Serbianna.com, MI
March 16 2007
Orthodox patriarch ‘confident’ Turkey will improve religious freedom
March 15, 2007 (AP) — The spiritual leader of Orthodox Christians
expressed confidence yesterday that Turkey will improve religious
freedom for non-Muslims, who complain of persecution and
discrimination.
Patriarch Bartolomeos I said in a speech at the papal nuncio, the
Vatican’s mission in Vienna, that the Turkish government and most
political parties were showing "goodwill" in answering calls from the
West for greater religious liberties.
"We are confident and do not give up hope that in the immediate
future, ways will be found to solve the problems, which threaten our
existence," said Bartolomeos, who is based in Istanbul.
Christians have frequently complained of discrimination and
persecution in Turkey, most of whose 70 million people are Muslim. An
estimated 65,000 are Armenian Orthodox Christians, 23,000 are Jews,
20,000 Roman Catholic and 3,500 Protestant, mostly converts from
Islam. Around 2,000 are Greek Orthodox.
Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik said on Tuesday after
meeting with Bartolomeos that her country would step up pressure on
Turkey to improve freedom of religion and enhance the protection of
religious minorities.
Bartolomeos said on Wednesday that the Orthodox hierarchy
"emphatically endorses and expects" Turkey’s eventual membership in
the European Union, adding that religious freedom should continue to
be a precondition for EU entry