OPINION: TURKEY MUST RESOLVE THE ISSUE OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

Deutsche Welle, Germany
April 19 2007

Three men were found with their throats slit, their ankles and wrists
tied to their chairs.

It was a provocation that could be repeated at any time; a provocation
that is seriously damaging to Turkey. The people who did it knew what
effect it would have, especially in terms of foreign policy.

So far, 10 suspects have been arrested. They are ultra-nationalists
from Malatya. According to their own statements, their goal is to
protect Islam from Christians. Malatya is an Islamic stronghold — like
Trabzon, the town where, protests against the Mohammed caricatures
in February 2006, reached such a fever pitch that a priest was
shot by an Islamic fanatic. It’s also where, in early 2007, a young
ultranationalist murdered an Armenian-Turkish publicist Hrant Dink —
also Christian from Malatya.

Three times a pattern

Now, Christians were once more victims of an attack. The Turkish
stance is to call this an exceptional case. But three exceptional
cases equal a pattern. Not a good climate for Turkey’s EU-entry hopes.

What this means is that Prime Minister Erdogan’s government urgently
needs to clarify its stance on freedom of religion. The principle of
laicism in Turkey’s constitution provides for a strict separation of
church and state, as well as religious freedom.

But in reality it means it is subordinate to the state. Why else would
a state agency for religious matters control just about every activity
that has to do with Islam? It is a sad truth that the laic state,
in which Christian and Jewish minorities should also feel at home,
only exists on paper.

Turkey is responsible

Resolving the issue of religious freedom also means resolving the
issue of the structures of religious freedom — for example building
up church congregations. Missionaries are still not allowed in Turkey,
which is a biased concept. The Turkish government and the Islamic
clergy together need to make clear that the right to change religions
or do missionary work is an inalienable human right applying equally to
all religious organizations, and that the right to religious freedom
should not simply be guaranteed in the constitution, but that people
should be able to practice their religion openly without it being a
threat to their lives. That this is not the case is a massive failure
on the part of the Turkish government. It means that. ultimately,
it too is responsible for these attacks.

Attacks like those on Wednesday should never happen again. It is not
enough for Erdogan, who may well run for the presidency, to openly
declare himself a secular person. Europe has long demanded that
Turkey clarify its position, meaning: more freedom for the Christian
minority. And rightly so. Any country that wants to join Europe needs
to adopt a European identity.

The attack on the Christian publisher showed an ultimate disrespect
for human life, and it could be grist for the mill of European
conservatives who oppose Turkey’s entry into the EU. To these
people, I issue a call to dispense with judgment. The attack was not
state-sponsored terrorism. In the aftermath of these shocking attacks,
Europe shouldn’t slam the door in Turkey’s face — we shouldn’t hand
the agitators such a victory.

Mechthild Brockamp is an editor and commentator for Deutsche Welle
(jen)

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