EU Report Criticises Turkey on Religious Rights

|TOP|One month after Turkey began talks on possible entry to the European Union, a report has been issued by the EU in which it criticises the country for infringing on the rights of Christians and other non-Muslim religions, reports Ecumenical News International.

The report published earlier in the month in Brussels said that although Turkey had ratified international human rights instruments and accepted European Court judgements, it had yet to strengthen and enforce its own domestic laws.

“In practice, non-Muslim religious communities continue to encounter significant problems: they face restricted property rights and interference in managing their foundations, and they are not allowed to train clergy," the commission said in its 2005 report on Turkey's progress towards joining the EU.

The report added that non-Turkish Christian clergy continue to experience difficulties with respect to the granting and renewal of visas, residence and work permits.

|AD|It continued by noting that whilst religious textbooks had been redrafted to address the concerns of Christian minorities, it is still not possible for clergymen and graduates from theological colleges to teach religion.

Turkey is an officially secular state with most of its 67 million inhabitants being Sunni Muslims.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan assured that safeguards for religious freedom would be in place before EU admission in 2015.

Just last month in October, European Union (EU) membership talks with Turkey were delayed at their commencement due to divided opinions within the European nations. At that time Christians in Turkey urged the European leaders to hasten the negotiation, saying that Turkey’s entry to EU will "cultivate reconciliation between civilisations".

Continued stalling has taken place regarding Turkey’s talks over entry into the EU. In particular, Austria has been adamant in its opposition to grant full membership to Turkey.

Following a private meeting with Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik and a telephone call with Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, Britain’s Jack Straw said it was “by no means certain...what the outcome will be” in the talks.