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USCIRF Alerts On Freedom Of Religion Violations In Turkey

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  • USCIRF Alerts On Freedom Of Religion Violations In Turkey

    USCIRF ALERTS ON FREEDOM OF RELIGION VIOLATIONS IN TURKEY

    PanARMENIAN.Net
    April 30, 2010 - 12:46 AMT 07:46 GMT

    The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom
    (USCIRF) announced its 2010 recommendations to Congress, the White
    House, and the State Department, which included keeping Turkey on
    its "Watch List" as one of the most serious offenders of freedom of
    religion towards non-Muslim communities, Archon News reported.

    "Over the past few months USCIRF has visited a number of human rights
    'hot spots' where freedom of religion is obstructed and related human
    rights are trampled," said Leonard Leo, USCIRF chair. "This year's
    report offers new and important policy solutions to improve conditions
    where foreign policy, national security, and international standards
    for the protection of freedom of religion can and should intersect.

    The report's conclusion is clear-the Administration must do more!"

    A fifteen-page section is devoted to the current situation in Turkey
    in which the Commission begins:

    "Serious limitations on the freedom of religion or belief continue to
    occur in Turkey. Turkey's active civil society, media, and political
    parties influence the climate for religious freedom and help define
    the debate about the appropriate role of religion in society. Turkey
    has a democratic government, and the country's constitution calls for
    the protection of the freedom of belief and worship and the private
    dissemination of religious ideas. Nonetheless, the Turkish government's
    attempt to control religion and its effort to exclude religion from
    the public sphere based on its interpretation of secularism result
    in serious religious freedom violations for many of the country's
    citizens, including members of majority and, especially, minority
    religious communities. The European Union (EU) continues to find that,
    despite some improvements since its 2001 bid to join the EU, "Turkey
    needs to make additional efforts to create an environment conducive
    to full respect for freedom of religion in practice." An additional
    factor influencing the climate during the past year includes the
    alleged involvement of state and military officials in the Ergenekon
    plot, which included alleged plans to assassinate the Greek Orthodox
    and Armenian Orthodox patriarchs and to bomb mosques."

    The report continues saying, "U.S. policy should place greater emphasis
    on Turkey's compliance with its international commitments regarding
    freedom of religion or belief. For instance, the United States should
    encourage the Turkish government to address the long-standing lack of
    full legal recognition for religious minorities, including Alevis;
    Greek, Armenian, and Georgian Orthodox; Roman and Syriac Catholics;
    Protestants; and Jews.

    Regarding the restrictions on legal status of non-Muslim minorities,
    the report states: "The 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, a peace treaty
    signed between Turkish military forces and several European powers
    that formally established the Republic of Turkey, contained specific
    guarantees and protections for all non-Muslim religious minorities
    in Turkey. Since that time, however, the Turkish government has
    interpreted those treaty obligations as limited to the Greek Orthodox,
    Armenian Orthodox, and Jewish communities. Nevertheless, despite this
    unique status, legal recognition of these three religious minority
    communities, and guarantees cited, have not been implemented in
    Turkish law or practice, and the Turkish government continues to use
    the denial of legal personality to these groups as a mechanism to
    restrict their rights of religious freedom.

    "In Turkey today, there are about 65,000 Armenian Orthodox
    Christians, 23,000 Jews, and approximately 1,700 Greek Orthodox
    Christians. When Turkey was founded in 1923, there were 200,000
    Greek Orthodox Christians in the country. By 1955, the number had
    fallen to 100,000; that year, pogroms against the Greek Orthodox
    resulted in the destruction of private and commercial properties,
    desecration of religious sites, and killings. Due to ongoing threats,
    the Greek Orthodox community's numbers continued to decline to their
    present level.

    "For more than fifty years, the Turkish government has used convoluted
    regulations and undemocratic laws to confiscate hundreds of religious
    minority properties, primarily those belonging to the Greek and
    Armenian Orthodox communities, as well as those of the Catholic and
    Jewish communities."

    Further reporting about the restrictions faced by the Ecumenical
    Patriarchate and Armenian Patriarchate, state: "The Turkish state
    also has closed minority communities' seminaries, denying these
    communities the right to train clergy, and has interfered with
    their internal arrangements and leadership decisions. For example,
    the Turkish government still does not recognize the Greek Ecumenical
    Patriarchate as a legal entity. "

    "The Armenian Orthodox community, which is Turkey's largest non-Muslim
    religious minority, also lacks a seminary in Turkey to educate
    its clerics and today only has 26 priests. In 2006, the Armenian
    Patriarch submitted a proposal to the Minister of Education to enable
    the Armenian Orthodox community to establish at a state university a
    faculty on Christian theology with instruction by the Patriarch. To
    date, the Turkish government has not responded to this request.

    Additionally, like the Greek Orthodox Patriarch, the Armenian
    Patriarch lacks legal personality. The Armenian Patriarch reportedly
    receives about 300 email threats daily, and has two secret police
    bodyguards who accompany him at all times. "Due to the Turkish law
    banning the public wearing of clerical garb, foreign Christian clergy,
    including Georgian, Greek and Russian Orthodox, were required in 2009
    to remove their church vestments before they were allowed to enter
    Turkey. Christian clerics in Turkey who are Turkish citizens cannot
    wear their clerical dress anywhere in public."
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