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 �00A;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