legislation that would broaden religious freedoms, BosNewsLife monitored Wednesday, December 13.
Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer vetoed the "foundations law" last month after a heated debate on the measure in parliament saying the version gave minority foundations to much freedom.
It came as a setback for Jewish and Christian groups who were hoping that Pope Benedict XVI’s November 28-December 1 visit to Turkey helped to heal the wounds between religious minorities and Turkey’s predominantly Muslim population.
Under the new law, part of a reform effort driven by Turkey’s bid for European Union membership, minority groups were to operate more easily and could reacquire dozens of properties that had been confiscated by the state over the past 32 years.
However in published remarks Ester Zonana, a lawyer who advises Turkey’s Jewish community, cautioned that the amended version still would make it difficult for minorities to reclaim or seek restitution for thousands of other properties, including schools, synagogues and churches, cemeteries and other real estate.
PROPERTY RESTITUTION
When the question of property restitution came up, some parliamentarians asked whether allowing Turks of Greek origin to reclaim property could force Turkey to hand back Istanbul’s historic Hagia Sophia, the Byzantine church turned into a mosque by the Ottomans and then a state museum in 1935, reported the Jewish Telegraph Agency (JTA).
The debate in parliament followed anger among some Turkish officials over Pope Benedict XVI comments that the country’s Catholics live "under difficult conditions," following several violent attacks against Christians this year.
In an interview with Anatolian News Agency the Director of Religious Affairs Ali Bardakoglu complained the problems of Turkey’s religious minorities were exaggerated during the pope’s visit.
Orthodox Christian volunteers reportedly said they regretted that local Christians were apparently shut out from last month’s historic meeting between Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and the pope. Turkey is under European Union pressure to improve the rights
of religious minorities who comprise roughly three percent of Turkey’s total population of nearly 27 million people. (With BosNewsLife Research and reports from Turkey).
