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MassLive.com
March 9 2012
Senate resolution backed by Scott Brown calls for end to religious
discrimination in Turkey
Published: Friday, March 09, 2012, 12:31 PM
U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., is joining a bipartisan group of
senators in a call for the government of Turkey to end religious
discrimination and return confiscated houses of worship to religious
leaders.
The Return of the Churches Resolution in the U.S. Senate calls on U.S.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to emphasize in all official
contacts that the Government of Turkey should end all forms of
religious discrimination, return all Christian churches and other
places of worship to their rightful owners, and allow owners of
Christian churches to preserve, reconstruct, and repair churches and
other places of worship as they see fit.
"Religious liberty is a core value of our democracy and I believe we
should stand for the rights of people of faith around the world,"
Brown said in a statement. "I am proud to lead this effort to speak
out for those who are suffering discrimination in Turkey."
Bipartisan support of the resolution also comes from Sen. Dianne
Feinstein, D-Calif., and Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill. The House of
Representatives passed a similar version of the resolution in
December.
The movement in Congress to recognize the issue and take such actions
has been greeted positively within the Armenian community in the U.S.
and abroad. Over the course of the 20th Century, Armenians living in
Turkey have face a number of hardships and atrocities, including the
Armenian Genocide which involved the systematic killing of millions of
Armenians from 1915-1918.
A website hosted by the Armenian National Committee of America
highlights the resolutions and the problems facing a diverse blend of
religious people in Turkey today.
"I join with Armenian Americans from across the Commonwealth in
sharing our gratitude with Senator Brown for his leadership, along
with Senator Feinstein, in championing religious liberty and the
return by Turkey of stolen Christian church properties," said George
Aghjayan, a Westminster, Mass. resident who serves as Chairman of the
Armenian National Committee of America, Eastern United States, in a
statement. "In introducing the Return of Churches resolution in the
Senate, they are building on the overwhelming bipartisan adoption of
this freedom of faith measure by the House, and increasing pressure on
the Administration to reaffirm - in both words and concrete actions-our
nation's fundamental commitment to the return of religious sites to
their rightful owners. We look forward to working with Senator Brown
and his colleagues in support of the timely adoption of this
resolution."
Turkey remains on the 2011 `Watch List' of the United States
Commission on International Religious Freedom, where it has been
listed since 2009.
"The Turkish government's limitations on freedom of religion or belief
threaten the continued vitality and survival of minority religious
communities in Turkey," the 2011 report concluded. "State secularism
significantly restricts religious freedom, especially for religious
minorities including the Greek, Armenian, and Syrian Orthodox
Churches; Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches; and the Jewish
community, but also for the Sunni Muslim majority and minority Alevis
which some view as a unique sect of Islam."
http://www.masslive.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/03/sen_scott_brown_joins_call_aga.html
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
March 9 2012
Senate resolution backed by Scott Brown calls for end to religious
discrimination in Turkey
Published: Friday, March 09, 2012, 12:31 PM
U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., is joining a bipartisan group of
senators in a call for the government of Turkey to end religious
discrimination and return confiscated houses of worship to religious
leaders.
The Return of the Churches Resolution in the U.S. Senate calls on U.S.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to emphasize in all official
contacts that the Government of Turkey should end all forms of
religious discrimination, return all Christian churches and other
places of worship to their rightful owners, and allow owners of
Christian churches to preserve, reconstruct, and repair churches and
other places of worship as they see fit.
"Religious liberty is a core value of our democracy and I believe we
should stand for the rights of people of faith around the world,"
Brown said in a statement. "I am proud to lead this effort to speak
out for those who are suffering discrimination in Turkey."
Bipartisan support of the resolution also comes from Sen. Dianne
Feinstein, D-Calif., and Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill. The House of
Representatives passed a similar version of the resolution in
December.
The movement in Congress to recognize the issue and take such actions
has been greeted positively within the Armenian community in the U.S.
and abroad. Over the course of the 20th Century, Armenians living in
Turkey have face a number of hardships and atrocities, including the
Armenian Genocide which involved the systematic killing of millions of
Armenians from 1915-1918.
A website hosted by the Armenian National Committee of America
highlights the resolutions and the problems facing a diverse blend of
religious people in Turkey today.
"I join with Armenian Americans from across the Commonwealth in
sharing our gratitude with Senator Brown for his leadership, along
with Senator Feinstein, in championing religious liberty and the
return by Turkey of stolen Christian church properties," said George
Aghjayan, a Westminster, Mass. resident who serves as Chairman of the
Armenian National Committee of America, Eastern United States, in a
statement. "In introducing the Return of Churches resolution in the
Senate, they are building on the overwhelming bipartisan adoption of
this freedom of faith measure by the House, and increasing pressure on
the Administration to reaffirm - in both words and concrete actions-our
nation's fundamental commitment to the return of religious sites to
their rightful owners. We look forward to working with Senator Brown
and his colleagues in support of the timely adoption of this
resolution."
Turkey remains on the 2011 `Watch List' of the United States
Commission on International Religious Freedom, where it has been
listed since 2009.
"The Turkish government's limitations on freedom of religion or belief
threaten the continued vitality and survival of minority religious
communities in Turkey," the 2011 report concluded. "State secularism
significantly restricts religious freedom, especially for religious
minorities including the Greek, Armenian, and Syrian Orthodox
Churches; Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches; and the Jewish
community, but also for the Sunni Muslim majority and minority Alevis
which some view as a unique sect of Islam."
http://www.masslive.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/03/sen_scott_brown_joins_call_aga.html
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress