Tweet
GREEK PATRIARCH TO GIVE SPEECH IN TURKISH PARLIAMENT
EMG.rs
http://www.emg.rs/en/news/region/174782.html
Feb 16 2012
Kosovo
Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew is set to give a speech to
Parliament's Constitutional Commission on Feb. 20 to expound on the
problems of Turkey's minorities, marking the first such occasion in
the history of the Turkish Republic.
Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew is set to give a speech to
Parliament's Constitutional Commission on Feb. 20 to expound on the
problems of Turkey's minorities, marking the first such occasion in
the history of the Turkish Republic.
"Our Armenian deputy patriarch says we are happy and not beset by any
problems every time a microphone is extended to him. To the contrary,
we have problems [of such magnitude] that they are awaiting urgent
solutions. Patriarch Bartholomew, on the other hand, does not shirk
away from bringing up problems with great courage," Arev Cebeci,
a former deputy candidate nominee from the opposition People's
Republican Party (CHP), told the Hurriyet Daily News.
Bartholomew will bring up a number of issues in the commission,
including the reopening of the Halki Seminary, the removal of
unfavorable statements about Greeks, Armenians and Syriac Christians
from Turkish class books and the employment of minorities in public
offices.
New constutition framework Bartholomew was invited to Ankara within
the framework of ongoing efforts to draft a new constitution for
Turkey, although the move has led to criticism from some quarters
within minority communities.
"We want to see concrete steps rather than the patriarch being
summoned there," Kuryakos Ergun, the head of the Mor Gabriel Monastery
Foundation in the southeastern province of Mardin, told the Daily News.
The patriarch is also going to raise other issues in Parliament
as well, such as the recognition of minority institutions as legal
entities and the funding of minority houses of worship through the
budget of the Directorate of Religious Affairs.
"We have problems of identity, recognition and language. Most important
of all, we are experiencing great difficulty in training clerics,"
Ergun added.
It is important for Bartholomew to deliver a speech in Parliament,
he said, but he also expressed reservations about the sincerity of
the government in Ankara.
Turkey's minority communities have more problems in common than they
have differences, he added. "Now we are demanding a solution to our
problems. Dialogue is very important. We have been treated as third
class citizens through this day, and this situation has to come to an
end," Stelyo Berber, the head of Istanbul's Fener Hagia Yorgi Church
Foundation, told the Daily News.
From: Baghdasarian
EMG.rs
http://www.emg.rs/en/news/region/174782.html
Feb 16 2012
Kosovo
Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew is set to give a speech to
Parliament's Constitutional Commission on Feb. 20 to expound on the
problems of Turkey's minorities, marking the first such occasion in
the history of the Turkish Republic.
Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew is set to give a speech to
Parliament's Constitutional Commission on Feb. 20 to expound on the
problems of Turkey's minorities, marking the first such occasion in
the history of the Turkish Republic.
"Our Armenian deputy patriarch says we are happy and not beset by any
problems every time a microphone is extended to him. To the contrary,
we have problems [of such magnitude] that they are awaiting urgent
solutions. Patriarch Bartholomew, on the other hand, does not shirk
away from bringing up problems with great courage," Arev Cebeci,
a former deputy candidate nominee from the opposition People's
Republican Party (CHP), told the Hurriyet Daily News.
Bartholomew will bring up a number of issues in the commission,
including the reopening of the Halki Seminary, the removal of
unfavorable statements about Greeks, Armenians and Syriac Christians
from Turkish class books and the employment of minorities in public
offices.
New constutition framework Bartholomew was invited to Ankara within
the framework of ongoing efforts to draft a new constitution for
Turkey, although the move has led to criticism from some quarters
within minority communities.
"We want to see concrete steps rather than the patriarch being
summoned there," Kuryakos Ergun, the head of the Mor Gabriel Monastery
Foundation in the southeastern province of Mardin, told the Daily News.
The patriarch is also going to raise other issues in Parliament
as well, such as the recognition of minority institutions as legal
entities and the funding of minority houses of worship through the
budget of the Directorate of Religious Affairs.
"We have problems of identity, recognition and language. Most important
of all, we are experiencing great difficulty in training clerics,"
Ergun added.
It is important for Bartholomew to deliver a speech in Parliament,
he said, but he also expressed reservations about the sincerity of
the government in Ankara.
Turkey's minority communities have more problems in common than they
have differences, he added. "Now we are demanding a solution to our
problems. Dialogue is very important. We have been treated as third
class citizens through this day, and this situation has to come to an
end," Stelyo Berber, the head of Istanbul's Fener Hagia Yorgi Church
Foundation, told the Daily News.
From: Baghdasarian