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TURKEY MOVES TO IMPROVE MINORITY RIGHTS
Anadolu Agency, Turkey
Feb 17 2015
Return of over 1,000 pieces of property to non-Muslim minorities
described as 'biggest restitution in history.'
ISTANBUL
The Turkish government has returned more than 1,000 proprieties
which once belonged to nonMuslim minorities in what it describes
"the biggest restitution in (Turkish) history."
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu met with around 40 non-Muslim religious
minority leaders in Ankara on Wednesday. During the meeting Davutoglu
said that times whenminorities experienced discrimination were to be
left behind.
"I am sure you have seen that a new approach has been built in Turkey
in the last 12 years," he added.
The number of Turkey's non-Muslim minorities - such as Christians
and Jews - fell after republican-era "Turkification" policies.
The 1923 population exchange between Turkey and Greece, the 1942
"wealth tax" which hit non-Muslim communities and the 1955 attacks
- also known as the 'Events of 6-7 September' - saw many minority
citizens leave the country.
In 2008, under new legislation passed by the ruling AK Party, reforms
allowed minority groups to buy and renovate their properties, such
as religious buildings.
When then-prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a
"democratization package" back in 2013, the new regulations paved the
way for one Syriac Orthodox monastery in the southeastern province
of Mardin, to have 244,000 square meters of land returned.
Turkey's prime ministry described the return to Mor Gabriel Monastery
as "the biggest land to be returned."
In June 2014, President Erdogan said the AK Party government had
returned confiscated assets worth $2 billion to Turkey's ethnic and
religious minorities.
After Wednesday's meeting Turkish-Armenian journalist Markar Esayan
spoke to media, saying: "There is an unprecedented mentality change
in Turkey towards non-Muslims." Esayan said that Davutoglu's messages
were inclusive rather than marginalizing as previous governments.
He added that the change in the last decade was of critical importance:
"There is a considerable overlap inminorities' quality of life,
corporate problems, individual rights and freedoms."
Solving problems for Turkey's non-Muslim citizens is one of the most
important parts of the country's democratization process and for this
reason Erdogan and Davutoglu held 12 meetings with community leaders
between 2009 and 2014, said the prime ministry.
There are 165 community foundations in Turkey: 76 Greek community;
53 Armenian; 19 Jewish; 10 Syriac; three Chaldean; two Bulgarian;
and one Georgian and Maronite each.
Earlier this year Davutoglu announced that a new church for Turkey's
around 20,000 Assyrian Christian community will be constructed -
the first to be erected in Turkey for decades - in Istanbul.
At the same meeting Davutoglu said: "The principle of equal
citizenship, which has been concretized with the return of foundation
assets recently, will be our basic motto from now on."
Speaking on Wednesday, Davutoglu said that there had been dark chapters
in Turkish history, adding: "We should not refrain from facing this
history, these experiences."
" It is not possible to forget September 6-7 events' sorrow," he said
referring to attacks which mainly targeted Istanbul's Greek minority
in 1955.
Davutoglu said that after the suffering in the 19th century and the
first quarter of the 20th century, the world had been impoverished.
He said that Balkan cities lost their Muslim and Turkish inhabitants
while Anatolian cities lost their Greeks, Armenians and Jews.
"It is time to re-coalescence," Davutoglu said.
According to the prime ministry, there is now an ongoing reconstruction
process. Eleven Catholic and Orthodox churches as well as synagogues
have already been reconstructed across Turkey.
One Armenian Church on the northwestern Aegean coast and another
Orthodox church in Istanbul as well as one synagogue in the eastern
province of Edirne are under construction.
There are several religious buildings awaiting construction: one
synagogue in south-central province of Kilis as well as one Orthodox
church and two Armenian churches in the southern province of Hatay.
Located in Turkey's Black Sea province of Trabzon, the historic Sumela
Monastery and, in Van, the Armenian Cathedral of The Holy Cross were
opened for religious ceremonies by Turkey after the new legislation.
In 2010 prime ministry published a communique "for the protection of
people belonging to different faith groups."
Turkey's ministry of education also prepared Armenian textbooks and
distributed them to Armenian schools for free during the 2010-2011
school year.
The country's Press Advertisement Agency has been also supporting
six minority newspapers since 2011, said the prime ministry.
The Turkish premier said that a common culture should be formed
in which people share all the pain and joy instead of remembering
"painful sorrows."
He also said: "It is in our hands to build a beautiful future all
together."
http://www.aa.com.tr/en/turkey/466459--turkey-moves-to-improve-minority-rights
Anadolu Agency, Turkey
Feb 17 2015
Return of over 1,000 pieces of property to non-Muslim minorities
described as 'biggest restitution in history.'
ISTANBUL
The Turkish government has returned more than 1,000 proprieties
which once belonged to nonMuslim minorities in what it describes
"the biggest restitution in (Turkish) history."
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu met with around 40 non-Muslim religious
minority leaders in Ankara on Wednesday. During the meeting Davutoglu
said that times whenminorities experienced discrimination were to be
left behind.
"I am sure you have seen that a new approach has been built in Turkey
in the last 12 years," he added.
The number of Turkey's non-Muslim minorities - such as Christians
and Jews - fell after republican-era "Turkification" policies.
The 1923 population exchange between Turkey and Greece, the 1942
"wealth tax" which hit non-Muslim communities and the 1955 attacks
- also known as the 'Events of 6-7 September' - saw many minority
citizens leave the country.
In 2008, under new legislation passed by the ruling AK Party, reforms
allowed minority groups to buy and renovate their properties, such
as religious buildings.
When then-prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a
"democratization package" back in 2013, the new regulations paved the
way for one Syriac Orthodox monastery in the southeastern province
of Mardin, to have 244,000 square meters of land returned.
Turkey's prime ministry described the return to Mor Gabriel Monastery
as "the biggest land to be returned."
In June 2014, President Erdogan said the AK Party government had
returned confiscated assets worth $2 billion to Turkey's ethnic and
religious minorities.
After Wednesday's meeting Turkish-Armenian journalist Markar Esayan
spoke to media, saying: "There is an unprecedented mentality change
in Turkey towards non-Muslims." Esayan said that Davutoglu's messages
were inclusive rather than marginalizing as previous governments.
He added that the change in the last decade was of critical importance:
"There is a considerable overlap inminorities' quality of life,
corporate problems, individual rights and freedoms."
Solving problems for Turkey's non-Muslim citizens is one of the most
important parts of the country's democratization process and for this
reason Erdogan and Davutoglu held 12 meetings with community leaders
between 2009 and 2014, said the prime ministry.
There are 165 community foundations in Turkey: 76 Greek community;
53 Armenian; 19 Jewish; 10 Syriac; three Chaldean; two Bulgarian;
and one Georgian and Maronite each.
Earlier this year Davutoglu announced that a new church for Turkey's
around 20,000 Assyrian Christian community will be constructed -
the first to be erected in Turkey for decades - in Istanbul.
At the same meeting Davutoglu said: "The principle of equal
citizenship, which has been concretized with the return of foundation
assets recently, will be our basic motto from now on."
Speaking on Wednesday, Davutoglu said that there had been dark chapters
in Turkish history, adding: "We should not refrain from facing this
history, these experiences."
" It is not possible to forget September 6-7 events' sorrow," he said
referring to attacks which mainly targeted Istanbul's Greek minority
in 1955.
Davutoglu said that after the suffering in the 19th century and the
first quarter of the 20th century, the world had been impoverished.
He said that Balkan cities lost their Muslim and Turkish inhabitants
while Anatolian cities lost their Greeks, Armenians and Jews.
"It is time to re-coalescence," Davutoglu said.
According to the prime ministry, there is now an ongoing reconstruction
process. Eleven Catholic and Orthodox churches as well as synagogues
have already been reconstructed across Turkey.
One Armenian Church on the northwestern Aegean coast and another
Orthodox church in Istanbul as well as one synagogue in the eastern
province of Edirne are under construction.
There are several religious buildings awaiting construction: one
synagogue in south-central province of Kilis as well as one Orthodox
church and two Armenian churches in the southern province of Hatay.
Located in Turkey's Black Sea province of Trabzon, the historic Sumela
Monastery and, in Van, the Armenian Cathedral of The Holy Cross were
opened for religious ceremonies by Turkey after the new legislation.
In 2010 prime ministry published a communique "for the protection of
people belonging to different faith groups."
Turkey's ministry of education also prepared Armenian textbooks and
distributed them to Armenian schools for free during the 2010-2011
school year.
The country's Press Advertisement Agency has been also supporting
six minority newspapers since 2011, said the prime ministry.
The Turkish premier said that a common culture should be formed
in which people share all the pain and joy instead of remembering
"painful sorrows."
He also said: "It is in our hands to build a beautiful future all
together."
http://www.aa.com.tr/en/turkey/466459--turkey-moves-to-improve-minority-rights