FOUNDATIONS, TRANSFORMATIONS AND EU ACCESSION:

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ISTANBUL 002104 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM TU SUBJECT: FOUNDATIONS, TRANSFORMATIONS AND EU ACCESSION: USCIRF FINDS FACTS IN TURKEY REF: A. ANKARA 6394 ¶B. ISTANBUL 2091 ISTANBUL 00002104 001.2 OF 002 Sensitive but Unclassified. Please protect accordingly. This message was coordinated with Embassy Ankara. ¶1. (SBU) Summary: The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) completed its nine-day fact finding mission in Turkey with a generally positive view of religious freedom here. Delegation members clearly recognized the significant challenges facing religious minority communities in Turkey, but also gained a keener understanding of the complex broader issues affecting this issue, including the almost religious adherence to "laicism" as a pillar of the modern Turkish state and the impact of the EU accession process on the evolution of democratic institutions and practices here. End summary. ¶2. (SBU) USCIRF members visited Istanbul and Ankara November 11 - 19 on a fact finding mission to assess the state of religious freedom in Turkey (ref A). The delegation arrived with a variety of opinions and disparate levels of knowledge of Turkey in general and the historical relation between state and religion in particular. Over the course of their visit, commissioners met with over 50 leaders of religious minority communities, political parties, NGOs, business organizations and Government in addition to subject matter experts in the academic and press communities in both Ankara and Istanbul. ¶3. (SBU) Though commissioners shared a common mission, their line of questioning reflected the independent nature of USCIRF and served also to address individual concerns about religious freedom in Turkey. Some probed concerns that AKP leadership might lead eventually to Sharia law and the demise of the secular state. Others focused more specifically on problems facing the individual religious minority communities, as well as challenges facing the majority Muslim community. -------------- Religious Minorities Free, But... -------------- ¶4. (SBU) In general, representatives from the religious minority communities claimed that, while able to freely practice their religions, certain GOT policies had the effect of restricting their ability to establish, operate and maintain institutions necessary for the effective function, if not survival, of their communities. Respected Istanbul intellectual and publisher of the Armenian weekly Agos, Hrant Dink, captured these feelings when he equated GOT respect for religious freedom to "telling a bird with broken wings that he is free to fly." This is a particularly important issue for the small (3,000 - 4,000) Greek Orthodox community, but is also important for the somewhat larger Jewish (approximately 24,000) and Armenian (over 30,000) communities. ¶5. (SBU) Although the GOT's Foundations Directorate (Vakiflar) and the Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) told the Commission that the new law on Foundations brought important advances that would help bridge the gap between the majority Muslim population and the minority communities, most contacts from minority communities said they found the law seriously inadequate because it does not include a mechanism for returning properties associated with foundations previously taken over by the GOT (ref B). Several Commissioners were concerned by the Ecumenical Patriarch's reaction to GOT lack of progress on expropriated properties noting that he seemed extremely disheartened. They urged greater USG pressure on the GOT to re-open Halki and strengthen the Foundations Law. An attorney for the Armenian Patriarchate also lamented the law's application of the principle of reciprocity to non-Muslim Turkish citizens, who she argued were being used to advance the cause of Muslim minorities in other countries. -------------- Referendum on Kemalism -------------- ¶6. (SBU) An overarching theme was the relationship between religion and state and more specifically, the impact of Truth and Development Party (AKP) leadership on Turkish secularism. Many contacts suggested Turkey was in a period of transition and that the rise of the Islam-oriented AKP represented the maturing of Turkish democracy. Others questioned AKP motives ISTANBUL 00002104 002.2 OF 002 and believed reforms intended to relax government restrictions on religious expression in public--wearing headscarves in universities, for example--represented a slippery slope towards the imposition of Sha'ria law. The latter, however, were in the minority and one commissioner who was initially concerned about the prospect of Sha'ria law in Turkey was surprised to find himself positively concluding that it was "generally a good thing for a country when its citizens were religious." A few interlocutors implied that they were more comfortable with the earlier, repressive, secularist status quo than with the current trend toward greater expression of Muslim -- not necessarily extremist -- religiosity, a sentiment that did not resonate with the Commission members. ¶7. (SBU) The Turkish EU accession process was also discussed, with most concluding that it was a positive force for expanding religious freedom. Murat Belge, a Turkish intellectual and the head of Bilgi University's comparative literature department, called it a referendum on Kemalism (Ataturk's secular legacy) and opined that anti-EU sentiments reflected a fear of democracy. He surmised that the average Muslim did not have respect for the minority religions, stating, "It's difficult to have respect for minorities when the majority doesn't enjoy the respect of the Government." -------------- Chaldean Iraqi Refugees: Asylum-yes or no? -------------- ¶8. (SBU) Some delegation members took a particular interest in Turkey's Christian Chaldean community, specifically the 3800 Iraqi refugees who have sought refuge here. USCIRF members asked Chaldean representatives to provide examples of the community having been singled out for attacks in Iraq to use as evidence in support of its argument that Chaldeans be granted humanitarian refugee status (see USCIRF 09 November press release at: www.uscirf.gov/mediaroom/press/2006/november/ 20061109 IraqRefugees.html). Some delegation members openly criticized what they said was both Department and UNHCR policy, i.e. that the community's situation is no worse than that of others in Iraq and therefore should not be entitled to special humanitarian refugee status. ¶9. (SBU) Comment The USCIRF delegation was exposed to a tremenous amount of information and a diverse array ofopinions regarding the status of religious freedomin Turkey over the course of its visit. The complexity of this country was evident to all as deleation members agreed with the head of Turkish thnk tank TESEV Can Paker's assessment that, "Turky is like boiling water--it can be liquid and gas at the same time." A Jewish community representative exemplified this dynamic by lamenting the secular establishment's historical responsibility in denying the minorities juridical personality while at the same time declaring this establishment as critical to protecting Turkey from encroaching Islamism. Some contacts expressed concerns about the possibility of the delegation writing a negative report on Turkey. It appears that their fears will be allayed as most delegation members told us that despite some obvious problems, they generally have a more positive view of the religious freedom situation here than anticipated. End comment. JONES