Freedom of
conscience, religious belief and conviction in Turkey
Freedom of conscience, religious belief
and conviction in
Isolated incidents against non-Muslim
citizens and foreigners are duly penalized in accordance with relevant law.
Unfortunate attacks against them and places of worship of non-Muslim faiths are always met with prompt response
and due diligence by Turkish authorities, to bring perpetrators to justice.
The
recent murder of three employees of the Zirve
Publishing House on 18 April 2007, namely Tilman Ekkehard Geske, Necati Aydın and Uğur Yüksel, has prompted a great reaction in all segments
of the society in Turkey. Our only consolation is that the perpetrators of this
crime were captured soon after the incident. The law enforcement officials, who
were in the vicinity of the crime scene, were able to intervene immediately and
apprehended the suspects on the scene, together with the weapons used in the
crime.
A
judicial investigation was immediately launched in connection with the murder.
The four suspects, who were arrested after the incident, are currently in the
E-Type Closed Prison in
The
In this context, freedom of religious belief and
conviction in
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Right
to freedom of conscience, religious belief and conviction for all,
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Free
conduct of acts of worship, religious services, and ceremonies,
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Freedom
of adults to choose their religion,
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Prohibition
against compelling anyone to worship, or to participate in religious ceremonies
and rites, to reveal religious beliefs and convictions,
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Prohibition
against blaming or accusing anyone because of his religious beliefs and
convictions,
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Prohibition
against compelling anyone by force or threats to express or change his/her
religious beliefs and convictions, and against preventing him/her by force or
threats from expressing or disseminating them,
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Prohibition
against obstructing collective religious worship or ceremonies by force or
threats or by another unlawful behaviour and
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Prohibition
against exploiting or abusing religion or religious feelings, or opinions held
sacred by religion.
Turkish nation
is not a juxtaposition of communities or groups. It is composed of citizens,
who are equal before the law irrespective
of their origins in terms of language, race, colour, ethnicity, religion or any
other such particularity, and whose
fundamental rights and freedoms are enjoyed and exercised individually in
accordance with the relevant law.
Every Turkish citizen is considered an
indispensable part of the Turkish national identity and culture. Their descents
are the sources of richness in Turkish society and can be enjoyed and preserved
through the exercise of individual liberties.
Acts of discrimination are prohibited and
penalized by law.
All remedies are available against
violations of fundamental rights and freedoms including acts of discrimination.
In addition to the judicial ones, there
are governmental/administrative and parliamentary remedies. These remedies are
utilized through the Human Rights Presidency and
numerous Human Rights Boards at
provincial and sub-provincial levels, which have been established in all
the 81 provinces and 850 districts throughout the country, on the one
hand, and the Human Rights Inquiry Commission of the Parliament on the other.
These bodies are tasked with investigating complaints and allegations of human
rights abuses, and submitting their findings to relevant authorities for
necessary action.
Anti-Semitism
has traditionally been alien to the Turkish society. All forms of
discrimination including anti-Semitism are prohibited and heavily penalized by
law in accordance with the Constitution. Isolated incidents of anti-Semitic
nature are dealt with under general provisions of non-discrimination in
relevant laws.
No violation based on religious
discrimination of Article 14 of the European Convention of Human Rights, which
regulates non-discrimination, has been found by the European Court of Human
Rights (ECtHR) on the complaints lodged against
Turkey.
The ongoing reform process that has been
carried out with resolve and transparency in recent years has also led to further
improvements in the legislation concerning religious freedoms.
Within this framework, in addition to the
regulations with regard to the Turkish citizens belonging to non-Muslim
minorities as stipulated in the Lausanne Peace Treaty, legislative and
administrative arrangements have also been realized as to the freedom of
religion of all citizens and foreigners residing in
According to the new Law on the Civil
Registry, the religion section in the registry and identity card can be
completed, changed, or left blank in conformity with the person’s written
statement.
The Law on Construction was revised as to
the allocation of land zones for the use of places of worship by not only
Muslims, but also followers of other religious faiths. For example, the
Association of Saint Paul Union Church and the Association of Saint Nicholas
Church have been founded in
The Law on Construction furthermore
ensured that special zones for places of worship are designated in the
preparation of each public works plan. In this regard, the Ministry of Interior
issued a directive on 24 September 2003 instructing local authorities to designate
the required places of worship in the preparation of public works plans and to
allow for the building of such places by the approval of the local authority.
Non-Muslim places of worship are
administered by their associations or foundations. The property rights of
places of worship remain with the real or legal persons that have built them. There is no restriction on foreign
clergy to work in
There are more than 300 non-Muslim places
of worship, including 53 churches run by foreigners residing in