The systemic discrimination that Ecumenical Patriarchy Constantinople from Turkish according to the State Department’s 2022 World Religious Freedom Report. At the same time, reference is made to the constant call of the American side to reopen the Halkin Theological School.

The annual report on religious freedom is addressed to Congress and describes the state of religious freedom in the world, with a separate chapter for each country. The report examines government policies that violate the religious beliefs and practices of groups, religious denominations, and individuals, as well as US policies to promote religious freedom around the world. The US Department of State presents this report in accordance with the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998.

Religious freedom record in Turkey

According to the State Department report, the government still did not recognize the leadership or administrative structures of non-Muslim minorities, such as the Armenian Apostolic Patriarchate of Constantinople, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, and the Chief Rabbinate. The fact that they are not recognized as legal entities means that they cannot buy or own property or bring claims in court. These three groups, along with other religious minority communities, had to rely on previously organized independent institutions overseen by separate governing boards to own and control their religious property.

The government again granted permission to the Ecumenical Patriarchate to hold annual services at the 4th century Panagia Sumela in Trebizond. In February, the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs called images posted on social media showing the band playing electronic music in an auditorium a “desecration”. The Turkish government again did not allow the Patriarchate to hold annual services at the monastery of St. Nicholas in Cappadocia.

The government continued to train Sunni Muslim clerics, but prohibited other religious groups from training clerics domestically. The Greek Orthodox and Armenian Patriarchates are still unable to provide formal theological education within the country.

The government does not officially recognize Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I’s status as the leader of the world’s estimated 300 million Orthodox Christians, although political leaders and government echelons seem to recognize him unofficially. The government’s official position remains that the Ecumenical Patriarch is the religious leader of the only Greek Orthodox minority in the country.

The government continued to allow only Turkish citizens to vote in the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate or be eligible to be elected to the position of Patriarch. He continued the practice of granting citizenship to metropolitans of the Greek Orthodox Church in accordance with a 2011 government decision aimed at expanding the list of candidates. The government continued to assert that the leaders of the Greek Orthodox (Ecumenical Patriarchate), Armenian Apostolic Orthodox and Jewish communities must be Turkish citizens.

On September 12-13, the US Ambassador for International Religious Freedom met in Ankara and Istanbul with government leaders, representatives of civil society and various religious communities. At a meeting with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, he reaffirmed the US government’s support for the reopening of the Sacred School of Halki and urged the government to grant permission for the training of Greek Orthodox clergy.

As for the Hagia Sophia, it is noted that the government turned it into a mosque again in 2020 and that there have been reports of vandalism targeting Christian elements.

Registration of religious libertarians in Greece

The State Department report notes that NGOs did not report significant progress during the year in settling Jewish property claims from the Holocaust, including claims by foreign nationals. As of the end of the year, several Holocaust-era property claims remained open.

On February 13, Health Minister Plevris apologized to the Jewish community for the “offensive views” he expressed when he was a member of the LAOS party. Pleuris stated that he “unreservedly condemns antisemitism” and distanced himself from his father Konstantinos Pleuris.

In May, an Athens court sentenced the deposed monk to a one-year suspended sentence for inciting violence against Jews. In February, an Athens court sentenced two human rights activists to 12 months’ suspended imprisonment on false charges of making racist and anti-Semitic remarks against a Greek Orthodox metropolitan.

In March, President Katerina Sakellaropoulou and local authorities took part in a march in Thessaloniki to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust.

On July 20, parliament passed a law designating the government-sponsored Mosque of Athens in the Botanikos district as the Muslim religious center in Greater Athens (Attica region). The law empowered the Committee for the Management of the Mosque of Athens to advise the government on Islamic matters.

In August, parliament amended the process by which the government appoints muftis in Thrace. Some Turkic-speaking members of Thrace’s Muslim minority continued to oppose the government’s practice of appointing muftis, instead pushing for direct election of muftis by the community.

The government continued to say that appointment is the correct practice, since muftis have a judicial function and the Constitution requires judges to be appointed, not elected. In addition, the government allows muftis to practice sharia in family and inheritance matters with the notarized consent of all parties involved.

Source: RES-IPE