Today’s Zaman
28 January 2010, Thursday

A top European human rights watchdog’s report on problems encountered
by non-Muslim minorities in Turkey and the Muslim Turkish minority
in Greece will be finalized today after being debated at PACE, and
is expected to level heavy criticism at both Greece and Turkey. A
top European human rights watchdog has started debating a report on
the problems encountered by non-Muslim minorities in Turkey as well
as by the Muslim Turkish minority in Greece.

The draft report, to be finalized after being debated at the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) late on
Wednesday, slams both Turkey and Greece for not fulfilling the demands
of religious minorities in their respective countries. The assembly,
under the chairmanship of Turkish deputy Mevlut CavuÅ~_oglu, who
was elected as its new president on Monday, will review the report
and approve its final draft after a number of challenges raised by
deputies were addressed on the floor.

The report, titled "Freedom of religion and other human rights for
non-Muslim minorities in Turkey and for the Muslim minority in Thrace
[Eastern Greece]," was written by Michel Hunault, a French deputy
from the European Democrat Group (EDG) for the Committee on Legal
Affairs and Human Rights. In a nutshell, Hunault suggested to the
Council of Europe that "Greece and Turkey should have all their
citizens belonging to religious minorities treated in accordance
with the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights,
rather than rely on the ‘reciprocity’ principle stated by the 1923
Treaty of Lausanne to withhold the application of certain rights."

Turkey and Greece blame each other for not fulfilling the terms of
the Treaty of Lausanne and both decline to provide broader rights
and freedoms to minority groups based on the narrow definition in
the 1923 treaty. The "reciprocity" clause is often invoked when one
of these issues emerges in bilateral relations.

The PACE report asserts, however, that the two countries should take
care of all of their citizens without discrimination, regardless of the
way in which the neighboring state may treat its own citizens. The
report argued that the recurrent invoking of the principle of
reciprocity by Greece and Turkey as a basis for refusing to implement
the rights secured for minorities in the Treaty of Lausanne is
"anachronistic" and could jeopardize each country’s national cohesion.

A top European human rights watchdog’s report on problems encountered
by non-Muslim minorities in Turkey and the Muslim Turkish minority
in Greece will be finalized today after being debated at PACE, and
is expected to level heavy criticism at both Greece and Turkey.

It urged the two countries "to take measures for the members of
the religious minorities — particularly as regards education and
the right to own property — and to ensure that the members of these
minorities are no longer perceived as foreigners in their own country"
while encouraging them to sign and/or ratify the Framework Convention
for the Protection of National Minorities and the European Charter
for Regional or Minority Languages.

Report faults Turkey on a number of areas

PACE urges Turkey to recognize the legal personality of the Greek
Orthodox Patriarchate of Ä°stanbul, the Armenian Patriarchate of
Ä°stanbul, the Armenian Catholic Archbishopric of Ä°stanbul, the
Bulgarian Orthodox Exarchate, the Chief Rabbinate and the Vicariate
Apostolic of Ä°stanbul, saying, "The absence of legal personality
which affects all the communities concerned having direct effects in
terms of ownership rights and property management." It specifically
asks for constructive solutions concerning the training of religious
minorities’ clergy and the granting of work permits for foreign
members of the clergy in Turkey.

As for the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Ä°stanbul in particular,
PACE claims that Turkey needs to give the patriarchate the freedom
to choose to use the adjective "ecumenical." It further argues that a
resolution should be reached with representatives of the minority with
a view to the reopening of the Heybeliada Greek Orthodox theological
college (the Halki Seminary).

It lists the question of the registration of places of worship and
the question of the mazbut properties confiscated since 1974 and says,
"They must be returned to their owners or to the entitled persons or,
where the return of the assets is impossible, to provide for fair
compensation." The report specifically mentions the Orthodox Syriac
monastery of Mor Gabriel, one of the oldest Christian monasteries in
the world, founded in A.D. 397. It says the land of monastery should
be protected in its entirety.

It advises the Turkish government to take practical measures to make
it possible for members of minorities to join the police force, the
military, the judiciary and the bureaucracy. The report asks for the
full implementation of Law No. 3998, which states that the cemeteries
of minority communities cannot be handed over to municipalities so
as to prevent the building of housing, something which has occurred
at certain Jewish cemeteries.

In the light of recent attacks on religious minorities, PACE asks
the government to firmly condemn all violence against members of
religious minorities, conduct effective investigations and promptly
prosecute people responsible for violence or threats against members
of religious minorities, particularly in light of the murders of a
Roman Catholic priest in 2006, three Protestants in Malatya in April
2007 and prominent Armenian-Turkish writer Hrant Dink in 2007.

In an attempt to revitalize the minority schools that were closed in
Turkey due to low enrolment, the assembly urges the government to adapt
legislation so as to allow children from non-Muslim minorities, but who
do not have Turkish nationality, to be admitted to minority schools.

Finally, PACE recommends that Turkey should institute an office
of ombudsman as soon as possible to avoid tension in society and
make anti-Semitic statements and other types of hate speech criminal
offenses. As in the Greek case, it also urges the development of a code
of ethics by the media on respect for religious minorities in Turkey.

To-do list for Greece

PACE urges Greece to provide support for minority schools, resolve
problems with vakıfs (foundations for the Muslim minority), allow
the Muslim minority to choose its muftis freely, promote economic and
infrastructural development in Thrace, resolve nationality issues and
fully implement the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights
concerning freedom of religion. It calls for freedom of association
with respect to titles, allowing associations to use the word "Turkish"
in their name.

What is more, the PACE report asks for the full and speedy
implementation of the 2008 legislation that provides for quota-based
admission to the civil service for members of the Muslim minority. It
calls upon the Greek government to embark on a national campaign
against racism and intolerance, stressing that diversity is to be
regarded not as a threat but as a source of enrichment. In that
respect, it also asks the government to encourage the development
of a code of ethics by the media on respect for religious minorities
and to penalize any incitements to hatred passed on by the media.