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ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LEADER URGES EQUALITY IN NEW TURKEY CONSTITUTION
Now Lebanon
Feb 20 2012
The spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians said Monday
that members of his community must not be treated as second-class
citizens in Turkey's new constitution.
"We want the new text to represent all of us... We want nothing more
than to be equal," Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople
said after addressing a session of parliament devoted to drawing up
a new basic law.
"We do not want to be second-class citizens. Minorities have
unfortunately fallen victim to such injustice. But this is starting
to change," he was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency."
The patriarch was consulted by parliament about the role of religious
minorities in the new constitution for the Muslim majority but
secular nation.
An official from the Syriac community also addressed lawmakers and
representatives from the Armenian and Jewish communities are also
due to have their views heard.
Turkey does not recognize Bartholomew I's title as head of the world
Orthodox Christians and considers him only the spiritual head of
Turkey's tiny Greek Orthodox minority.
Ankara said last year it aimed to draft a new constitution by mid-2012
to replace a post-coup basic law adopted in 1980, but progress has
been slow and the new document may not emerge this year.
Today the Greek Orthodox population numbers little more than 2,500
people in Istanbul. There are also some 60,000 Armenians and 15,000
Orthodox Syrians among the minority religious groups.
The government in Turkey is headed by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, leader of the Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party
(AKP).
From: Baghdasarian
Now Lebanon
Feb 20 2012
The spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians said Monday
that members of his community must not be treated as second-class
citizens in Turkey's new constitution.
"We want the new text to represent all of us... We want nothing more
than to be equal," Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople
said after addressing a session of parliament devoted to drawing up
a new basic law.
"We do not want to be second-class citizens. Minorities have
unfortunately fallen victim to such injustice. But this is starting
to change," he was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency."
The patriarch was consulted by parliament about the role of religious
minorities in the new constitution for the Muslim majority but
secular nation.
An official from the Syriac community also addressed lawmakers and
representatives from the Armenian and Jewish communities are also
due to have their views heard.
Turkey does not recognize Bartholomew I's title as head of the world
Orthodox Christians and considers him only the spiritual head of
Turkey's tiny Greek Orthodox minority.
Ankara said last year it aimed to draft a new constitution by mid-2012
to replace a post-coup basic law adopted in 1980, but progress has
been slow and the new document may not emerge this year.
Today the Greek Orthodox population numbers little more than 2,500
people in Istanbul. There are also some 60,000 Armenians and 15,000
Orthodox Syrians among the minority religious groups.
The government in Turkey is headed by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, leader of the Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party
(AKP).
From: Baghdasarian