SCATHING REPORT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR TURKEY AND IN FAVOR OF THE ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE

The suffocating restrictions and unjust pressures on the Ecumenical Patriarchate, along with other religious minorities in Turkey, are documented in a new State Department report on Religious Freedom.

According to the report, the Turkish government continued to restrict the rights of non-Muslim religious minorities, especially those not recognized by the Lausanne Treaty.

Nevertheless, the report argues that even the three recognized communities (Greek Orthodox Christians, Jews, Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Christians) are systematically discriminated against, which is in stark contrast to the Treaty of Lausanne.

As it is typically stated, “religious minorities again reported difficulties in opening or operating places of worship, resolving property disputes, and the challenges they face in obtaining legal compensation for property that has been expropriated by the government”.

Regarding the public debate, special reference is made to the anti-Semitic rhetoric and the general hate rhetoric, which continued to exist on social media and in the print media.

Chalki seminary

Senior US officials, including the Secretary of State, have continued to urge the Turkish government to allow Halki Seminary to reopen and to allow all religious communities, in general, to train their clergy in the country.

For example, on July 30, the US ambassador and the Consul General in Constantinople visited Halki to show Washington’s continued interest in opening the School.

The report cites the Sozcu newspaper as saying that Diyanet (Turkish Directorate of Religious Affairs) acquired the building of a historic hospital on the island of Halki to open an Islamic training center. In fact, the two measures and two standards implemented by the Turkish government in the field of religious education are recorded in detail.

“The (Turkish) government has continued to provide training to Sunni Muslim clerics while continuing to restrict the training of clerics from other religious groups.

The (Turkish) government has continued to provide funding for public, private, and religious schools that teach Islam. It did not do so for the minority schools of the communities recognized by the Treaty of Lausanne, except for the payment of salaries for courses taught in Turkish, such as Turkish literature.

“Minority religious communities have financed all their other expenses through private donations.”

In fact, the report presents the appeal made by the Ecumenical Patriarch in July for the opening of the School.

The head of Orthodoxy had stated that the continuing closure interrupted a tradition of teaching that dates back several centuries and goes back to the historical roots of the Theological School as a monastery.

The report refers to the decision of the Turkish Constitutional Court in 1971 to ban the operation of private higher education institutions. This decision had led to the closure of the School.

However, amendments to the constitution in 1982 allowed for the establishment of private higher education institutions, but also placed significant restrictions on institutions, preventing the reopening of the Theological School of Halki.

Conversion of Hagia Sophia and the Monastery of Chora into a Mosque

The report presents the decision of Recep Tayyip Erdogan to turn the Hagia Sophia and the Chora Monastery into a mosque, recording the disagreement that the US government had expressed against these actions. In particular, it is noted that:

In June, US Ambassador to International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback called on the Turkish government to maintain the Hagia Sophia museum status.

In July, Foreign Minister Mike Pompeo urged the government “to keep Hagia Sophia as a museum, as an example of its commitment to respecting the country’s religious traditions.”

On July 1, the Foreign Ministry issued a statement expressing frustration with the change in the Hagia Sophia regime. In this announcement, he had stated that he wanted to hear the plans to ensure unrestricted access to the monument.

On July 24, Archbishop Elpidophoros of America met with the US President and Vice President at the White House on the issue of Hagia Sophia. After the meeting, Mike Pence said in a Twitter post that “the United States will remain firmly on the side of the Greek Orthodox Church in the call to keep Hagia Sophia accessible as a source of inspiration and reflection for every person regardless of religious faith.”

Recognition of the Ecumenism of the Patriarchate

The report notes that the Turkish government continues to deny the ecumenical character of the patriarchate, which is the spiritual center of the world’s 300 million Orthodox Christians. As reported, “the position of the government remained that the Ecumenical Patriarch is only the religious leader of the Greek Orthodox minority population of the country.”

In addition, the Turkish government continued to allow only Turkish citizens to vote in the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate for the election of the Patriarch but continued its practice of granting citizenship to Greek Orthodox Metropolitans.

Legal Restrictions and Lack of Compensation for Assets

The report notes that US officials continue to call on the Turkish government to lift restrictions on religious groups and to make progress on the return of properties. As it is typically emphasized, the administrative structures of the religious communities do not have legal personality, as a result of which they cannot directly hold property titles and therefore exercise legal claims. Communities rely on separate institutions or organizations to own and manage their assets. In this light, it is pointed out that there has been no progress on the issue of property restitution or the provision of compensation for assets confiscated from the authorities in previous decades.

Source: ANA-MPA

 orthodox times