As we prepare for the Thanksgiving holiday, it was brought home to me how much we have to be thankful for. Last week, we hosted at our offices in Washington, DC, an international gathering of lawyers and religious leaders. The focus of our summit was the deteriorating condition of religious freedom in Turkey. The Patriarchate in what was once called Constantinople is one of the pillars of the Orthodox Church community. This historic church has officially operated in Turkey for over 1700 years. Greek Orthodox believe that the Church was started by the Apostle Andrew during his frequent visits to Asia Minor.
As is a problem in much of the Near and Middle East, there is a rising growth of radical Islamic influence in the governments, which results in persecution for the Christian Church. It was no coincidence that we had this international enclave in our office, for within a 48-hour period, I heard from missionary leaders and their families who are serving with various organizations in Turkey. These calls brought home fully the nature of the lack of religious tolerance and freedom in Turkey.
The Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle, known as the Archons of the Greek Orthodox faith, met in our office, as well as Metropolitan Meliton. The persecution that the Christian minority is living under in Turkey cannot be overstated. The Turkish Government does not recognize the ecumenical Patriarchate as a legal entity; it has no legal authority in the eyes of the Turkish Government. To make matters worse, the Government actually has the authority to void any election of the Patriarchate for religious leaders in the community. Thus, a rising Islamic Government has the authority, in essence, the select the head of a Christian denomination. This is not only outrageous, but a clear violation of the rights guaranteed by the European charter--specifically, the rights to religious autonomy and religious freedom.
The Turkish Government has even confiscated the Patriarchates orphanage which has been in service to the community for over 100 years. At the same time, this Christian minority cannot buy, sell or inherit property. It has absolutely no recognized property rights within Turkey. In addition to confiscating the orphanage, the Turkish Government has forcibly closed down the ecumenical Patriarchates only seminary, Halki, thereby preventing the Church from training its clergy which, in turn, has reduced the number of available members to serve the Church. Since the Government places a requirement that any member of the governing body of the Orthodox Church be a Turkish citizen, and at the same time, the seminary has been closed, the Government is simply trying to outlast the dwindling Christian community in Turkey. Finally, the Turkish Government places significant restrictive visas on their non-Turkish clergy and laymen who staff the Patriarchate. This requires the clergy to leave every 90 days and puts their re-entry at the complete discretion of the Turkish Government.
The irony is that Turkey is at this very time applying for recognition to the European Union as a member state. I have instructed our office in Strasbourg, France, as well as our Moscow office to begin working on legal strategy to protect this Christian minority. In light of our recent victory in the Salvation Army case, I am optimistic that a properly brought case can turn the tide and preserve a historic pillar of the Christian faith. At the same time, we have to be realistic that the increasing Islamic Governmental threat should not be underestimated. A papal visit is planned next week in Turkey in order to bolster the Greek Orthodox Church. Pope Benedict will be holding joint services with ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. While the Turkish Government is not recognizing the Popes visit, the fledgling Orthodox Church will be bolstered by the Popes visit.
In the United States when we have issues of religious discrimination, we have recourse and redress available. We have the ability to go to courts, to utilize the airways, to impact public opinion, and to get laws changed in our Congress. For the Christian minority in Turkey, these rights simply do not exist. We have much to be thankful for and we need to work diligently to protect this historic church of Christianity.