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ISTANBUL: Turkey's EU Minister Bağış hosts minority leaders

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  • ISTANBUL: Turkey's EU Minister Bağış hosts minority leaders

    Hurriyet, Turkey
    Nov 30 2013

    Turkey's EU Minister Bağış hosts minority leaders

    ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
    by Vercihan Ziflioğlu

    EU Minister Egemen Bağış hosts religious leaders of minorities at a
    dinner in Istanbul prasing the relations between the leaders and the
    state. Bağış also says problmes will be solved 'together'

    Turkish EU Minister Egemen Bağış hosted religious leaders and
    prominent figures from minority communities at a dinner on Nov. 28.

    Speaking at the event, Bağış praised Turkey's development in dealing
    with the problems of minorities and said issues would be "solved
    together."

    "Ten years ago, holding this meeting would have been impossible, for
    so many reasons," he said.
    Bağış also took the opportunity to praise the government's
    "democratization package," which was announced by Prime Minister Recep
    Tayyip Erdoğan on Sept. 30.

    "Plenty of sad incidents were experienced in this country. Many people
    from different parts of society endured great pain. But we will leave
    this pain behind. We are not just talking about problems, we are also
    trying to find solutions to them," he added.

    During the meeting, civil members of minority communities directly and
    confidently brought their issues onto the agenda.

    Director General of Foundations Adnan Ertem, Fener Greek Patriarch
    Bartholomew, Deputy Armenian Patriarch Archbishop Aram Ateşyan, Chief
    Rabbi Ishak Haleva, and Istanbul Syriac Orthodox Church Metropolitan
    Yusuf Çetin participated in the dinner. U.S. Greek Church Archbishop
    Dimitrios also joined the reception, having recently arrived in
    Istanbul. It was also noteworthy that representatives of the Latin
    Catholic and Protestant Churches were present as well.

    Bağış said Turkey needed the support of the religious leaders of
    minorities in the country. "If we need support, we are requesting help
    from Patriarch Bartholomew and Chief Rabbi Haleva. Recently, Patriarch
    Bartholomew gave support to us during the 2020 Olympic Games bid," he
    said.

    Bağış also offered a memory about Chief Rabbi Haleva to those
    gathered. "Ten years ago, during a visit to Turkey, U.S. President
    Clinton met with the Chief Rabbi and spoke of the strong lobby of the
    U.S.'s Jewish community. He added that if the Turkish Jewish community
    had a problem, they should tell him. The Chief Rabbi gave an answer,
    saying, 'We have been living in Turkey for 500 years. If we have any
    problems we can solve them together, but if you have any problems in
    the U.S., please tell us,'" he said.

    The EU minister also emphasized the recent law on foundations, which
    allows for the return of minority foundations to their communities,
    and also mentioned that Trabzon's Sumela Monastery and Van's Surp Hac
    Armenian Church had been opened to worship.

    "Turkey has taken a step. Former President Turgut Özal couldn't even
    speak about his real [Kurdish] identity, but today people can make
    their defenses in courts in their mother tongue. Yes, EU standards are
    important, but the most important thing is talking about our problems
    together. We will carry Turkey to 2023 together," Bağış said.

    Meanwhile, the minority foundations representative, Laki Vingas, was
    both self-critical and critical of the wider political situation. "We
    became familiar with an anti-democratic situation, but now we have to
    establish democracy in our foundations and communities. In Turkey,
    they are still looking at us as 'foreigners' and because of this
    situation we are still facing bureaucratic problems. This should end,"
    he said.

    Vingas also brought the legal entity problems and minority foundations
    election regulations of both Greek and Armenians to the agenda.

    Foundations head Adnan Ertem also spoke about the recent Foundations
    Law, saying that due to the law the minority communities had gained
    their rights to their foundations and were even turning them into
    valuable investments.

    November/30/2013

    http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkeys-eu-minister-bagis-hosts-minority-leaders.aspx?pageID=238&nID=58760&NewsCatID=338

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