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In the official Press Release of the Commission, Commission Chair Felice Gaer stated:
"This is a landmark decision for the rights of all religious minorities in Turkey, not least because it recognizes the rights of the Ecumenical Patriarchate as a legal entity. The Commission calls on the U.S. government to urge the government of Turkey to demonstrate its commitment to observe the rule of law for all citizens of Turkey by implementing this important ruling."
(Full Press Release: http://www.uscirf.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2262&Itemid=1 )
His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America, who was part of the delegation that appeared before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France last year, commenting on the statement of the US Commission on International Human Rights today, said:
"We wholeheartedly welcome this affirmation by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom of the judgment of the European Court in favor of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The significance of such a call for action by the US government cannot be underscored enough. Europe and the United States are speaking loud and clear for the protection of the most basic human rights and religious liberties of our Holy Mother Church. We pray that such calls will not go unheeded, and that the purely spiritual ministry of His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and the Ecumenical Patriarchate will be recognized for what it is – a service to all humankind."
Background. Although legally purchased by the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 1902, the orphanage was registered as the property of the orphanage’s foundation in 1936 because the Turkish legal system no longer recognized the Patriarchate as a legal entity. In 1997, Turkey’s General Directorate for Foundations (Vakiflar), which regulates all activities and property of non-Muslim religious groups, determined that the orphanage foundation was no longer operational and assumed management of the property. In 1999, the Vakiflar initiated proceedings to deprive the Ecumenical Patriarchate of ownership and to re-register the property in the name of the orphanage, now under the Vakiflar’s management.
After a series of appeals in the Turkish courts, the Patriarchate turned to the European Court, which ruled that the Turkish authorities were not entitled to dispossess the owner of its property without providing for appropriate compensation. As the Ecumenical Patriarchate had not received any form of compensation, the Court stated, there had been a violation of property rights.
For more information, read this press release from the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.
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