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  • Head of Armenian church in Turkey asks govt. to pay staff wages

    Head of Armenian church in Turkey asks govt. to pay staff wages

    February 1, 2014 - 17:50 AMT


    PanARMENIAN.Net - A priest from a local Armenian church in Istanbul's
    Sariyer district has asked the Turkish government's Department of
    Religious Affairs to cover the wages of the church's staff.

    Admitting that he is no longer able to pay the salaries, Boyacikoy
    Church head Nazaret Ozsahakyan requested the state's religious affair
    department (Diyanet) to take over the responsibility. The Diyanet,
    however replied that they were already paying the electricity bill of
    the church and had no authority to pay the priests' wages.

    Upon receiving this reply, Nazaret Ozsahakyan complained to Turkey's
    first ombudsman Mehmet Nihat Omeroglu, appealing for the wages of all
    church and synagogue staff to be paid for by the state.

    The parliament's former Human Rights Council leader Mehmet Elkatmis
    later met with Armenian, Greek Orthodox and Syriac church
    representatives to discuss the issue.

    Elkatmis said that Turkey does not pay of the wages of the employees
    of an individual church, and that should the government decide to
    accept the responsibility, it would cover the wages of all employees
    of all churches.

    Should such a decision be made, it will be likely to include Turkey's
    Jewish and Alevi communities as well.

    Ozsahakyan reportedly said that having lived on Turkey's soil for
    thousands of years, this was the first time his congregation was
    seeking this assistance, adding that just like everyone else in the
    country they have been paying their taxes and should therefore be
    entitled to the same rights.

    "Imams and priests should be treated equally," he said, adding that he
    was willing to take the case as far as the constitutional court.

    The spiritual leader of the Syriac Orthodox church Yusuf Cetin said
    that his congregation had 40 employees who had all done their military
    service, were paying their taxes and wanted to be given the same
    rights and wages as imams.

    "We love this country and we have no other land," the Syriac patriarch added.

    Armenian Church patriarch Aram Atesyan said that after meeting with
    Mehmet Elkamis, the representatives had been asked to prepare a report
    including all the technical details of their demands.


    http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/175471/



    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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