Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Jan 25 2015

Main opposition to meet with Turkey’s religious minority communities’ heads

ISTANBUL

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal
KılıçdaroÄ?lu will come together with the leaders of Turkey’s religious
minority communities in Istanbul on Jan. 26.

KılıçdaroÄ?lu will meet with Greek Orthodox Patriarchate Bartholomew,
Deputy Armenian Patriarch Archbishop Aram AteÃ…?yan, Syriac Catholic
Deputy Patriarch Chorepiscopus Yusuf SaÄ?, Istanbul Syriac Orthodox
Church Metropolitan Yusuf Çetin and Chief Rabbi Ä°shak Haleva in
Istanbul’s Sait Halim PaÃ…?a mansion near the Bosphorus Strait.

KılıçdaroÄ?lu and the heads of the religious minority communities will
exchange views during the meeting. While the spiritual leaders are
expected to put forth their needs and expectations as Turkey’s
religious minorities, KılıçdaroÄ?lu is expected to share the CHP’s
perspective and policies on these issues.

CHP vice chairmen Murat Ã-zçelik and Sezgin Tanrıkulu, the newly
appointed CHP Istanbul provincial head Murat Karayalçın, Istanbul’s
Sarıyer district’s Mayor Ã…?ükrü Genç and CHP member Talin ErgüneÃ…? will
accompany KılıçdaroÄ?lu during the meeting.

During his visit to Turkey, Pope Francis had attended a divine liturgy
led by Patriarch Bartholomew, as Bartholomew had also attended a mass
conducted by Pope Francis in Istanbul’s Saint Esprit Catholic Church,
as a signal of the warming ties between the Roman Catholic and
Orthodox Churches.

January/25/2015