NO. 66

The American Hellenic Institute (AHI) welcomes a tweet from Ambassador Sam Brownback, the U.S. Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, asking the Turkish government to preserve the integrity of the Hagia Sophia. In the June 25 tweet, Ambassador Brownback stated: “The Hagia Sophia holds enormous spiritual & cultural significance to billions of believers of different faiths around the world. We call on the Govt of #Turkey to maintain it as a @UNESCO World Heritage site & to maintain accessibility to all in its current status as a museum.”

“We greatly appreciate Ambassador Brownback’s and the State Department’s repeated statements on the need to respect Hagia Sophia’s status as a UNESCO World Heritage site,” AHI President Nick Larigakis said. “The Erdogan regime’s threats towards the Hagia Sophia, and more broadly, religious minorities, are deeply concerning.  Turkey’s historical mistreatment of religious minorities violate fundamental human rights, religious freedom, and U.S. law.”

Ambassador Brownback’s statement corroborates the State Department’s 2019 Report on International Religious Freedom on Turkey, a report which AHI commended. The report criticized the Turkish government’s mistreatment of religious minorities, such as Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Christians, Jews, and Greek Orthodox Christians.

Assaults upon the Greek Orthodox minority throughout the decades violate U.S. law, more specifically, Section 2804 of the 1998 Omnibus Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act (PL 105-277), which calls for the Turkish government to respect the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and its property and personnel, as well as the need to reopen the Halki Patriarchal School of Theology.

Tukey also stands in violation of the International Religious Freedom Act (IFRA), and as such, obligates the President of the United States to take one or more of 15 enumerated actions with respect to any such country that violates the law.