by Alexandros Koronakis is the Director of New Europe, and the Editor of New Europe’s Religious Freedom Special Edition Let us not argue with one-another, on whether and which God said “Let there be light”, but rather agree that if we do not protect the fundamental rights of religious...
From unimaginable da...
by Archbishop Demetrios of America, Exarch of the Ecumenical Patriarchate In recent months our whole world was transfixed with the plight of thirty-three men trapped in a mine in Chile. Day by day the newspapers reported on their condition, and when at last a rescue was in progress,...
Freedom of religion:...
by Poul Nyrup Rasmussen: President of the Party of European Socialists, and former Prime Minister of Denmark Europe, with its examples and experience, history and traditions, is obligated to lead on the issue of religious freedom. All but the most extreme except that this leadership should...
Religious freedom in...
by Wilfried Martens: President of the European People’s Party and the Centre for European Studies, and former Prime Minister of Belgium For us Christian Democrats and many like-minded parties on the European Centre Right, the Christian concept of Man has been the point of departure in...
Seeking the “Circle of Justice” (Daire-i Adliye)...
by Egemen Bagis: Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator of Turkey A continent witnessing the bloodiest wars of the human history has turned itself into a symbol of peace through mutual understanding and dialogue under the motto of ‘Unity in Diversity’. However, especially recently, it is questionable whether EU really is successful at realizing its motto. On the top of the iceberg, there are many rules and regulations aiming at preventing all types of discrimination against different cultural and religious groups. What about the discrimination in minds? The downwards part of the iceberg reflects a different picture of what exists...
Endangered Species: ...
by Renate Sommer: Member of the European Parliament with the European People’s Party from Germany. She is also a member of the Delegation to the EU-Turkey JPC and the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice, and Home Affairs In his recent visit to Turkey, German president Christian Wulff...
EU membership and religious freedoms in Turkey
by Amanda Paul: Analyst for the European Policy Centre in Brussels Freedom of religion is considered to be a fundamental human right. It is also something that the EU places great importance on and therefore those countries that are looking to join the Club need to meet EU standards on this. The EU should recognise that while much remains to be done in Turkey, the country is taking the necessary steps to tackle past deficits. Clearly, Turkey is not the country is was ten years ago; it recognizes the need to change and its process with the EU is acting as a vehicle to nudge the process along. Therefore the EU needs to keep pressure on...
Between Islamism and...
by Jay Sekulow and Grégor Puppinck: Sekulow is Chief Counsel to the American Center for Law and Justice, Washington D.C. and to the European Center for Law and Justice in Strasbourg, Puppinck is Director of the European Center for Law and Justice Turkey is the only Member State of the...
Turkey, freedom of r...
by Pieter Omtzigt: Member of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly from the Netherlands Right after World War II, in 1949, 10 European countries founded the Council of Europe, the human rights watchdog of Europe with teeth. Turkey joined later in the same year. This is a fundamental...
Issues and concerns ...
by Otmar Oehring: Director of the Human Rights Office of Missio Society However, when one speaks of ‘az?nl?k’, the Turkish word for minority, within Turkey itself, the term refers solely to the non-Muslim minorities as defined by the Treaty of Lausanne as interpreted by the Republic of...
Democracy and religi...
by Prof.Dr. Sencer Ayata: Director of the Science, Governance and Culture Platform of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) of Turkey It has been eight years since the Justice and Development Party (AKP) has come to power in Turkey. It is today unfortunate to see that after two terms of...
Substantial change i...
by Mine Yildrim: Researcher at AAbo Akademi, Institute for Human Rights and Member of the Committee on Religious Freedom and Legal Affairs of the Association of Protestant Churches (Turkey) Change and democratization have been part of political discourse for some time and eagerness and...