TURKEY’S RELIGIOUS HEAD BARDAKOGLU ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOMS OF MINORITIES

Anadolu Agency (AA)
April 6, 2010 Tuesday
Turkey

ANKARA – Ali Bardakoglu, head of the Directorate of Religious Affairs,
said on Tuesday that members of different religions could worship
according to the requirements of their beliefs.

"The churches should be open for worship and religious ceremonies. It
is their natural right," Bardakoglu said in an exclusive interview
with the A.A correspondent.

Bardakoglu said religious minorities in Turkey should not feel
themselves as second class citizens and underlined importance of
worship and religious education according to their religious rules
and principles.

Bardakoglu said restriction of religious freedoms would lead to
uneasiness, indicating that freedoms were the main elements of
social peace.

Bardakoglu said religious minorities living on this territory had never
faced second class treatment throughout the history. "Turkey should not
be a country where members of different religions experience problems
with religious freedoms. Actually, Turkey is not such a country."

Bardakoglu said worship freedom should also be ensured for Muslims
in Europe and in the Balkans. "Mosques of Muslims in Europe and in
the Balkans should be protected and respected equally. They should
be repaired if they were destroyed," he said.

Munir Karaloglu, the governor of the eastern province of Van, earlier
said they would open the Akdamar Church to worship in September 2010.

The Akdamar Church on Akdamar Island on Lake Van was opened in 2007
as a museum after it was restored by the Turkish government between
May 2005 and October 2006. The restoration costed 1.7 million USD
(2.6 million Turkish liras).

The Akdamar Church was constructed by architect bishop Manuel between
915 and 921 A.D. under the supervision of King Gagik I.

Among the important pieces of Armenian architecture, the church draws
attraction with its stone workmanship and the relieves on its walls.