[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 192 (Wednesday, December 14, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2252]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           URGING TURKEY TO SAFEGUARD ITS CHRISTIAN HERITAGE

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                               speech of

                           HON. VIRGINIA FOXX

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 13, 2011

  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I'm thinking about why Congress is raising the 
issue of Christian properties in Turkey at a time when that country has 
already addressed these concerns. It is very unfortunate that at a time 
when our country is facing so many challenges, that we are focusing on 
an issue that should be settled internally by a foreign country. I 
strongly support religious freedom but this is not an appropriate issue 
for the United States Congress to be involved in.
  Last August, while Congress was in recess, the Turkish Government 
took the decision to return to non-Muslim community foundations the 
immovable properties registered in the name of Turkish public 
institutions, or compensate (at market rates) those foundations if such 
properties are held by third parties.
  Secretary Clinton publicly praised and ``applauded'' Turkey and Prime 
Minister Erdogan for this ``serious step to improve the climate for 
religious tolerance'' during a briefing on the release of State 
Department International Religious Freedom Report. The Report itself 
emphasizes Turkey's ``steps to improve religious freedom.'' 
Furthermore, during the American Turkish Council 2011 Annual 
Conference, Secretary Clinton said: ``I was particularly impressed by 
Prime Minister Erdogan's statement during Ramadan that property would 
be returned to religious minority groups, and we also hope to see other 
positive steps, such as reopening of the Halki Seminary.''
  The simple truth is that we shouldn't single out one country when we 
know there are similar issues throughout the world. If we're going to 
be involved with calling attention to the faults of one country, we are 
setting a dangerous precedent where the House of Representatives can be 
distracted by focusing on the problems existing anywhere else in the 
world. We need to be promoting religious freedom and tolerance all over 
the world and this resolution does not accomplish that goal. A better 
use of our time and energy would be for all of us to foster stronger 
bilateral relations with all of our allies.

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