UN Human Rights Council

Here’s an introductory clip from Forum 18’s “TURKEY: Religious freedom survey, November 2009”:

Ahead of the UN Human Rights Council May 2010 Universal Periodic Review of Turkey, Forum 18 News Service has found that the country continues to see serious violations of international human rights standards on freedom of religion or belief. A long-standing crucially important issue, with many implications, is that Turkey has not legally recognised religious communities in their own right as independent communities with full legal status – such as the right to own places of worship and the legal protection religious communities normally have in states under the rule of law. Additionally, the most dangerous threat to individuals exercising freedom of religion or belief has been a series of violent attacks and murders on those perceived as threats; in recent years the victims have been Christians.

Here’s a hypothetical: What if American bishops in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese applied for Turkish citizenship? But would they ever be accepted as “genuine Turks”? Continue reading →