.