Incidents related to religious minorities in Turkey in 2016: ACN Report

The Republic of Turkey is secular and there is no reference to Islam in its constitution. However, although conversion from Islam to other religions is not formally banned, it is frowned upon in society. Religion is indicated on identity papers but, that said, the law does allow people to refrain from indicating their religion, an option popular with young people. Neither the army nor the government administration has a Christian or high-ranking Alevi officer.

Incidents related to religious minorities in Turkey in 2016

Several issues continue to play a prominent role in Turkish politics, most notably: the intractable situation of the Greek Orthodox theological school on Halki Island; the unfair action over a few acres of land undertaken by the State against the Syriac Orthodox monastery of Mor Gabriel in southeastern Turkey; the Turkish Government’s ambivalence on the Armenian question (unlike civil society); the non-recognition of the special position of Turkey’s Alevis; and the regular association of Turkish Jews with Israel’s foreign policy. The Catholic Church, the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Armenian Patriarchate in Turkey have no legal standing under Turkish law (the same is true for certain Islamic institutions such as the confraternities). In church, sermons are sometimes delivered in Turkish, as well as in the congregations’ language of origin, such as Greek, Armenian, Italian, or French. Christians and Jews can have their own schools and hospitals, but subject to Turkish law on foundations (Vakif). Christian prelates have demanded for years that their Churches be granted legal personality.

Early 2015: After several years of litigation in which the Forestry and Waterworks Directorate and the Treasury Department challenged the title of the Syriac Mor Gabriel monastery to important parcels of land (some inside the monastery), President Erdoğan suspended the legal action. This is not the victory of the rule of law, but that of the prince exercising his power.

January 2016: The Public Policy and Democracy Studies (PODEM), a centre founded in Istanbul in 2015, published for the first time this year a study about how Armenians see themselves in Turkish society. Among the most striking findings is the fact that Turkish Armenians are constantly worried. They believe that they are not treated as equal citizens and that they are disliked by the rest of society. Although they would like to see the ‘genocide’ recognised, they do not see it as a priority. Equal rights and the opening of the border with Armenia are more important.^[10]

28^th January 2016: Yusuf Akbulut, a Syriac priest in Diyarbakir, was forced to leave the Church of the Virgin Mary after it was hit by a shell during fighting between the Turkish army and the PKK. Caught in between the warring parties, Christians are being forced to choose a side.

February 2016: During the curfew imposed by the army on Āzaḵ/Idil (south-eastern Turkey), local Syriac families were brutalised. The doors of the Church of the Virgin were forced open.

10^th February 2016: In response to critics who accused her of being Christian, Selin Sayek Böke, a Member of the Turkish Parliament for the opposition Republican People’s Party (Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, CHP), said: “Part of my family is Christian and the other is Muslim. Both are children of Anatolia, heirs to a rich culture. I have nothing to hide.” She also said: “We are going to win this fight. We shall not allow the country to fall back into darkness.”^[11]

12^th February 2016: Trabzon’s Church of St Sophia, until now classified as a “museum”, thus falling under the jurisdiction of the Culture Ministry, was transferred to the Diyanet, i.e. the Religious Affairs Directorate. One can expect this historically important Byzantine church to be turned into a mosque in the coming months.

27^th March 2016: Police issued an alert about possible attacks by Daesh (ISIS) on churches over Easter in the country. Another alert was issued about possible provocations by members of the terrorist organisation Turkish Hezbollah.^[12]

April 2016: A trial began in Diyarbakir to challenge the expropriation proceedings of several churches, namely a Syriac Orthodox church, a Protestant Syriac church, an Armenian church and a Chaldean church. Since a curfew was imposed in the area, the Turkish government seized 6,300 parcels of land in Sur, Diyarbakir’s historic centre, home to these historically important religious buildings.^[13]

1^st April 2016: The Protestant community, which lacks places of worship, was denied the right to use the historical Taşbaşı Orthodox Church in Ordu. There are plans to turn the church into an archaeological museum.^[14]

3^rd April 2016: The Christos Greek monastery, on Heybeliada Island, was emptied because it is built on forest land. The Ecumenical Patriarchate expressed its regret and said that meetings are planned with officials in Ankara.^[15]

8^th April 2016: The Church of Surp Minas in the abandoned village of Kez near Erzurum came under threat of demolition even though it was classified as a historic building in 2010. If the church is destroyed, its owner Sabri Ergin is prepared to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights.^[16]

15^th April 2015: Syriacs in Midyat (south-eastern Turkey) began a hundred-day hunger strike to make the world aware of “the genocide of their people” along with that of the Armenians. They call their genocide Seyfo, ‘sword’ in Syriac.

19^th April 2016: Start of the lawsuit by the State against the Ecumenical Patriarchate to cancel the title deed to land returned to the Patriarchate four years ago. One large piece of land is in Göksu and the other in Ümit Tepesi, on Halki Island. The State Forestry Department wants the property returned to the Government Treasury.^[17]

20^th April 2016: At the Hrant Dink murder trial, a police officer said, “The State shut its eyes in Dink’s death.” The murder of the journalist by Ogün Samast outside the offices of the Agos newspaper dates back to 19^th January 2007. One of the policemen on trial, Muhittin Zenit, defended himself by saying that he had warned the relevant services of an assassination plot.^[18]

29^th April 2016: Laki Vingas, after two terms as an official in the Minority Foundations, published a book titled Yok Hükmünde (No provisions), in which he looks at the legal problems faced by minority communities in the Republican era, human rights violations included.^[19] This is an important book.

29^th May 2016: Members of the Nationalist Anatolian Youth Association prayed in front of Saint Sophia on the anniversary of Istanbul’s conquest, demanding that it be “reconverted” into a mosque.^[20]

31^st May 2016: Ali Atalan, a Member of the Turkish Parliament for the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (Halkların Demokratik Partisi, HDP), filed a complaint against President Erdoğan if he does not apologise for insulting Zoroastrian believers in his speech in Diyarbakır, where he described Kurdish rebels as “atheists” and “Zoroastrians”.^[21]

2^nd June 2016: Bülent Aral, the last of the accused still in detention for the murder of three Christians – two Turks and a German – killed in Malatya on 18^th April 2007, was released.^[22]

7^th June 2016: After Germany recognised the Armenian Genocide, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan strongly condemned the vote. “We can deport Armenians who do not have Turkish citizenship,” he said, referring to the tens of thousands of Armenians living Turkey without Turkish citizenship. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said, “It is an absurd vote. These events took place during the First World War in 1915 and are ordinary acts of war experienced in all countries and all communities.”^[23]

8^th June 2016: The Armenian Patriarchate of Turkey criticised the decision of the German parliament and wrote a letter to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to apologise. “[I]t is unacceptable that a parliament [. . .] expressed its opinion, though it has no right to do so. [. . .] As we stated on a number of occasions, using this tragedy that traumatized the Armenian nation in international politics causes sorrow and pain. [. . .] And because of this ugly mind-set, the [. . .] identities of Turkish Armenians are harmed.”^[24]

9^th June 2016: Greece issued a protest against the reading of the Qur’an inside the ancient basilica of Hagia Sophia. On 7^th June, Mehmet Görmez, head of the Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı, commonly known as the Diyanet), performed his first Ramadan prayer in the building. The Greek Foreign Ministry said it would file a complaint with UNESCO.^[25] The return of Hagia Sophia to Muslim worship could become a major issue in coming years.

13^th June 2016: Eleven German MPs of Turkish origin received death threats after they voted in favour of a resolution recognising the Armenian Genocide of 1915. The German Foreign Affairs Ministry advised them to avoid travelling to Turkey for the time being because their security could not be guaranteed.^[26]

15^th June 2016: The Francis of Assisi Foundation filed a lawsuit against the Kuveyt Türk Bank and the Kuwait Finance House on behalf of Syriac Christians from Syria and Iraq, accusing the two financial institutions of crimes against humanity for aiding the Islamic State group.^[27]

SOURCES

^{1] Turkish Statistical Institute, http://www.turkstat.gov.tr/Start.do.}

^{[2] Recep Tayyip Erdogan is president since August 2014. His presidency is fuelling fears of growing authoritarianism. Turkey is a parliamentary republic and the presidency largely ceremonial, so Mr Erdogan is seeking changes to the constitution to create an executive presidency; http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17988453}

^{[3] (including: Armenians (mostly apostolic): 80,000 (Istanbul), Syriac (Orthodox majority): 25,000 (of which fewer than 2,000 in Tur Abdin, south-east of the country), Greek Orthodox: 1,500 people (Istanbul), Catholics (Latin rite): a few hundred in Istanbul, Izmir and Iskenderun)}

^{[4] Many Alevis do not see themselves as “Muslim” as defined by Sunni orthodoxy. Political opposition among them against political Islam is strong. Most are republican and Kemalist.}

^{[5] “Foreign Policy as a Determinant in the Fate of Turkey’s Non-Muslim Minorities: A Dialectical Analysis,” Turkish Studies (2013).}

 ^{[6] S. de Courtois, Turquie Européenne, (European Turkey), May 2012.}

^{[7] Interview with Kadri Gürsel, Le Figaro, 21 February 2016.}

^{[8] S. de Courtois, “Réflexions sur l’état présent des communautés syriaques du sud-est de la Turquie,” (Reflections on the current state of Syriac communities in south-eastern Turkey) Territoires et conflits au Moyen-Orient et au Maghreb, Cahier du GREMAMO, n°21, Paris VII, Laboratoire Sociétés en Développement Études Transdisciplinaires, CNRS.}

^{[9] late 2015-first half of 2016}

^{[10] Agos, 29 April 2016, p. 3.}

^{[11] Habertürk, 10 February 2016, p. 20.}

^{[12] Vatan, 27 March 2016, p. 12.}

^{[13] Agos, 15 April 2016, p. 5.}

^{[14] Agos, 1 April 2016.}

^{[15] Agos, 8 April 2016, p. 4.}

^{[16] Agos, 8 April 2016, p. 4.}

^{[17] Yeni Yüzyıl, 19 April 2016, p. 13.}

^{[18] Milliyet, 20 April 2016, p. 16.}

^{[19] Agos, 29 April 2016, p. 7.}

^{[20] Milliyet, 29 May 2016, p. 13.}

^{[21] Posta, 31 May 2016, p. 14.}

^{[22] Cumhuriyet, 2 June 2016, p. 14.}

^{[23] Zaman, 7 June 2016, p. 9.}

^{[24] Sabah, 8 June 2016, p. 22; Agos, 7 June 2016, http://www.agos.com.tr/en/article/15576/atesyan-s-letter-to-president-we-submit-our-regret-to-your-dignified-office, accessed on 21 June 2016.}

^{[25] Hürriyet, 9 June 2016 p. 24.}

^{[26] Taraf, 13 June 2016, p. 7.}

^{[27] Cumhuriyet, 15 June 2016, p.}