NO. 113

WASHINGTON, DC — On September 24th, AHI Legislative Director Elias Gerasoulis spoke to the American Bar Association’s Art and Cultural Heritage Law section about AHI’s work opposing Turkey’s proposed Memorandum of Understanding on Cultural Property (MoU) (please click here and here to learn more about AHI’s efforts on this issue).

According to Gerasoulis, “I am deeply honored to have been invited to present the work of the AHI to the American Bar Association (ABA), and discuss with the ABA the importance of protecting the rights of the Ecumenical Patriarch and promoting religious freedom in Turkey. I am extremely grateful to Peter Tompa, who, in addition to inviting me to the event in his capacity as a leader in the ABA, has been a close collaborator on religious freedom and cultural patrimony matters in his position as Executive Director of the Global Heritage Alliance.”

According to Peter Tompa, “As Executive Director of the Global Heritage Alliance (GHA), I appreciate Elias Gerasoulis’ and AHI’s commitment to protect the rights of religious minorities.  Moreover, it’s not only the right thing to do morally, but from a US foreign policy perspective it is also essential that our State Department does not undercut the authority of the Ecumenical Patriarch by recognizing the rights of the Erdogan government to own Greek cultural heritage.“