Religious Freedom "Limited and Shallow" in Turkey, Leader of Orthodox Christians Says

August 8, 2004

Source: IOL

Wire Service: Reuters

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3&art_id=qw1091966763633B264

On August 8, 2004 Reuters reported, "The spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians said EU candidate Turkey was still failing to fully guarantee religious freedoms, but he expressed guarded optimism that a Greek Orthodox seminary may soon reopen. Turkey's poor record in protecting its non-Muslim religious minorities is a key concern for the European Union, which is to decide in December whether to start entry talks with Ankara. Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I said his Church faced legal and administrative obstacles that contravened Turkey's commitments on religious freedom. 'We have the freedom to perform all our religious services but we have no right to administer our ecclesiastical foundations - churches, monasteries, cemeteries, schools etc,' the Patriarch said in a written reply to questions from Reuters. 'As a result, many of them come under the administration of the state and the state gets to financially exploit them. One can see that the concept of religious freedom is very limited and shallow in Turkey,' he added...Bartholomew said he believed EU pressure should help secure the reopening of the Halki theological seminary on Istanbul's Heybeliada island, closed in 1971 under a law limiting activities at post-secondary religious schools in Turkey."