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November 20, 2014 | USCIRF

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today urged the Turkish government to reopen the Greek Orthodox Halki Seminary, the only Greek Orthodox educational institution in Turkey, which was closed 43 years ago this month.  Halki remains closed despite Turkish government officials’ promises and public statements of support for its reopening.

“The ongoing closure of Halki Seminary flies in the face of the fundamental right of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate to educate and train its clergy in Turkey so it can lead the community’s faithful around the world,” said USCIRF Chair Katrina Lantos Swett.  “We encourage the U.S. government to urge the Turkish government to publicly commit to a specific date in the immediate future to reopen Halki.” 

After a military coup in 1971, the Turkish state nationalized all private institutions of higher learning.  As a result, the Halki School of Theology, located on the island of Heybeli, was closed and remains closed to this day.

“Reopening Halki would be a significant gesture by Turkey and would send a signal to the international community that Turkey respects the freedom of religion or belief of diverse faiths,” said Lantos Swett.

“While Turkey recently has implemented some reforms, concerns remain,” continued Lantos Swett.  Reforms include returning some confiscated properties to minority religious communities, lifting the headscarf ban for women in public institutions and schools, allowing minority schools to enroll non-citizens, and revising textbooks to eliminate some religiously intolerant language.  Despite these reforms, along with the ongoing closure of Halki, other concerns include requiring that all members of the Greek Orthodox Church’s Holy Synod be citizens of Turkey; the limitations on religious communities’ rights to build, operate and maintain houses of worship and other properties; and the Alevi population’s right to operate their cemevis, which Alevi’s view as their houses of worship.

USCIRF placed Turkey on the Tier 2 list in its 2014 Annual Report, noting that the overall landscape for democracy and human rights has deteriorated significantly during the report year. 

For more information about USCIRF’s work on Turkey, please view the 2014 Annual Report here.

To interview a USCIRF Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected] or 202-786-0613.

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November 10, 2014  | USCIRF

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  In the face of escalating violations worldwide of religious freedom, an initiative that the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) promoted was launched on November 8 to create a global religious freedom coalition.  At the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, 30 parliamentarians from around the world signed an unprecedented joint statement committing themselves to advance religious freedom for all.  This statement, the Charter for Freedom of Religion or Belief, commits parliamentarians to promote religious freedom or belief for all persons through their work and respective institutions and enhance global cooperation.

“This historic event brought together individual parliamentarians from a wide range of nations and religious communities in a united effort to galvanize support at a time when religious freedom increasingly is under attack,” said USCIRF Chair Katrina Lantos Swett.  “Despite great religious, political, and regional diversity, they were unified in agreeing to combat persecution and support the principles of religious freedom that are found in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”

“Some of us came to this meeting from environments of safety, but we were moved by the presence of others who attended at great personal risk,” said USCIRF Commissioner Mary Ann Glendon.  “We owe them our best effort to ensure that this new initiative gains strength and support, and we expect this network to grow.”

Countries represented included Argentina, Brazil, Burma, Canada, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Germany, Italy, Malaysia, Nepal, Norway, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Turkey, United Kingdom, and Uruguay.  In addition, from the United States two Commissioners from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom participated, as well as the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief.  The parliamentarians sent co-signed letters to the heads of state of Pakistan and Burma expressing concern about religious freedom violations in each country, and wrote Pope Francis to apprise him of the initiative.

To interview a USCIRF Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected] or 202-285-6868 or 202-786-0613.

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November 10, 2014 | USCIRF

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Two anniversaries this month highlight the importance of continually confronting and combatting anti-Semitism wherever and whenever it arises. 

This past Sunday, November 9^th, marked the 76th anniversary of the 1938 Night of Broken Glass, also known as Kristallnacht, an event many consider the start of the Holocaust.  On November 12-13, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) will mark the 10^th anniversary of the Berlin Declaration on anti-Semitism for which participating States and civil society representatives will gather in Berlin. The Declaration acknowledged that anti-Semitism has assumed new forms and poses a continued threat to security and stability in the OSCE region.  OSCE participating States pledged to foster an environment free of anti-Semitic harassment, violence or discrimination, and combat anti-Semitic and other hate crimes. 

High-level delegations at the Berlin meeting will assess what has been achieved during the past ten years and focus on addressing current challenges. U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) Chair, Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett, and USCIRF Commissioner Hannah Rosenthal will attend the meeting as part of the U.S. delegation. 

“Kristallnacht and the OSCE meeting both serve to remind us that we must remain vigilant. The denial of freedom of religion or belief serves as a warning sign that malignant forces threaten civil society and freedom. The hatred that targets Jews knows no boundaries and relentlessly targets others, including Baha’is, Christians, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Muslims and Yazidis, and those somehow deemed to be different,” said USCIRF Chair Katrina Lantos Swett.

“The fight against anti-Semitism is a struggle for the basic values and principles of liberty against the forces of tyranny in every form.  Anti-Semitism is prevalent in many of the countries USCIRF monitors.  Even in Western Europe, where some of America’s strongest allies reside, anti-Semitism is increasing, and some Jews question if they have a future there. It is vitally important that anti-Semitism is denounced whenever and wherever it occurs and that ‘never again’ will the forces of democracy and freedom turn their backs,” said USCIRF Commissioner Hannah Rosenthal.

USCIRF’s 2014 Annual Report highlights anti-Semitism in several countries featured in the report, including Western Europe, Turkey (Turkish Translation), Russia (Russian Translation), Iran (Persian Translation) and Egypt (Arabic Translation).

To interview a USCIRF Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected] or 202-285-6868 or 202-786-0613.