Erdogan orders state institutions to show ultimate attention to minority rights

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has issued a decree, ordering state officials and civil servants to avoid raising any difficulties in their formal dealings with citizens from minority backgrounds. Underlining the Constitutional principle of equality before laws and the citizenship notion, Erdogan said in his decree that despite efforts to solve minority-related issues in Turkey through further democratization and expansion of rights and freedoms over the last years, problems couldn’t be entirely settled due to setbacks in the implementation process. Erdogan has ordered prompt action in issues such as the protection and the maintenance of minority cemeteries, as well as ordering land registry offices to implement court rulings in favor of minority foundations, and swift legal action on publications or broadcasts inciting hatred against non-Muslim communities. Erdogan’s decree was published in the Official Gazette yesterday. In related news, Turkey’s Chief Rabbinate and the Turkish Jewish religious community welcomed Premier Erdogan’s decree in a written statement, saying that it would help improve the welfare and democracy of the Turkish nation. "The decree has stressed our identity as proud Turkish citizens and underlined that despite recent amendments, certain gaps persisted in the implementation of laws and rules regarding minorities in Turkey. The decree has called on relevant authorities to display the maximum sensitivity in overcoming the deficiencies," the statement said. "We believe that the decree would add spiritual strength to the Turkish people. We thank Prime Minister Erdogan and all other public officials for the decree," it also said. In other news, State Minister Mehmet Aydin yesterday visited the Akdamar Church on an island on Lake Van in the eastern Anatolia. During the visit, Aydin stressed the importance of the historic church to the Armenian community, adding that everyone in Turkey is free to fulfill the requirements of his/her religious belief. Aydin also got information from Archbishop Aram Atesyan on the 1,100-year-old church which was opened in 2007 at a ceremony that hosted officials from Armenia and Turkey after it was restored by the Turkish government. Among the important pieces of Armenian architecture, the church draws attraction with its stone workmanship and relieves on its walls. Earlier this March, the government gave permission that a religious rite may take place once every year at the church upon a proposal by the Van Governorship and approval by the Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism Ertugrul Gunay. Accordingly, the church can host a rite each year in the second week of September.