DAS BRYZA'S ISTANBUL MEETINGS ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ISTANBUL 001506

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/30/2015
TAGS: PGOV PHUM TU
SUBJECT: DAS BRYZA'S ISTANBUL MEETINGS ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
ISSUES

REF: A. ISTANBUL 1359


B. ISTANBUL 1333

C. ISTANBUL 1199

Classified By: Consul General Deborah K. Jones. Reasons 1.4 (b and d).



1. (C) Summary: In separate meetings with Ecumenical
Patriarch Bartholomew and Istanbul Chief Rabbi Isak Haleva on
August 24, visiting EUR DAS Matthew Bryza strongly reaffirmed
USG support for religious freedom and pluralism in Turkey and
stressed that the subject will remain front and center in our
bilateral dialogue with the Turkish government. Bartholomew
emphasized that the Ecumenical Patriarchate continues to face
many problems, and that while promises from Ankara have
periodically brought optimism about the potential for
reopening the Halki Seminary (which Bryza visited earlier in
the week),no action has occurred. He noted that he has
accepted an invitation to speak at a conference on Islam in
Vienna this fall, and will deliver a "frank message" covering
both the positives and negatives the Ecumenical Patriarchate
has experienced in Turkey. In contrast, Jewish Community
leaders, including Chief Rabbi Haleva, stressed the tolerance
and freedom they have traditionally enjoyed in Turkey, adding
that they have been able to work through the Turkish system
to address their community's needs. They added, however,
that in recent years the Arab-Israeli conflict has had
negative effects, spawning increased anti-semitism and even
home-grown terrorism. End Summary.


2. (C) Stalemate: In his meeting with the Ecumenical
Patriarchate, DAS Bryza stressed that the Patriarchate and
its concerns would figure prominently in the agenda for his
August 24-25 Ankara visit, as they do in all bilateral
exchanges, up to and including at the Presidential level.
Bartholomew expressed deep appreciation, but emphasized that
many problems confront the Patriarchate and other religious
minorities. Pointing particularly to the continued closure
of Halki Seminary, he argued that the problem could be easily
solved if there were "political will", as even Education
Minister Cilek and the head of the Higher Education Board
have said there is no legal obstacle to its reopening. He
dismissed as hollow the argument of some in the Turkish
bureaucracy that Halki's reopening would set a precedent
requiring authorization of independent Islamic schools that
could promote extremism. 24 schools provide religious
education for Muslims in Turkey, he emphasized, but no school
for Christians exists, in contravention of the Lausanne
Treaty. He also rejected any linkage to the predicament of
the Turkish minority in Thrace, an issue he said PM Erdogan
had raised with him in their initial meeting two years ago.
We are Turkish citizens, he stressed, seeking our legal
rights from our own government. But he also agreed with
Bryza's suggestion that a gesture by the Greek Government
towards Greece's Turkish minority in Western Thrace could
help improve the political climate in Turkey that surrounds
the Halki issue. Bartholomew added that he believes that if
the Prime Minister, as a "man of faith," were free to act as
he believed, the situation would be better. However, other
forces, including the "deep state," have blocked progress.
If no solution is found that enables the Ecumenical
Patriarchate to train its next generation of leaders, he
continued, "it means the Government of Turkey wants to close
it down" and deny it continued existence in Turkey.


3. (SBU) Bartholmew added that he continues to support
Turkey's "legitimate aspirations" to be a part of the
European Union, but the lack of progress on religious freedom
issues is not advancing the process. Bryza said Turkey's
rich history of ethnic and religious diversity should be
viewed by the GOT as a strength, but instead it is often
viewed as a threat. Bartholomew agreed, noting that at a
recent dinner for EU Ambassadors, Erdogan was asked by the
Belgian Ambassador why the GOT did not use the power and
prestige of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, but instead sought
to weaken and marginalize it. Bartholomew added that he will
speak "frankly and objectively" about the Ecumenical
Patriarchate's situation when opportunity arises, including
at a conference this fall that the Government of Austria is
organizing in Vienna about Islam. "I shall be objective," he
said, and will set out "the positives we experience together
with the negatives." In response, Bryza emphasized the USG's
solidarity with the Ecumenical Patriarchate in support of
religious freedom and determination to continue to press
until its key issues are resolved. Religious freedom will
remain at the center of the U.S.-Turkey agenda he pledged,
for the U.S. seeks not just a business relationship with
Turkey, but a true partnership based on shared values and
freedoms.


4. (C) Tolerance: Istanbul Chief Rabbi Isak Haleva and
secular leaders of the Jewish community (including Vice
Presidents Sami Herman and Lena Filiba) offered a more
positive outlook on recent developments, though they did note
a disturbing rise in anti-semitism in recent years. Haleva
and his colleagues divided the Jewish community's issues into
three parts: religious freedom, anti-semitism, and terrorism.
In the first area, they stressed, they have experienced few
problems, stemming in part from the fact that they have fewer
properties than other communities, and in part from the fact
they carry less historical baggage in Turkey than do their
Orthodox and Armenian counterparts. They conceded that the
Turkish legislation governing religious minorities is
cumbersome and difficult, but stressed that they have sought
to avoid confrontation and work the system to resolve their
problems, rather than involving others. The approach has
been largely successful, they said, as even when they have
not been able to address their needs through the letter of
the law, local authorities have winked and looked the other
way, permitting construction of unauthorized synagogues and
the holding of religious education classes. In this, they
pointed out, Turkey has continued the tradition of the
Ottoman Empire, which respected the Jewish community's
rights, and in some cases extended them beyond those of the
majority, as in allowing publication of books centuries
before it was allowed for Muslims.


5. (C) Anti-semitism: Since the intensification of the
Arab-Israeli conflict, however, Haleva and his colleagues see
a worrying rise in anti-semitic attitudes. This has led to
negative propaganda and often scurrilous abuse of the
community in the press. The destructive potential of these
trends for relations between religions in Turkey was evident
in thedifferent profile of the attacks the community
eperienced in 1986 and 2005. Whereas the terrorist who
stormed the Neve Shalom synagogue in 1986 wee foreign, those
who bombed it in 2003 were Turksh. This shows, Herman
commented, that the "sees of hatred are bearing fruit."
They attributed om o ths ntiseitc sentiment to
anti-Jewis sermns in Turkish mosques, but also pointed to
he impact of works of popular culture. They expresed
apprehension about a new book by the author f the infamous
"Metal Firtina" (about a war betwen the U.S. and Turkey),
which is about an Israei-Turkish conflict in which Israel
bombs Ataturks mausoleum. The author, the nted was
rcenl quoted as admitting that th ook ha turne out to
be "stronger" than he intended, but that he was not concerned
as "the Jews have not been loyal to this country." Attendees
faulted the Turkish government for not working more
proactively to challenge these anti-semitic attitudes.


6. (C) U.S. Concern: Noting that the rise in anti-semitism
was also accompanied by a wave of anti-Americanism, Bryza
stressed the extent of U.S. disappointment with Turkey in the
first half of this year. The USG had sought to convey that
message strongly during Erdogan's Washington visit, and it
seemed to have had an impact. Herman and others added that
press articles in U.S. media had also been a wake-up call for
the Turkish leadership, forcing it to face up to the fact
that things had gone too far and were spiralling out of
control. The pressure has worked, they judged, in that
Erdogan's recent messages in the U.S. and Israel have been
very positive. They did express concern, however, that GOT
leaders have been more outspoken against anti-semitism when
abroad or in internal party conferences than they have been
before large audiences in Turkey. The community's comfort
level, however, has ncreased to the point where it will for
the firsttime since 2003 hold festivities throughout
Istabul's Beyoglu quarter to mark the European day of ewish
Culture.


7. (SBU) Comment: Bryza's Istabul meetings offered useful
insight into the isses and problems that have buffeted
Turkey's religous minorities, and the different ways in
which wo of them view the current situation. Certainly he
Ecumenical Patriarchate's predicament is by fr the more
precarious: as Bartholomew warned, uness pressing issues are
addressed, his institution's 1700-year history in Istanbul is
in jeopardy. End Comment.

JONES