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NEW EUROPE NEWSPAPER REPORTS ON 'ISSUES AND CONCERNS OF RELIGIOUS MINORITIES IN TURKEY'
New York
http://www.archons.org/news/detail.asp?id=437
11/29/2010
NY
Order of St. Andrew, Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate
The New Europe newspaper published an article by Dr. Otmar Oehring,
Director of the Human Rights Office Pontifical Mission Society in
Germany, on 'Issues and concerns of religious minorities in Turkey'.
Dr. Oehring was a panelist and speaker at the Order of Saint Andrew's
International Archon Religious Freedom Conference which was held at
the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium, November 16-17, 2010.
The Conference theme was focused on "Religious Freedom: Turkey's
Bridge to the European Union."
New Europe - the European weekly, published since 1993, is a unique
product carrying news and analyses from 49 countries with a particular
emphasis on the EU institutions and EU-World relations.
Its print edition is distributed to 66,000 readers in Europe and
beyond. In addition New Europe's website has approximately 150,000
visitors per month.
New Europe is an ongoing project; apart from the International Edition,
New Europe has launched the first of a string of Regional Editions
with the Bulgarian Edition and has recently launched its European
Careers Portal.
Furthermore, New Europe has served as a quality partner with main
European conferences, media, think tanks and academia in the field
of EU Affairs.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Issues and concerns of religious minorities in Turkey by Dr. Otmar
Oehring 11/15/2010
Read this article on New Europe's website
When we speak of religious minorities, we are referring to religious
groups that distinguish themselves from the majority when it comes
to the foundations of their religious belief and whose membership is
smaller than that of the largest corresponding population group.
However, when one speaks of 'azınlık', the Turkish word for minority,
within Turkey itself, the term refers solely to the non-Muslim
minorities as defined by the Treaty of Lausanne as interpreted by the
Republic of Turkey, which is to say it refers to Armenians, Greeks,
Jews and, based on the Bulgarian-Turkish Treaty of Friendship of 18
October 1925, the Bulgarians as well. In de facto terms, the non-Muslim
minorities are no more closely defined than 'minorites non-musulmanes',
'non-Moslem minorities' or 'Musluman olmayan azınlıklar' in the French,
English and Turkish versions of the Treaty.
Hence the Republic of Turkey's restrictive application of the relevant
regulations in the Treaty of Lausanne represents a clear breach of
the wording of the Treaty. This policy discriminates not only against
numerous non-Muslim minorities that existed in Turkey at the time
the Treaty of Lausanne was concluded - e.g. Syrian Orthodox or Roman
Catholic Christians - but against all minorities affiliated with Islam,
particularly Turkey's largest religious minority, the Alevi.
The discussion on the situation of religious minorities in Turkey,
which has only begun in the recent past, i.e. since the Treaty of
Lausanne - with these minorities including the Jehovah's Witnesses,
various evangelical free churches and the Baha'i - makes it clear that
while the exclusive reference to the Treaty of Lausanne may well be
significant from the point of view of the Armenians, Greeks and Jews,
who are regarded as non-Muslim minorities as defined by the Treaty
of Lausanne, it is evident that references to this treaty are in no
way appropriate when it comes to resolving fundamental issues facing
all religious communities in Turkey in regard to the realisation of
individual and collective religious freedom.
Such a solution can only occur on the basis of the relevant binding
international conventions, to which Turkey is a party, specifically
the European Convention on Human Rights, which Turkey signed on 4
November 1950 - some sixty years ago - and ratified on 18 May 1954.
The political discussion among interested circles in the European
Union remains strongly focused on this treaty when it comes to the
problems of those non-Muslim minorities in Turkey that the Republic
of Turkey regards as minorities as defined by the Treaty of Lausanne.
This fact has contributed to a situation where relevant legislative
developments in Turkey in recent years - those pertaining to
foundation law, for example - are regarded as being highly positive,
both in themselves and within the relevant context, and they have been
treated in such a way as if these legislative measures had already
brought about basic positive changes regarding the legal status of
the corresponding Christian churches and/or Jewish communities.
In fact, nothing whatsoever has changed in regard to the fundamental
problems affecting the legal situation of the non-Muslim Turkish
minorities in question as a result of the changes in the relevant
foundation law regulations as they impact the community foundations.
The Greek Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Armenian Patriarchate
as well as the Grand Rabbinate, like all other non-Muslim minorities
to whom certain community foundations have been allotted, still have
no legal personality and are thus legally non-existent. As a result,
there are still no legal relations between the community foundations
in question and the Christian churches and/or Jewish communities.
The fundamental problem facing both the previously named churches
and the Jewish communities, as all other Christian churches as well -
whether they already existed in Turkey before 1923 or only established
themselves here in the recent past - is the lack of legal recognition,
of a legal personality.
However, in this context it must be emphasised that this problem is
also shared by Islam in Turkey. It is true that a quasi state-sponsored
Sunni Islam is supervised, organised and promoted by an office
that is under the authority of the prime minister. In practice,
however, the officially banned but still existing Islamic orders,
the new Islamic movements, and also the vast minority of the Alevi,
who are also affiliated with Islam, have been left just as much up
in the air as the non-Muslim minorities.
However, one should not ignore the fact that, due to fundamental
changes in the laws governing associations and foundation law
in accordance with efforts to harmonise these laws with European
Commission guidelines, religious communities now have the possibility
of establishing themselves as associations or foundations. Individual
evangelical free churches have taken advantage of this possibility,
as have individual Alevi associations, although it remains unclear
whether these are religious or cultural bodies.
Nevertheless, the underlying problems can only be fundamentally
solved if Turkey continues to develop its understanding of what
it means to be a secular state in accordance with Article 9 of the
European Convention on Human Rights. For this to happen, it is first
necessary to revise the constitution in accordance with Article 9
of the European Convention on Human Rights and to pass the necessary
subordinate legal regulations that regulate the legal existence and
the basis of the activities of religious communities.
Turkey must give up seeking Turkish solutions for Turkish problems. A
Turkey that conceives of itself as a European Turkey must seek
European solutions for Turkish problems. There is no doubt that this
will remain difficult. Within this context, it is not only a matter
of harmonising legal regulations with the relevant regulations of the
European Convention on Human Rights. Instead, what is at stake is a
new way of thinking that makes it possible for people to experience
the individual and collective unfolding of their religious needs
independent of their religious affiliation.
From: A. Papazian
New York
http://www.archons.org/news/detail.asp?id=437
11/29/2010
NY
Order of St. Andrew, Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate
The New Europe newspaper published an article by Dr. Otmar Oehring,
Director of the Human Rights Office Pontifical Mission Society in
Germany, on 'Issues and concerns of religious minorities in Turkey'.
Dr. Oehring was a panelist and speaker at the Order of Saint Andrew's
International Archon Religious Freedom Conference which was held at
the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium, November 16-17, 2010.
The Conference theme was focused on "Religious Freedom: Turkey's
Bridge to the European Union."
New Europe - the European weekly, published since 1993, is a unique
product carrying news and analyses from 49 countries with a particular
emphasis on the EU institutions and EU-World relations.
Its print edition is distributed to 66,000 readers in Europe and
beyond. In addition New Europe's website has approximately 150,000
visitors per month.
New Europe is an ongoing project; apart from the International Edition,
New Europe has launched the first of a string of Regional Editions
with the Bulgarian Edition and has recently launched its European
Careers Portal.
Furthermore, New Europe has served as a quality partner with main
European conferences, media, think tanks and academia in the field
of EU Affairs.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Issues and concerns of religious minorities in Turkey by Dr. Otmar
Oehring 11/15/2010
Read this article on New Europe's website
When we speak of religious minorities, we are referring to religious
groups that distinguish themselves from the majority when it comes
to the foundations of their religious belief and whose membership is
smaller than that of the largest corresponding population group.
However, when one speaks of 'azınlık', the Turkish word for minority,
within Turkey itself, the term refers solely to the non-Muslim
minorities as defined by the Treaty of Lausanne as interpreted by the
Republic of Turkey, which is to say it refers to Armenians, Greeks,
Jews and, based on the Bulgarian-Turkish Treaty of Friendship of 18
October 1925, the Bulgarians as well. In de facto terms, the non-Muslim
minorities are no more closely defined than 'minorites non-musulmanes',
'non-Moslem minorities' or 'Musluman olmayan azınlıklar' in the French,
English and Turkish versions of the Treaty.
Hence the Republic of Turkey's restrictive application of the relevant
regulations in the Treaty of Lausanne represents a clear breach of
the wording of the Treaty. This policy discriminates not only against
numerous non-Muslim minorities that existed in Turkey at the time
the Treaty of Lausanne was concluded - e.g. Syrian Orthodox or Roman
Catholic Christians - but against all minorities affiliated with Islam,
particularly Turkey's largest religious minority, the Alevi.
The discussion on the situation of religious minorities in Turkey,
which has only begun in the recent past, i.e. since the Treaty of
Lausanne - with these minorities including the Jehovah's Witnesses,
various evangelical free churches and the Baha'i - makes it clear that
while the exclusive reference to the Treaty of Lausanne may well be
significant from the point of view of the Armenians, Greeks and Jews,
who are regarded as non-Muslim minorities as defined by the Treaty
of Lausanne, it is evident that references to this treaty are in no
way appropriate when it comes to resolving fundamental issues facing
all religious communities in Turkey in regard to the realisation of
individual and collective religious freedom.
Such a solution can only occur on the basis of the relevant binding
international conventions, to which Turkey is a party, specifically
the European Convention on Human Rights, which Turkey signed on 4
November 1950 - some sixty years ago - and ratified on 18 May 1954.
The political discussion among interested circles in the European
Union remains strongly focused on this treaty when it comes to the
problems of those non-Muslim minorities in Turkey that the Republic
of Turkey regards as minorities as defined by the Treaty of Lausanne.
This fact has contributed to a situation where relevant legislative
developments in Turkey in recent years - those pertaining to
foundation law, for example - are regarded as being highly positive,
both in themselves and within the relevant context, and they have been
treated in such a way as if these legislative measures had already
brought about basic positive changes regarding the legal status of
the corresponding Christian churches and/or Jewish communities.
In fact, nothing whatsoever has changed in regard to the fundamental
problems affecting the legal situation of the non-Muslim Turkish
minorities in question as a result of the changes in the relevant
foundation law regulations as they impact the community foundations.
The Greek Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Armenian Patriarchate
as well as the Grand Rabbinate, like all other non-Muslim minorities
to whom certain community foundations have been allotted, still have
no legal personality and are thus legally non-existent. As a result,
there are still no legal relations between the community foundations
in question and the Christian churches and/or Jewish communities.
The fundamental problem facing both the previously named churches
and the Jewish communities, as all other Christian churches as well -
whether they already existed in Turkey before 1923 or only established
themselves here in the recent past - is the lack of legal recognition,
of a legal personality.
However, in this context it must be emphasised that this problem is
also shared by Islam in Turkey. It is true that a quasi state-sponsored
Sunni Islam is supervised, organised and promoted by an office
that is under the authority of the prime minister. In practice,
however, the officially banned but still existing Islamic orders,
the new Islamic movements, and also the vast minority of the Alevi,
who are also affiliated with Islam, have been left just as much up
in the air as the non-Muslim minorities.
However, one should not ignore the fact that, due to fundamental
changes in the laws governing associations and foundation law
in accordance with efforts to harmonise these laws with European
Commission guidelines, religious communities now have the possibility
of establishing themselves as associations or foundations. Individual
evangelical free churches have taken advantage of this possibility,
as have individual Alevi associations, although it remains unclear
whether these are religious or cultural bodies.
Nevertheless, the underlying problems can only be fundamentally
solved if Turkey continues to develop its understanding of what
it means to be a secular state in accordance with Article 9 of the
European Convention on Human Rights. For this to happen, it is first
necessary to revise the constitution in accordance with Article 9
of the European Convention on Human Rights and to pass the necessary
subordinate legal regulations that regulate the legal existence and
the basis of the activities of religious communities.
Turkey must give up seeking Turkish solutions for Turkish problems. A
Turkey that conceives of itself as a European Turkey must seek
European solutions for Turkish problems. There is no doubt that this
will remain difficult. Within this context, it is not only a matter
of harmonising legal regulations with the relevant regulations of the
European Convention on Human Rights. Instead, what is at stake is a
new way of thinking that makes it possible for people to experience
the individual and collective unfolding of their religious needs
independent of their religious affiliation.
From: A. Papazian