CIP Protests Turkish Restrictions on Orthodox Christian Ecumenical Patriarch

CIP
July 1, 2007

http://www.islamicpluralism.org/384/cip-protests-turkish-restrictions-on-orthodox-christian

The Center for Islamic Pluralism (CIP) joins with others in protesting the judgment of a Turkish court on June 26, 2007, reaffirming state limitations on the religious status of the Orthodox Christian Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomaeus I, who resides in Istanbul. The Turkish authorities have curbed the freedom of movement and other activities of the Ecumenical Patriarch in ministering to Orthodox believers outside Turkey. The Turkish government insists that the Patriarch function only as a local religious official of Turkish nationality, subject to harsh state regulation. In so doing, the Turkish government denies the Ecumenical nature of the Patriarchate.

This policy, with other Turkish restrictions on Orthodox Christian religious life, represents one of several significant failures by the Turkish government in recognizing the rights of religious minorities - Muslim as well as non-Muslim - within its borders. Turkish media also engage in demagogic propaganda alleging that the Ecumenical Patriarch seeks to undermine the Turkish Republic.

CIP calls on the Turkish regime to bring its policies in line with European democratic standards in the treatment of all religious minorities, including Alevi Muslims, Greek Orthodox Christians, Armenians, and Jews.

CIP is an organization of Muslims committed to moderate theology and practice, with affiliated members and correspondents in the U.S., Europe, and across the Muslim world.

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