KurdistanObserver.com
Christian Institute Condemns The Ethnic State Of Turkey
Christian Institute condemns continuing discrimination of
Orthodox Church by Turkey after court rejects Orthodox Patriarchate Status
The New Anatolian / Ankara
June 28, 2007
A Turkish court decision declaring that the Istanbul-based Orthodox Patriarch is
only the head of the city's tiny Greek Orthodox community and not the spiritual
leader of the world's 300 million Orthodox Christians "...is yet another
indication that Turkey has no interest in advancing a fair and balanced approach
to freedom of religion," commented Institute on Religion and Public Policy
President Joseph K. Grieboski in Washington.
While this has no impact on the status of the Patriarch outside Turkey, it
strengthens Turkish internal resistance to acknowledging the greater role of the
Patriarch and the Orthodox community in Turkey.
Turkey maintains tight controls on the Orthodox community, including rules
requiring that patriarchs must be Turkish citizens. This sharply limits the
potential pool of candidates to one day succeed Bartholomew. The patriarchate
also has pressed Turkey to allow the reopening of a seminary that was forced to
close more than two decades ago, which under Turkish law further limits the pool
of potential successors to the 67 year old patriarch.
The court ruled that "The Patriarchate, which was allowed to remain on Turkish
soil, is subject to Turkish laws…There is no legal basis for the claims that the
Patriarchate is ecumenical."
"No government has the right or the authority to determine the ecclesiology of a
religious community," Mr. Grieboski stated. "Both international and European
laws are clear that a state cannot interfere in the organizational structure of
a faith. Turkey is once again showing that freedom of religion is not a priority
or concern, and that it has no true interest in joining the European system."
The Patriarchate dates from the Byzantine Empire, which collapsed when the
Ottomans conquered Constantinople, today's Istanbul, in 1453.
