[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 615 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 615

  Urging the Government of Turkey to respect the rights and religious 
   freedoms of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of the Orthodox Christian 
                                Church.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 17, 2008

   Mr. Menendez (for himself, Ms. Snowe, Mr. Biden, and Mr. Cardin) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                            on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Urging the Government of Turkey to respect the rights and religious 
   freedoms of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of the Orthodox Christian 
                                Church.

Whereas the Government of Turkey has sought membership in the European Union and 
        maintains strong bilateral relations with the United States Government;
Whereas the accession of Turkey to the European Union will depend on its 
        adherence to the Copenhagen criteria that require candidate countries to 
        have achieved stability of governmental institutions that guarantee 
        human rights and that respect and protect minorities, including 
        religious minorities such as Orthodox Christians;
Whereas, on August 2, 2007, European Union Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn 
        indicated that Turkey must achieve ``concrete results in areas of 
        fundamental freedoms such as . . . religious freedom'';
Whereas the Ecumenical Patriarchate and its Sacred See is the spiritual head for 
        tens of millions, a valuable place of great historic significance to 
        hundreds of millions where much of the New Testament and sacred creeds, 
        including the Nicene Creed, were codified, and as the head of the 
        largest Christian Church headquartered in a majority Muslim country, a 
        critical link between Christians and Muslims;
Whereas the United States was founded on the concept of religious freedom and 
        has maintained its support for such freedom throughout its history;
Whereas the practice of religious freedom of millions of Orthodox Christians in 
        the United States is dependent on the religious freedom of the spiritual 
        head of their faith;
Whereas the United States Government has expressed its emphatic support for full 
        religious freedom for the Ecumenical Patriarchate through numerous 
        statements by both Democratic and Republican Presidents, in letters 
        signed by the extraordinary number of 73 of 100 United States Senators 
        and 42 of 50 members of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of 
        Representatives, and in reports of the Department of State, the Helsinki 
        Commission, and other government agencies;
Whereas Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew gathered international religious 
        leaders soon after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the 
        United States, and produced the first condemnation of the attacks as 
        ``anti-religious'';
Whereas the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew was awarded the Congressional Gold 
        Medal, the highest civilian award bestowed by Congress;
Whereas the international community places particular importance on safeguarding 
        and promoting religious freedom as is expressed in the creation of a 
        Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief in the Office of the 
        High Commissioner for Human Rights of the United Nations, in the 
        ``Declaration of Principles Guiding Relations between Participating 
        States'' principle VII, paragraph I of the Helsinki Commission, and in 
        most highly regarded international organizations;
Whereas the Government of Turkey does not recognize the Ecumenical Patriarch as 
        ecumenical, interferes with the process of selecting the Ecumenical 
        Patriarch by requiring that the Patriarch be a citizen of Turkey, 
        thereby restricting candidates due to the gradual disappearance of 
        eligible Orthodox Christians who are citizens of Turkey; and
Whereas the Government of Turkey has confiscated without compensation 
        significant quantities of property belonging to the Ecumenical 
        Patriarchate and closed its seminary at Halki: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) expresses its view that the Government of Turkey should 
        move expeditiously to meet the criteria set forth by the 
        European Council in Copenhagen;
            (2) calls on the European Union to focus on the elimination 
        of all forms of discrimination in Turkey, particularly with 
        regard to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, while continuing 
        accession negotiations;
            (3) calls on the Government of Turkey to remove an obstacle 
        in its relations with the United States Government by taking 
        positive steps to provide full religious freedom for the 
        Ecumenical Patriarchate; and
            (4) calls on the Government of Turkey to immediately--
                    (A) recognize the right to the title of 
                ``Ecumenical Patriarch'';
                    (B) grant the Ecumenical Patriarch appropriate 
                international recognition and ecclesiastic succession;
                    (C) grant the Ecumenical Patriarch the right to 
                train clergy of all nationalities, not just Turkish 
                nationals; and
                    (D) respect property rights and human rights of the 
                Ecumenical Patriarchate.
                                 <all>