wfn.org | WCC NEWS: WCC welcomes Turkish move to protect religious minorities' rights

[WCC media <noreply@wcc-coe.org>]

>World Council of Churches - News

WCC WELCOMES TURKISH MOVE TO PROTECT RELIGIOUS MINORITIES' RIGHTS

>For immediate release: 27 May 2010

The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav  Fykse
Tveit has welcomed a recent Turkish government decree allowing for  a
better protection of the rights of non-Muslim religious minorities  in
Turkey.

"It is only fair that this new and positive development is commended  by all
those concerned about the situation of Christian and other non-Muslim
religious minorities in Turkey", said Tveit commenting on the news.

According to a 21 May report by Ecumenical News International
(Link: http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=613e24c4e94e89d9dcf0  ), the 
Turkish Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan issued a decree in mid-May ordering local officials  "to do
more to protect the rights of Christian and other non-Muslim religious
minorities, such as by returning their confiscated properties and  taking
action against anti-Christian groups".

"We hope local Turkish officials will expedite the application of  this
decree and thus bring about an improvement in the situation of communitie s
which, as the Prime Minister has said, are an inseparable part of  the
Republic of Turkey and must feel fully valued as citizens of the  country",
Tveit said.

"Of course, more needs to be done, but this is a sign that goes  in the
right direction", he added.

"We don't feel that we enjoy our full rights as Turkish citizens",  the
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew said as recently as 17 December  2009,
when he was featured by the US TV show 60 minutes (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=0554024986d8797f34d7 ).

During the last week of November 2009 representatives of the WCC  and the
Conference of European Churches made an official visit to Turkey
(Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=fe1875c6db51488ec222
) so as to encourage the authorities to improve the situation of  religious
minorities.

In Istanbul and Ankara, the delegation met with the Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew, Archbishop Aram Atesian from the Armenian Patriarchate,  and
the Archbishop Mor Timotheos Samuel Aktas of the Syrian Orthodox  Mor
Gabriel Monastery. It also met representatives of the Jewish community  as
well as with government officials. The exercise of religious freedom,  the
legal status of churches, including property issues, and the right  to
religious education were on the agenda.

Amongst the pending issues for the Ecumenical Patriarchate are the
obstacles to the re-opening of the Theological School of Halki,  which was
the patriarchate's main theological seminary until its closure.  Situated
on Heybeliada island in the Marmara sea off Istanbul, the school  was
closed by the Turkish authorities in 1971.

"I visited the Halki school during my visit to the Ecumenical Patriarch
last March (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=accdc3032e462354b1c3
) and was impressed by the fact that it has been maintained in complete
repair and ready for the day when it will be allowed to reopen",  commented
Tveit. "And indeed we pray for this to happen soon."

(Link: http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=fa9df086998e8eaca344  )
WCC member churches in Turkey (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=979bded8228280bc31fd )

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith,  witness and 
service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship  of churches 
founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 349 Protestant,
Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560  million 
Christians in over 110 countries, and works cooperatively with the  Roman 
Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Olav Fykse  Tveit, from 
the [Lutheran] Church of Norway. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.