Agence France Presse
July 14, 2003 Monday 11:42 AM Eastern Time
by BURAK AKINCI
ANKARA, July 14
Turkey’s Christian minority is still waiting for reforms granting it
basic rights, as Ankara pushes an ambitious plan to align itself on
European Union rights norms, a Christian leader charged on Monday.
Although Turkey has introduced a series of reform packages which aim
to boost its chances of admission to the EU, Christians say reforms
on religious freedoms have made no difference for their
100,000-strong community.
“There is absolutely nothing new in everyday life, nothing has
changed” said Hrant Dink, editor of the Armenian-language magazine
Agos and a prominent member of the Christian community.
Dink charged that the government’s concessions towards Christians had
been made for the sake of outward appearances and were insincere.
“We are ashamed that it is impossible to resolve our domestic
problems without international pressure,” he said.
Turkey’s 69 million inhabitants are officially 99-percent Muslim.
The country first acknowledged its Christian and Jewish minorities in 1924.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose Justice and Development
Party (AKP) has Islamic roots, reaffirmed his commitment to reform at
a human rights forum on Monday.
“We must ensure that the laws adopted in parliament are implemented
and monitored,” Erdogan told rights groups and government officials.
“If the state does not listen to the citizens… our country will
remain steeped in controversy over human rights and freedom of
worship,” he said.
Several key reforms — including one authorising non-Muslim churches
to acquire property — have been adopted in parliament, but have yet
to be put into practice, Dink said.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s religious minorities are still prohibited from
forming their own clergy or providing an independent religious
education.
Armenians represent the largest single Christian group in Turkey,
with 80,000 members. Most are loyal to the Armenian Apostolic Church,
headed by Patriarch Mesrob Moutafian who is based in Istanbul.
There are some 40 Armenian churches and religious schools in Turkey,
operating under state control.
The Greek Orthodox community numbers some 4,000 faithful,
concentrated in Istanbul, down from several hundred thousand at the
turn of the century.
Patriarch Bartholomew I, a Turkish citizen, is the spiritual leader
of the eastern European Orthodox community. His nomination needs
approval from Ankara.
“There is still work to be done concerning the measures taken in
favour of religious minorities,” he told AFP in a written statement.
Turkey, an EU membership candidate since 1999, hopes to start
accession negotiations at the end of 2004.
EU leaders will assess the country’s progress towards democracy in
December 2004 before deciding whether to open membership talks.
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