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SUCCUMBING TO U.S. CONGRESSIONAL AND EUROPEAN COURT SCRUTINY, TURKEY PLEDGES TO RETURN SOME CONFISCATED CHRISTIAN PROPERTIES
yerkir.am
29.08.2011
Fearing mounting losses at the European Court of Human Rights and
recent adoption of Congressional legislation calling attention to its
repression of Christian communities, the Turkish Government issued a
decree this weekend which would return Christian and Jewish religious
properties confiscated after 1936, reported the Armenian National
Committee of America (ANCA).
"Erdogan's decree, clearly prompted by increased Congressional scrutiny
of Turkey's repression of its Christian minority and successive
losses at the European Court of Human Rights, would return less
than one percent of the churches and church properties confiscated
during the Armenian Genocide and the decades that followed it," said
ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian. "Ninety six years after the genocide
perpetrated against the Armenians, Greeks, and Syriacs, this decree
is a smokescreen to evade the much broader consequences of those
brutal acts. The ANCA will expand its outreach to Congress and the
Administration to ensure that the Turkish Government comes to terms
with its brutal past, respects the religious freedom of surviving
Christian communities and returns the fruits of its crime."
The Associated Press reported that "the properties include former
hospital, orphanage or school buildings and cemeteries. Their return is
a key European Union demand and a series of court cases has also been
filed against primarily Muslim Turkey at the European Court of Human
Rights. Last year, the court ordered Turkey to return an orphanage
to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate." According to Armenian Church
experts, of the over 2,000 churches serving the Armenian community
prior to 1915, less than 40 are functioning as churches today.
Erdogan's decree comes just weeks after a 43-1 House Foreign Affairs
Committee vote on an amendment to the State Department Authorization
bill, spearheaded by Ranking Democrat Howard Berman (D-CA) and Rep.
David Cicilline (D-RI), calling for the return of Christian Churches
confiscated by the Turkish government and an end to Turkey's
discrimination against its Christian communities. The amendment
is similar to a resolution (H.Res.306), introduced in June by
Representatives Ed Royce (R-CA) and Howard Berman (D-CA), which has
over 35 cosponsors.
In March, Congressional Hellenic Caucus co-chairs Rep. Carolyn
Maloney (D-NY) and Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) introduced legislation
(H.Res.180), reiterating a longstanding call by House members for
Turkey to respect the rights and religious freedoms of the Ecumenical
Patriarchate.
Turkey's treatment of its Christian minority has also emerged as
an issue of contention in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
consideration of U.S. Ambassador to Turkey nominee Francis
Ricciardone. In response to questions submitted by Senator Robert
Menendez (D-N.J.), Amb. Ricciardone erroneously asserted that
a majority of Christian churches functioning in 1915 continue to
operate as churches today. A revised response recently submitted
to the key Senate panel continued to misrepresent the number of
functioning churches.
His Eminences Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan and Archbishop Moushegh
Mardirossian, Prelates of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America
Eastern and Western United States, respectively, and Archbishop Khajag
Barsamian, Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church -
Eastern United States each issued powerfully worded spiritual messages
in response to the Ambassador's statement. In an August 15th statement,
Archbishop Choloyan stressed that the Ambassador's assertion was
"so blatantly false that it cannot remain unchallenged."
Setting the record straight, he noted that: "The facts are quite
clear. From the massacres of Armenians in 1895-96 and the Armenian
Genocide in 1915, to the decades following the establishment of the
Turkish republic, Christian houses of worship were systematically
destroyed or confiscated. My own church's hierarchal see, the Armenian
Catholicosate of Cilicia, was a victim of this process, and today is
exiled in Lebanon. The archives of the Catholicosate contain hundreds
of original deeds and other documentation of churches and church
owned property that was confiscated."
Archbishop Mardirossian concurred, stating, "The presence of an
Ambassador in Ankara who is unaware of or uninterested in the truth
and the consequences of the Ottoman and Republican Turkish government's
genocide of Armenians, Assyrians, Syriacs, Greeks and other Christians
materially undermines U.S. interests, compromises American values,
and weakens international efforts to defend religious freedom for
peoples of all faiths. Sadly, but unmistakably, with this hateful and
hurtful statement, Ambassador Ricciardone has demonstrated that he
is not the right candidate to effectively and responsibly represent
the United States in Turkey."
On August 19th, Archbishop Barsamian noted that Amb. Ricciardone's
response had "deeply offended Armenian-Americans", explaining that
"the loss of these many hundreds of churches, their neglect and
outright destruction, and the conversion of many of our sanctuaries
into mosques, is a matter of intense pain to Armenians: an ongoing
reminder of the loss of life and the destruction that we suffered as a
result of the 1915 Genocide... In all charity, perhaps the Ambassador
is simply unaware of certain facts. But mastery of the history of a
country, its dark as well as bright chapters, is essential to serving
the United States effectively and diplomatically in this important
and complex region."
ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian slammed Amb. Ricciardone's
revised response last week, stating, "It took Ambassador Ricciardone,
with the help of his many State Department colleagues, over a week
to submit in writing a patently false misrepresentation about the
destruction of Christian churches in Turkey, and another 10 days and a
full wave of Senate and citizen pressure for him to finally take half
a step back from the most offensive and obviously incorrect aspects
of his response. "He just keeps digging himself into a deeper hole
as an apologist for Ankara. His use of false figures and euphemisms
to try to twist his way out of his misrepresentation - while somehow
still trying to stick to Turkey's genocide denial narrative - clearly
confirms that Ambassador Ricciardone is not the right representative
of U.S. values and interests in Turkey."
yerkir.am
29.08.2011
Fearing mounting losses at the European Court of Human Rights and
recent adoption of Congressional legislation calling attention to its
repression of Christian communities, the Turkish Government issued a
decree this weekend which would return Christian and Jewish religious
properties confiscated after 1936, reported the Armenian National
Committee of America (ANCA).
"Erdogan's decree, clearly prompted by increased Congressional scrutiny
of Turkey's repression of its Christian minority and successive
losses at the European Court of Human Rights, would return less
than one percent of the churches and church properties confiscated
during the Armenian Genocide and the decades that followed it," said
ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian. "Ninety six years after the genocide
perpetrated against the Armenians, Greeks, and Syriacs, this decree
is a smokescreen to evade the much broader consequences of those
brutal acts. The ANCA will expand its outreach to Congress and the
Administration to ensure that the Turkish Government comes to terms
with its brutal past, respects the religious freedom of surviving
Christian communities and returns the fruits of its crime."
The Associated Press reported that "the properties include former
hospital, orphanage or school buildings and cemeteries. Their return is
a key European Union demand and a series of court cases has also been
filed against primarily Muslim Turkey at the European Court of Human
Rights. Last year, the court ordered Turkey to return an orphanage
to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate." According to Armenian Church
experts, of the over 2,000 churches serving the Armenian community
prior to 1915, less than 40 are functioning as churches today.
Erdogan's decree comes just weeks after a 43-1 House Foreign Affairs
Committee vote on an amendment to the State Department Authorization
bill, spearheaded by Ranking Democrat Howard Berman (D-CA) and Rep.
David Cicilline (D-RI), calling for the return of Christian Churches
confiscated by the Turkish government and an end to Turkey's
discrimination against its Christian communities. The amendment
is similar to a resolution (H.Res.306), introduced in June by
Representatives Ed Royce (R-CA) and Howard Berman (D-CA), which has
over 35 cosponsors.
In March, Congressional Hellenic Caucus co-chairs Rep. Carolyn
Maloney (D-NY) and Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) introduced legislation
(H.Res.180), reiterating a longstanding call by House members for
Turkey to respect the rights and religious freedoms of the Ecumenical
Patriarchate.
Turkey's treatment of its Christian minority has also emerged as
an issue of contention in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
consideration of U.S. Ambassador to Turkey nominee Francis
Ricciardone. In response to questions submitted by Senator Robert
Menendez (D-N.J.), Amb. Ricciardone erroneously asserted that
a majority of Christian churches functioning in 1915 continue to
operate as churches today. A revised response recently submitted
to the key Senate panel continued to misrepresent the number of
functioning churches.
His Eminences Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan and Archbishop Moushegh
Mardirossian, Prelates of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America
Eastern and Western United States, respectively, and Archbishop Khajag
Barsamian, Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church -
Eastern United States each issued powerfully worded spiritual messages
in response to the Ambassador's statement. In an August 15th statement,
Archbishop Choloyan stressed that the Ambassador's assertion was
"so blatantly false that it cannot remain unchallenged."
Setting the record straight, he noted that: "The facts are quite
clear. From the massacres of Armenians in 1895-96 and the Armenian
Genocide in 1915, to the decades following the establishment of the
Turkish republic, Christian houses of worship were systematically
destroyed or confiscated. My own church's hierarchal see, the Armenian
Catholicosate of Cilicia, was a victim of this process, and today is
exiled in Lebanon. The archives of the Catholicosate contain hundreds
of original deeds and other documentation of churches and church
owned property that was confiscated."
Archbishop Mardirossian concurred, stating, "The presence of an
Ambassador in Ankara who is unaware of or uninterested in the truth
and the consequences of the Ottoman and Republican Turkish government's
genocide of Armenians, Assyrians, Syriacs, Greeks and other Christians
materially undermines U.S. interests, compromises American values,
and weakens international efforts to defend religious freedom for
peoples of all faiths. Sadly, but unmistakably, with this hateful and
hurtful statement, Ambassador Ricciardone has demonstrated that he
is not the right candidate to effectively and responsibly represent
the United States in Turkey."
On August 19th, Archbishop Barsamian noted that Amb. Ricciardone's
response had "deeply offended Armenian-Americans", explaining that
"the loss of these many hundreds of churches, their neglect and
outright destruction, and the conversion of many of our sanctuaries
into mosques, is a matter of intense pain to Armenians: an ongoing
reminder of the loss of life and the destruction that we suffered as a
result of the 1915 Genocide... In all charity, perhaps the Ambassador
is simply unaware of certain facts. But mastery of the history of a
country, its dark as well as bright chapters, is essential to serving
the United States effectively and diplomatically in this important
and complex region."
ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian slammed Amb. Ricciardone's
revised response last week, stating, "It took Ambassador Ricciardone,
with the help of his many State Department colleagues, over a week
to submit in writing a patently false misrepresentation about the
destruction of Christian churches in Turkey, and another 10 days and a
full wave of Senate and citizen pressure for him to finally take half
a step back from the most offensive and obviously incorrect aspects
of his response. "He just keeps digging himself into a deeper hole
as an apologist for Ankara. His use of false figures and euphemisms
to try to twist his way out of his misrepresentation - while somehow
still trying to stick to Turkey's genocide denial narrative - clearly
confirms that Ambassador Ricciardone is not the right representative
of U.S. values and interests in Turkey."