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AHI Welcomes State Department’s Annual Report on International Religious Freedom in Turkey

NO. 61

The American Hellenic Institute (AHI) issued the following statement on the U.S. Department of State 2019 Report on International Religious Freedom on Turkey:

The American Hellenic Institute welcomes the U.S. Department of State 2019 Report on International Religious Freedom on Turkey.  The report details governmental and societal developments in Turkey with respect to religious freedoms, as well as U.S. government policy and engagements on such issues.  

The report states that despite the constitutional claims of providing various freedoms with regards to religion, “The government continued to limit the rights of non-Muslim religious minorities, especially those not recognized under the government’s interpretation of the 1923 Lausanne Treaty, which includes only Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Christians, Jews, and Greek Orthodox Christians.”

Among the issues addressed by the report was the lack of recognition by the state for the “Armenian Apostolic and the Ecumenical Patriarchates and Chief Rabbinate,” rendering them ineligible to hold certain legal and property rights.  The report also addresses concern over the continued closure of the Halki Seminary which severely limits the ability to train Greek Orthodox clergy.  In addition, the report details the intentions of Turkish officials and groups to possibly convert Hagia Sophia and other Christian sites from museums to mosques.

AHI commends the U.S. Department of State for documenting these issues in its annual report and applauds the U.S. government’s repeated call to reopen the Halki Seminary and respect Hagia Sophia, “…as a site of extraordinary significance, and to support its preservation in a manner that respects its complex multireligious history.”

Turkey has a longstanding history of suppressing religious freedom of minorities and lacks any real progress to address and improve its record on religious freedom. AHI has long maintained Turkey violates U.S. principles and law on freedom of religion as expressed in Section 2804 of the FY98 Omnibus Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act (PL 105-277).  This law calls for the Turkish government to safeguard the Ecumenical Patriarchate, its personnel, and its property, and to reopen the Halki Patriarchal School of Theology. Furthermore, Turkey stands in violation of the International Religious Freedom Act and tolerates severe violations of religious freedom pursuant to IFRA. AHI calls for the United States to hold Turkey accountable under IFRA, which obligates the President of the United States to take one or more of 15 enumerated actions toward a country that violates the Act.

AHI proudly has been at the forefront of and is committed to promoting religious freedom and human rights of the Greek Orthodox minority and the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Turkey to policymakers.