User:Sc.helm/Freedom of religion in Turkey

.

Although its population is overwhelmingly Muslim, Turkey is a secular country per Article 24 of the Turkish Constitution. Secularism in Turkey originates from Atatürk's 'Six Arrows' of Republicanism, Populism, Laïcité, Revolutionism, Nationalism, and Statism. The Government imposes some restrictions on Muslim and other religious groups and on Muslim religious expression in government offices and state-run institutions, including universities.

Religious demography


According to the Government, 99 percent of the population is Muslim, the majority of which is Sunni. The CIA Factbook considers 99.8 percent of Turkey's population to be Muslim. The Government officially recognizes only three minority religious communities: Greek Orthodox Christians, Armenian Orthodox Christians, and Jews, although other non-Muslim communities exist. The 2006 report of the US Department of State listed the following numbers of religious minorities in Turkey:

These figures were repeated in the 2009 report of the US Department of State. with the difference in figures of up to 3,000 Greek Orthodox Christians and an additional 3,000 Chaldean Christians. The number of Syriac Christians and Yazidis in the southeast was once high; however, under pressure from government authorities and later under the impact of the war against the terrorist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), many Syriacs migrated to Istanbul, Western Europe, or North and South America. According to the Turkish sociologist Ahmet Taşğın the Yazidis in Turkey numbered 22,632 in 1985. Until 2000 the population had dropped to 423. The same academic said that 23,546 Syriacs were living in Turkey in 1985. Their number dropped to 2,010 in the year 2001.

Legal and policy framework
The 1982 Constitution establishes the country as a secular state and provides for freedom of belief, freedom of worship, and the private dissemination of religious ideas. However, other constitutional provisions regarding the integrity and existence of the secular state restrict these rights. The Constitution prohibits discrimination on religious grounds. The two main Islamic streams in Turkey are Sunni and Alevi. In Turkey Alevi are the minority, estimated at 17 percent of the Muslim population. In the late 1970's many violent clashes were based on the conflict between the two Islamic orientations. In December 1978 right-wing militants in Kahramanmaras stirred up feelings amongst the Sunni population against the Alevi inhabitants of the town, resulting in the killing of more than 100 citizens. On 2 July 1993 Alevi intellectuals were attacked in Sivas. The Sivas massacre resulted in the death of 37 people.

Religious education is compulsory in primary and secondary education (Article 24 of the Constitution). Mainly Sunni theology is taught. Many Alevis alleged discrimination in the government's failure to include any of their doctrines or beliefs in religion courses. In October 2007 the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled in favor of an Alevi parent who in 2004 filed a suit claiming the mandatory religion courses violated religious freedom. Since then, the government added 10 pages of an overview of the Alevi belief system to the textbook for the final year of religious and moral instruction.

In December 2008 the Minister of Culture participated in the opening of the first Alevi Institute and apologised to the Alevis for past sufferings caused by the State. In January 2009 the Prime Minister attended an Alevi fast-breaking ceremony for the second consecutive year. The government held workshops aimed at discussing openly problems and expectations of the Alevis.

The government oversees Muslim religious facilities and education through its Directorate of Religious Affairs, which is under the authority of the Prime Ministry. The Directory regulates the operation of the country's 77,777 registered mosques and employs local and provincial imams, who are civil servants. Sunni imams are nominated and paid by the state. The Alevis pray in cemevis. "Cemevleri" (places of gathering) have no legal status as places of worship in the state. However, Kuşadası and Tunceli municipalities ruled in 2008 that Alevi cemevleri are considered places of worship. Three municipal councils recognised Cem houses as places of worship and granted them the same financial advantages as mosques. Administrative courts in Antalya, Ankara and Istanbul ruled that Alevi students should be exempted from attending the mandatory religion and ethics course. A similar ruling by the Izmir administrative court was confirmed by the Council of State. In 2009, the state's TV channel, TRT, announced its plan to air programs reflecting the interests of the Alevi minority.

A separate government agency, the General Directorate for Foundations (GDF), regulates activities of non-Muslim religious groups and their affiliated churches, monasteries, synagogues, and related religious property. The GDF recognizes 161 "minority foundations," including Greek Orthodox foundations with approximately 61 sites, Armenian Orthodox foundations with approximately 50 sites, and Jewish foundations with 20 sites, as well as Syriac Christian, Chaldean, Bulgarian Orthodox, Georgian, and Maronite foundations. The GDF also regulates Muslim charitable religious foundations, including schools, hospitals, and orphanages. The GDF assesses whether the foundations are operating within the stated objectives of their organizational statute.

Minority religious groups, particularly the Greek and Armenian Orthodox communities, have lost numerous properties to the state in the past. In many cases, the Government has expropriated property on the grounds that it is not being utilized. At least two appeals were filed in this regard: the Fener Boys School and the Buyukada Orphanage (the latter closed in 1964). These cases are often appealed to the Council of State ("Danıştay") and, if unsuccessful there, to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). On July 8, 2008, the ECHR ruled that the country had violated the Ecumenical Patriarchate's property rights to the orphanage on Buyukada Island.

The law restricting religious property rights was amended in 2002 to permit minority foundations to acquire property; however, the Government continued to apply an article which allows it to expropriate properties in areas where the local non-Muslim population drops significantly or where the foundation is deemed to no longer perform the function for which it was created. There is no specific minimum threshold concerning such a population drop, rather it is left to the discretion of GDF. This is particularly problematic for communities with smaller populations, such as the Greek Orthodox community.

Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, and Jewish religious groups may operate schools under the supervision of the Education Ministry. The curricula of these schools include information unique to the cultures of the three groups. The Ministry reportedly verifies if the child's father or mother is from that minority community before the child may enroll. Other non-Muslim minorities do not have schools of their own.

The Caferis, the country's principal Shi'a community, numbering between 500 thousand and 1 million (concentrated mostly in eastern Turkey and Istanbul), do not face restrictions on their religious freedoms. They build and operate their own mosques and appoint their own imams; however, as with the Alevis, their places of worship have no legal status and receive no support from the Diyanet.

Churches operating in the country generally face administrative challenges to employ foreign church personnel, apart from the Catholic Church and congregations linked to the diplomatic community. These administrative challenges, plus restrictions on training religious leaders and difficulties getting visas, have led to decreases in the Christian communities. In December 2008, however, the Government provided year-long work permits to non-Turkish clerics working at the Ecumenical Greek Patriarchate. Non-citizen clerics had previously used tourist visas, requiring them to depart the country every three months.

Restrictions on religious freedom
Government policy and practice contributed to the generally free practice of religion; however, state policy imposes some restrictions on religious groups and on religious expression in government offices and state-run institutions, including universities.

According to the human rights organization Mazlum-Der, the military charged individuals with lack of discipline for activities that included performing Muslim prayers or being married to women who wore headscarves. In December 2008 the General Staff issued 24 dismissals, five of which pertained to alleged Islamic fundamentalism. In November 2006 the Government reported 37 military dismissals of which it claimed 2 were associated with religious extremism. An additional 17 were reportedly expelled in August 2006 for unspecified disciplinary reasons. In August 2008 the Government reported no military dismissals, while in its December 2008 session it issued 24 dismissals, five of which pertained to alleged Islamic fundamentalism.

In July 2007, the Jehovah's Witnesses received a letter of certification confirming their official registration as the "Association for the Support of Jehovah's Witnesses." In 2007, Police arrested 25-year-old member Feti Demirtas and sent him to prison on 9 occasions for conscientiously objecting to military service, as his religion requires. At the end of June 2009, two members of the faith remained in prison for conscientious objection. One of the objectors, Baris Gormez, had been charged six times for "disobedience of orders" and had been in prison since 2007. According to Jehovah's Witness officials, harassment of their members included arrests, court hearings, verbal and physical abuse, and psychiatric evaluations.

Article 219 of the penal code prohibits imams, priests, rabbis, or other religious leaders from "reproaching or vilifying" the Government or the laws of the state while performing their duties. Violations are punishable by prison terms of 1 month to 1 year, or 3 months to 2 years if the crime involves inciting others to disobey the law.

In 2009 the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul continued to seek to reopen the Halki seminary on the island of Heybeli in the Sea of Marmara. The seminary was closed in 1971 after the Patriarchate, to avoid the seminary being administered by the state, chose not to comply with a state requirement to nationalize. In March 2007 the Yedikule Surp Pirgic Armenian Hospital Foundation in Istanbul dropped an ECHR claim when the Government agreed to return two properties and pay approximately $20,000 (15,000 Euro) compensation for court expenses to the foundation.

No law explicitly prohibits proselytizing or religious conversions; however, many prosecutors and police regarded proselytizing and religious activism with suspicion. Police occasionally prevented Christians from handing out religious literature. The Government reported 157 conversions, including 92 to Islam and 63 from Islam to a different religion. Proselytizing is often considered socially unacceptable; Christians performing missionary work were occasionally beaten and insulted. If the proselytizers are foreigners, they may be deported, but generally they are able to reenter the country. Police officers may report students who meet with Christian missionaries to their families or to university authorities.

In 2007 authorities continued to enforce a long-term ban on the wearing of headscarves at universities and by civil servants in public buildings. The Constitutional Court has interpreted secularism in a way that doesn't allow for a person to wear religious symbols (e.g. a head scarf or a cross) in governmental and public institutions, and particularly while attending public schools and state universities. A ruling of 5 June 2008 stated that the parliament had violated the constitutional principle of secularism when it passed amendments (supported by the AKP and the MHP) to lift the headscarf ban on university campuses.

Nevertheless, in its decision on November 10, 2005 in Leyla Şahin v. Turkey, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights ruled that such a ban was "legitimate" to prevent the influence of religion in state affairs. Human Rights Watch, however, supports "lifting the current restrictions on headscarves in university on the grounds that the prohibition is an unwarranted infringement on the right to religious practice. Moreover, this restriction of dress, which only applies to women, is discriminatory and violates their right to education, freedom of thought, conscience, religion, and privacy."

Religious affiliation is listed on national identity cards, despite 1982 Constitutional Article 24 which provides that no one shall be compelled to reveal religious beliefs. A few religious groups, such as the Bahá'í, are unable to state their religious affiliation on their cards because they are not included among the options; they have made their concerns known to the Government. Despite a 2006 regulation allowing persons to leave the religion section of their identity cards blank or change the religious designation by written application, the Government continued to restrict applicants' choice of religion. Applicants must choose Muslim, Greek Orthodox, Christian, Jew, Hindu, Zoroastrian, Confucian, Taoist, Buddhist, Religionless, Other, or Unknown as their religious affiliation.

According to the country report of the US Department of State for 2007 and 2008 there were no reports of religious prisoners or detainees in the country. On 24 July 2009, Turkish police arrested almost 200 people suspected of being members of Hizb ut-Tahrir. In November 2007 five members of this non-violent group had been detained in Adana and in June 2008 eight alleged members had been detained in Erzurum.

Abuses of religious freedom
After the April 18, 2007, killings in Malatya of three Christians, Turkish victim Ugur Yuksel was denied a Christian burial and given an Islamic/Alevi burial instead. Turkish victim Necati Aydin was buried in a Protestant churchyard in Izmir. The Governor of Malatya was initially hesitant to permit the burial of the German victim in Malatya. He told the German victim's widow that no Christian should be buried in Turkish soil. However, after negotiations between German Government and Turkish Government officials, the victim was buried in a private Armenian cemetery in Malatya.

On May 28, 2009, court proceedings continued in the 2006 case against two Muslim converts to Christianity charged with "insulting Turkishness," in violation of Article 301 of the Penal Code, inciting hatred against Islam, and secretly compiling data on private citizens for a Bible correspondence course. The court called five witnesses to appear at the next hearing, set for October 15, 2009. During this hearing some witnesses testified to the effect that they did not know the defendants. The court in Silivri adjourned the hearing to 28 January 2010 to listen to three more witnesses.

Societal abuses and discrimination
There were reports of societal abuses or discrimination based on religious belief or practice. Religious pluralism was widely viewed as a threat to Islam and to "national unity." A few Muslims, Christians, Bahá'ís, and members of other religious communities faced societal suspicion and mistrust. Anti-missionary and anti-Christian rhetoric appears to have continued among government officials and national media sources such as Hurriyet and Milliyet. Government ministers, such as Mehmet Aydin, Minister of State in charge of religious affairs, called missionaries "separatist and destructive."

In recent years religiously motivated attacks on persons were reported. Best known are the killings of three Christians in Malatya on 18 April 2007 and the assassination of Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in Istanbul on 19 January 2007. Details on religiously motivated attacks on persons can be found in the annual reports of the US State Department, like the ones for 2007 2008 and 2009.