Turkey's minorities seek equal citizenship rights in constitution

Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I, Syriac Mor Gabriel Monastery Foundation Head Kuryakos Ergun and representatives of Turkey's Syriacs submitted their proposals to a sub-commission of the inter-party Constitutional Reconciliation Commission yesterday. The meeting which lasted for one and a half hours was closed to the press. Speaking to the press after the meeting, Bartholomew I said that he was very happy that that minority groups have been officially invited to the Parliament to voice their demands for the first time in the history of the Turkish Republic. "We just want our rights as citizens of Turkey. We don't want discrimination. We want equality because we are citizens of Turkey: We are born here, we pay our taxes here, we serve in the military here, we vote here," Bartholomew I said, adding that they hoped their demands would be addressed. Speaking in his part, Ergun said that Syriacs who have been living in Turkey for more than six thousand years were not guests. Ergun also highlighted the need for providing Syriacs with official minority status similar to that granted by the Lausanne Treaty to Jews, Greeks and Armenians.