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Promised Legal Reforms Disappoint Turkey's Religious Minorities
________________________________
Posted GMT 10-4-2013 21:29:23
________________________________
The Turkish government's long-awaited "democratisation package" of
reform laws announced this week has met with considerable
disappointment among Turkey's minority religious communities.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan revealed on Monday a broad array
of reform laws, drafted by his ruling Justice and Development Party
for parliamentary debate and approval.
Although public focus remained on legal changes in the Kurdish
resolution process, electoral reform and lifting the headscarf ban in
public offices, there were some positive, if symbolic, steps affecting
the nation's non-Muslim communities.
But without question, the religious minorities were expecting more
tangible changes to correct their status as second-class citizens:
most prominently, the re-opening of the Orthodox Church's Halki
Seminary, along with recognition of the Alevis as a distinct faith
community.
"There are positive aspects, but also there are important steps
missing," Laki Vingas told Today's Zaman after Erdogan's speech. A
member of the Greek Orthodox community, Vingas represents non-Muslim
foundations on the council of the Directorate General of Foundations
under the prime minister's office.
"The package in its entirety is positive, but there is nothing about
Alevis," Radikal columnist Yetvart Danziyan noted.
The Alevi community, estimated at 20 per cent of the Turkish
population, is denied official recognition as a distinct faith
community from the Sunni Muslim majority. As a result, Alevi cemevis
(places of worship) are refused the state upkeep and tax exemptions
granted to all Sunni mosques, Alevi dedes (religious leaders) are
ineligible for the state salaries paid to Sunni imams, and basic Alevi
beliefs are excluded from the required religion courses in all public
schools.
Danziyan also observed, "The failure to open the [Halki] theological
school has caused disappointment not only among the Greek community,
but all minority groups."
Shattered education hopes
After decades of waiting, the high hopes of Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew I and Turkey's tiny Greek Orthodox community for a green
light to reopen the Halki Seminary were again shattered.
The Turkish state's forced closure of Halki Seminary since 1971 has
prevented Eastern Orthodoxy's most prominent seminary from providing
its clergymen with a theological education for more than 40 years.
Founded in 1844 atop Heybeli Island near Istanbul, the Halki
Seminary's status has been tied for decades to the principle of
'reciprocity' with Greece's handling of its ethnic Turkish minority.
"Certainly the minorities' issues could have been addressed more
actively in the package," Vingas said to Bianet. "Unfortunately, the
[Greek] theological school will remain shackled."
The government's refusal to open it, Today's Zaman columnist Orhan
Kemal Cengiz wrote, leaves the Ecumenical Patriarchate which leads 300
million Orthodox worldwide "at the edge of total extinction".
Questioned in Brussels on October 2 about Ankara's refusal to allow
Christians to educate their clergy, Turkish Minister for European
Union Affairs Egemen Bagis addressed his answer to Greece: "Encourage
us to open Halki Seminary. There is still no mosque in Athens, still
no Muslim cemetery there....The time has come to keep your word.
Encourage us!"
In parallel, all of Turkey's Armenian, Syriac, Catholic and Protestant
communities are prohibited from opening seminaries or Bible schools to
train their clergy.
Seized monastery lands 'returned'
However, the nation's small Syriac Christian community welcomed the
prime minister's announcement that state-confiscated land belonging to
the Mor Gabriel monastery in southeastern Turkey would be returned to
the church.
But Tuma Celik, owner and chief editor of the Syriac-language Sabro
newspaper, objected to Erdogan's implication that any of the
1,700-year-old monastery's land had ever belonged to the Turkish
government.
"The attitude of 'returning' Mor Gabriel, as if it was ever the
property of the state, is wrong. Actually, this land belonged to the
[Syriac] foundation," Celik told Today's Zaman.
In a controversial Supreme Court of Appeals verdict last November, the
government had wrested away legal control of 680 disputed acres of
land around the monastery. After Ankara suffered heavy international
criticism over the final ruling, Celik said, the decision to reverse
it was drafted "with the concern of decreasing international
pressure".
In terms of actual implementation, Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc
specified that a formal decision regarding Mor Gabriel would be issued
by the Foundations Council "at the latest by the end of next week".
In one other positive step, Erdogan announced the toughening of
criminal penalties for discrimination based particularly on religion
or ethnicity. Up to three-year prison terms would be handed down, he
said, against "those who prevent people from using their faith-related
rights and performing their religious duties, and those who intervene
in people's lifestyles originating from their belief by threat or use
of force".
But according to some civil society experts, such regulations could
also be used to stifle freedoms, particularly in terms of hate speech
targeting religious beliefs.
"The most fundamental mistake that can be made is making these
regulations specifically against Islamophobia," Galatasaray University
academic Yasemin Inceoglu told Shalom newspaper. "Turkey has seen not
Islamophobic crimes, but crimes against non-Muslims."
During 2013, three Turkish citizens were found guilty and awarded
prison sentences for alleged blasphemy against Islam, including
world-renowned pianist Fazil Say, Turkish-Armenian author and linguist
Sevan Nisanyan and lawyer Canan Arin, founder of the Mor Cati women's
organisation. Two cases remain on appeal, while a third sentence was
suspended, provided the defendant is not sued for the same charges
within the next three years.
Last year, the state's Supreme Board of Radio and Television fined
CNNTURK and CNBC-E television channels for broadcasting alleged
blasphemy, one for a guest who was accused of insulting Prophet
Muhammad on a talk show, and the other for airing an episode of the
American sitcom The Simpsons accused of "making fun of God".
World Watch Monitor
http://www.aina.org/news/20131004162923.htm
________________________________
Posted GMT 10-4-2013 21:29:23
________________________________
The Turkish government's long-awaited "democratisation package" of
reform laws announced this week has met with considerable
disappointment among Turkey's minority religious communities.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan revealed on Monday a broad array
of reform laws, drafted by his ruling Justice and Development Party
for parliamentary debate and approval.
Although public focus remained on legal changes in the Kurdish
resolution process, electoral reform and lifting the headscarf ban in
public offices, there were some positive, if symbolic, steps affecting
the nation's non-Muslim communities.
But without question, the religious minorities were expecting more
tangible changes to correct their status as second-class citizens:
most prominently, the re-opening of the Orthodox Church's Halki
Seminary, along with recognition of the Alevis as a distinct faith
community.
"There are positive aspects, but also there are important steps
missing," Laki Vingas told Today's Zaman after Erdogan's speech. A
member of the Greek Orthodox community, Vingas represents non-Muslim
foundations on the council of the Directorate General of Foundations
under the prime minister's office.
"The package in its entirety is positive, but there is nothing about
Alevis," Radikal columnist Yetvart Danziyan noted.
The Alevi community, estimated at 20 per cent of the Turkish
population, is denied official recognition as a distinct faith
community from the Sunni Muslim majority. As a result, Alevi cemevis
(places of worship) are refused the state upkeep and tax exemptions
granted to all Sunni mosques, Alevi dedes (religious leaders) are
ineligible for the state salaries paid to Sunni imams, and basic Alevi
beliefs are excluded from the required religion courses in all public
schools.
Danziyan also observed, "The failure to open the [Halki] theological
school has caused disappointment not only among the Greek community,
but all minority groups."
Shattered education hopes
After decades of waiting, the high hopes of Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew I and Turkey's tiny Greek Orthodox community for a green
light to reopen the Halki Seminary were again shattered.
The Turkish state's forced closure of Halki Seminary since 1971 has
prevented Eastern Orthodoxy's most prominent seminary from providing
its clergymen with a theological education for more than 40 years.
Founded in 1844 atop Heybeli Island near Istanbul, the Halki
Seminary's status has been tied for decades to the principle of
'reciprocity' with Greece's handling of its ethnic Turkish minority.
"Certainly the minorities' issues could have been addressed more
actively in the package," Vingas said to Bianet. "Unfortunately, the
[Greek] theological school will remain shackled."
The government's refusal to open it, Today's Zaman columnist Orhan
Kemal Cengiz wrote, leaves the Ecumenical Patriarchate which leads 300
million Orthodox worldwide "at the edge of total extinction".
Questioned in Brussels on October 2 about Ankara's refusal to allow
Christians to educate their clergy, Turkish Minister for European
Union Affairs Egemen Bagis addressed his answer to Greece: "Encourage
us to open Halki Seminary. There is still no mosque in Athens, still
no Muslim cemetery there....The time has come to keep your word.
Encourage us!"
In parallel, all of Turkey's Armenian, Syriac, Catholic and Protestant
communities are prohibited from opening seminaries or Bible schools to
train their clergy.
Seized monastery lands 'returned'
However, the nation's small Syriac Christian community welcomed the
prime minister's announcement that state-confiscated land belonging to
the Mor Gabriel monastery in southeastern Turkey would be returned to
the church.
But Tuma Celik, owner and chief editor of the Syriac-language Sabro
newspaper, objected to Erdogan's implication that any of the
1,700-year-old monastery's land had ever belonged to the Turkish
government.
"The attitude of 'returning' Mor Gabriel, as if it was ever the
property of the state, is wrong. Actually, this land belonged to the
[Syriac] foundation," Celik told Today's Zaman.
In a controversial Supreme Court of Appeals verdict last November, the
government had wrested away legal control of 680 disputed acres of
land around the monastery. After Ankara suffered heavy international
criticism over the final ruling, Celik said, the decision to reverse
it was drafted "with the concern of decreasing international
pressure".
In terms of actual implementation, Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc
specified that a formal decision regarding Mor Gabriel would be issued
by the Foundations Council "at the latest by the end of next week".
In one other positive step, Erdogan announced the toughening of
criminal penalties for discrimination based particularly on religion
or ethnicity. Up to three-year prison terms would be handed down, he
said, against "those who prevent people from using their faith-related
rights and performing their religious duties, and those who intervene
in people's lifestyles originating from their belief by threat or use
of force".
But according to some civil society experts, such regulations could
also be used to stifle freedoms, particularly in terms of hate speech
targeting religious beliefs.
"The most fundamental mistake that can be made is making these
regulations specifically against Islamophobia," Galatasaray University
academic Yasemin Inceoglu told Shalom newspaper. "Turkey has seen not
Islamophobic crimes, but crimes against non-Muslims."
During 2013, three Turkish citizens were found guilty and awarded
prison sentences for alleged blasphemy against Islam, including
world-renowned pianist Fazil Say, Turkish-Armenian author and linguist
Sevan Nisanyan and lawyer Canan Arin, founder of the Mor Cati women's
organisation. Two cases remain on appeal, while a third sentence was
suspended, provided the defendant is not sued for the same charges
within the next three years.
Last year, the state's Supreme Board of Radio and Television fined
CNNTURK and CNBC-E television channels for broadcasting alleged
blasphemy, one for a guest who was accused of insulting Prophet
Muhammad on a talk show, and the other for airing an episode of the
American sitcom The Simpsons accused of "making fun of God".
World Watch Monitor
http://www.aina.org/news/20131004162923.htm