Author: Chavushian

—

PRESS RELEASE
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia
Contact: Information Desk
Tel: (374-10) 52-35-31
Email: [email protected]
Web:

OSCE Ministerial Adopts Ministerial Statement on Nagorno Karabakh

On Tuesday December 5, the 14th Ministerial Meeting of the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe concluded in Brussels. Key on
the OSCE agenda this year were OSCE reforms. The OSCE Ministerial
Council adopted a decision on strengthening the effectiveness of
the OSCE, as well as other decisions on terrorism, organized crime,
small arms and weapons of mass destruction, economic and environmental
matters, and human rights, particularly on combating trafficking in
human beings. On regional conflicts, Nagorno Karabakh was the only
conflict around which there was agreement.

The Ministerial Statement on Nagorno Karabakh began, "We are
encouraged that negotiations in 2006, facilitated by the Co-Chairs of
the OSCE Minsk Group and supported by the OSCE Chairman in Office,
have brought the sides closer to agreement on the basic principles
for the resolution on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict." The Statement
also referred to the recent OSCE Mission to the region to observe
fires and their affects. "We call on the sides, with the assistance
of the international community, to extend co-operation to conduct
an environmental operation to suppress the fires in the affected
territories and to overcome detrimental consequences. These measures
can constitute significant steps toward restoring confidence between
the sides. The OSCE is available to assist," it said.

The Armenian delegation at the Conference was headed by Armenia’s
Minister of Foreign Affairs Vartan Oskanian. He noted that the
Statement fairly reflects the current status of the negotiations and
welcomed the OSCE’s continuing commitment to helping the sides secure
a lasting resolution.

In his annual speech at the Ministerial, Minister Oskanian focused on
OSCE reforms, including that of ODIHR, and the importance of the OSCE’s
field missions. Of course, he also spoke about Armenia’s development,
and the progress of the Nagorno Karabakh negotiations process.

On Nagorno Karabakh, the Minister said, "No one wants a lasting
settlement to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict more than we do. The last
meeting between the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan gives us
hope that agreement may yet be found even on those principles around
which we still don’t see eye to eye. We know that a lasting solution
will depend on the security and status of the people of Nagorno
Karabakh. That is how this conflict began – when their security was
violated, and their right to self-determination trampled over. The
principles under discussion seek to satisfy the right of the people
of Nagorno Karabakh to self-determination while at the same time
eliminating the consequences of the conflict. We anticipate that
indeed Azerbaijan will find the will to acknowledge and respect the
right of the people of Nagorno Karabakh to determine its own future,
its own status, its own security arrangements."

He continued, "In just a few days, Nagorno Karabakh will hold a
referendum to adopt a Constitution. During this decade and a half,
they have built political institutions, through elections they
have selected their own authorities and developed a legislative
framework. They recognized the need for a basic law, and recognized
that a referendum is the only acceptable way to collectively adopt that
basic law. For the international community to dismiss their democratic
aspirations and blame them for choosing to behave democratically
is counterproductive. Azerbaijan claims that exercising a vote is
an obstruction to the peace process. It can’t be further from the
truth. What really obstructs the process is their overreaction to
Karabakh’s democratic activities, their refusal to engage Nagorno
Karabakh in peace talks, their repeated militaristic calls and their
persistent efforts to sidetrack the Minsk Group negotiations process."

In the margins of the OSCE Ministerial, the Minister held bilateral
meetings with US Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried, the
Foreign Minister of Luxembourg Mr. Jean Asselborn, the State Minister
of European Affairs of Ireland Mr. Noel Treacy, the Minister of
Foreign Affairs of Estonia Mr. Urmas Paet, the Foreign Minister of
Hungary, Dr. Kinga Goncz. The Minister also held meetings with the
Mr. Bernardino Leon, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of Spain
which will assume the chairmanship of the OSCE in 2007, and Mr. Manuel
Lobo Antunes, the State Secretary for European Affairs of Portugal,
which will assume the Presidency of the European Union in the second
half of 2008.

Minister Oskanian also met with Mr. Goran Lennmarker, President of the
OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Ambassador Christian Strohal, Director
of ODIHR and Marc Perrin de Brichambaut, the Secretary General of
the OSCE.

ARAM KARAPETIAN: POLICEMEN WHO BEAT PEOPLE HAVE BEEN AWARDED MEDALS FOR FEAT

Noyan Tapan
Dec 02 2006

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 2, NOYAN TAPAN. The days of the ruling regime in
Armenia are numbered, and the main goal of the Anticriminal Movement is
to prevent a criminal coup from taking place in the country. Chairman
of the Homeland and Honor Party Garnik Margarian made this statemenmt
at the regular meeting of the Anticriminal Movement on December 1. In
his words, today the Movement also aims to hold representatives of the
power pyramid accountable for their criminal actions. For this reason,
according to G. Margarian, the subject discussed at the meeting was
related to illegal interference of the power structures in political
processes. Chairman of the New Times Party Aram Karapetian said that
he recently received some documnets about illegal activity of the
law-enforcement bodies from an anonymous source. According to these
documents, particularly many policemen who, in A. Karapetian’s words,
"beat people and threw eggs at them" during the mass rallies in April
2004, received letters of thanks, monetary prizes, weapons, some –
medals for feat a few days later by the order of the RA Police Chief
Hayk Harutyunian. In the decree, which A. Karapetian showed reporters,
the actions of these policemen were qualified as "keeping of the
public order". "And such actions are qualified as feats deserving
medals!" A. Karapetian said with resentment. He expressed confidence
that there is a group of people in the police too who realize the
inadmissibility of what happened than and maybe these people gave
him the above mentioned documents.

Catholic Online, CA
Dec 1 2006

Walk in harmony with Muslims, pope urges Christians at pilgrimage end

By John Thavis
12/1/2006
Catholic News Service

ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNS) – Closing out a four-day pilgrimage of
dialogue in Turkey, Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Mass with the tiny
Christian community in Istanbul and encouraged it to live in harmony
with the Muslim majority.

POPE RELEASES DOVE OUTSIDE TURKISH CATHEDRAL – Pope Benedict XVI
releases a dove Dec. 1 during a visit to the Cathedral of the Holy
Spirit in Istanbul, Turkey, on the final day of his four-day visit to
the Muslim country. (CNS/Reuters)
"Brothers and sisters, your communities walk the humble path of daily
companionship with those who do not share our faith, yet profess to
hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us adore the one,
merciful God," the pope said in a sermon.

"You know well that the church wishes to impose nothing on anyone,
and that she merely asks to live in freedom, in order to reveal the
one whom she cannot hide, Christ Jesus," he said.

About 300 people packed into the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit for the
Dec. 1 Mass. Several hundred more stood in the cathedral’s inner
plaza and in the courtyard of a nearby church, following the liturgy
on a TV screen.

Turkey has only 32,000 Catholics in a population of 72 million. Most
of them live in Istanbul, which has for centuries been a bridge to
the West.

The pope, wearing red vestments to mark the work of the Holy Spirit,
processed into the small church and listened as Armenian Catholics
chanted the entrance song. A Chaldean choir of youths, dressed in
blue tunics, sang a hymn in Aramaic.

The seven languages used in the liturgy were meant to express the
diversity of the Catholic community in Turkey.

The pope paid tribute to this rich variety, asking Turkish Catholics
to continue to live the faith in a humble manner with a sense of
service to others.

"To live by the Spirit is not to live for oneself alone, but to let
oneself be conformed to Christ Jesus by becoming, like him, the
servant of his brothers and sisters," he said.

As a minority in a Muslim country, he said, Catholics should be
attentive to all those who seek justice, peace and dignity.

"Live in harmony, in accordance with the words of the Lord: ‘By this
everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for
one another,’" he said.

To one side of the altar sat Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew of Constantinople, who had hosted the pope the day before
in a liturgy at his Istanbul headquarters, the ecumenical focus of
the pope’s visit.

The pope recalled that his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, in a Mass
26 years earlier in the same cathedral, had urged new efforts for
full Christian unity. Unfortunately, Pope Benedict said, that hope
has not yet been realized, but "the pope still longs to see it
fulfilled."

He urged all Christian leaders to act for the good of all, "putting
ecumenism at the forefront of our ecclesial concerns and not
committing our respective churches and communities to decisions that
could contradict or harm it."

Those words appeared to refer to potential problems not so much with
Orthodox churches as with the Anglican Communion. Several Anglican
member churches have decided to ordain women priests and some to
ordain women bishops, decisions the Vatican says create a serious
barrier to full union with the Catholic Church.

Patriarch Bartholomew joined the pope for the final blessing. Then
the pope processed down the main aisle, smiling broadly and greeting
many of the enthusiastic faithful who reached out from either side.
One man waved a Turkish flag.

Before the Mass, the pope blessed the statues of two popes in the
courtyard of the cathedral: Pope John XXIII, who served for 10 years
as apostolic nuncio in Turkey and was considered a good friend of the
country; and Pope Benedict XV, who during World War I built hospitals
in the region and made diplomatic moves in favor of Turkish
prisoners.

The larger-than-life bronze statue of Pope Benedict XV was unveiled
in 1921, at a ceremony attended by many Muslim Turks. It bears an
inscription hailing the pontiff as "the benefactor of all peoples,
regardless of nationality or religion."

After blessing the statues, the pope released four doves, one at a
time, as a symbol of peace.

The Mass was the final event of a trip that included political and
ecumenical encounters. Before leaving for Rome from Istanbul’s
airport, the pope thanked city authorities and told them, "I am
leaving a part of my heart in Istanbul."

The evening before, several hundred young Catholics paid an
unscheduled visit to the pope’s residence at the apostolic nunciature
in Istanbul. After they prayed and sang outside his window for more
than a half-hour, the pope came to the window and offered a blessing
and words of appreciation, telling the young people he would always
keep them in his prayers.

Earlier Nov. 30, the pope joined Armenian Orthodox Patriarch Mesrob
II at his cathedral in Istanbul for a prayer service. The pope spoke
again of the importance of ecumenism, in view of the "tragic
divisions" among Christians that "give scandal to the world."

"Precisely by the witness of their faith and love, Christians are
called to offer a radiant sign of hope and consolation to this world,
so marked by conflicts and tensions," the pope said.

"We must continue, therefore, to do everything possible to heal the
wounds of separation and to hasten the work of rebuilding Christian
unity," he said.

The pope also appeared to refer indirectly to the Armenian massacre
when he said that the faith of Armenian Catholics has been
transmitted "often in very tragic circumstances, such as those
experienced in the last century."

An estimated 1.5 million Armenians – more than half the Armenian
population at the time – died in a forced evacuation by Ottoman Turks
in 1915-18. Turkey rejects the accusation of genocide, saying the
deaths were due largely to disease and famine.

In private encounters later that evening at the apostolic nunciature,
the pope met with Syrian Orthodox Metropolitan Filuksinos Yusuf Cetin
and with Turkish Chief Rabbi Ishak Haleva.

AZERI OPPOSITION LEADER CRITICIZES PRESIDENT’S REACTION TO MEDIA CRACKDOWN

Turan News Agency
Nov 30 2006

Baku, 30 November: I believe that the attitude that [Azerbaijani
President] Ilham Aliyev demonstrated to very serious issues was
not serious, the first deputy chairman of the Democratic Party of
Azerbaijan, Sardar Calaloglu, told Turan while commenting on Ilham
Aliyev’s statement on attacks on the free press.

Calaloglu said that ANS did not consist only of people. He did not
rule out that those people perhaps did make some mistakes in their
work. He described the closure of the TV channel as unacceptable as
it was an institution of society.

"There are lots of shortcomings in the work of people working at the
Cabinet of Ministers or the presidential administration. Should those
agencies be closed down because of that?" Calaloglu said.

Calaloglu said that the president’s description of the eviction of
Azadliq newspaper and Turan news agency from their building as a
technical issue was not serious. He said that following this logic,
the leaders [of the country] can give Karabakh to Armenians as "a
technical issue". He said that the mass media and political parties are
institutions of society and the authorities’ disrespectful attitude
to these agencies is a manifestation of disrespect for society as a
whole. "In his statement, Ilham Aliyev did not display an adequate
reaction to the serious developments that have taken place, which is a
gross violation of the constitution," Calaloglu said while commenting
on the president’s statement.

Myrtle Beach Sun News, SC
Nov 26 2006

Armenians see Russian economic takeover
NAIRA MELKUMIAN

YEREVAN, Armenia – The recent acquisition of Armenia’s dominant
telephone company by a Russian company is raising concerns here that
Moscow is attempting to exert economic control over the republic it
once controlled politically.

The purchase of a 90 percent stake in ArmenTel, which holds a
monopoly on telephone and Internet service in Armenia, by the Russian
company Vympelkom only serves to strengthen Russia’s economic hold on
major economic assets in the republic.

The sale was announced shortly after the return of Armenian President
Robert Kocharian to Moscow.

It was during that trip that Russian President Vladimir Putin
announced that he considered Russia’s position as only the
third-largest investor in Armenia, behind Germany and Greece, as
"shameful."

The purchase, the latest in a series of Russian takeovers in key
areas of the Armenian economy, comes as public attitudes toward
Moscow are cooling because of the effect Moscow’s economic blockade
of neighboring Georgia is having on the Armenian economy.

Many here are also becoming increasingly worried by signs of rising
xenophobia in Russia toward Caucasians in general and Armenians in
particular.

Already, Russian companies own the major producers of electricity and
natural gas, as well as the country’s rail system.

"Just take a look," said Aram Manukian, a leading opposition
politician. "The energy sector, communications, and the railway
system have all been given to Russia. All this essentially weakens
Armenia’s independence."

But Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian, considered by most to be the
second most powerful figure in the government, has rejected such
charges.

"You won’t find to this day any examples of how Russian capital in
Armenia has been used as a tool for political pressure," he said at a
recent news conference.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russian companies
have poured billions of dollars of investments into Armenia. Some
contend it just makes good business sense.

"Russia’s desire to become established in Armenia as the most stable
country in the South Caucasus is understandable, as the attitude
toward Russian business is better here than in Georgia," said
political analyst Anna Harutyunian.

But Aram Sarkisian, head of the opposition Democratic Party, said the
government should not have ceded control of a key industry so easily.

"All power-generating operations are effectively in Russia’s hands,"
he said.

"There are no problems with Russia. That country is our ally and I am
in favor of deepening cooperation with it. But the government should
control our strategic facilities."

By and large, the average telephone user, who has long complained of
poor service, doesn’t seem to care who owns the company as long as
service improves.

"It doesn’t matter to me who the operator will be," said Suren
Minasian. "Ordinary consumers just need easy, high-quality
communications."

Public Radio, Armenia
Nov 23 2006

Matthew Bryza: There is certain progress in the Karabakh conflict
settlement
23.11.2006 13:54

The US Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Matthew Bryza declared that
Armenia and Azerbaijan have achieved certain success in the
`perception of the interconnection of returning the so-called
`occupied territories’ and the issue of status.’
The American mediator said this during the meeting with journalists
in Vienna on November 16, Mediamax agency reports.
`There is progress. When I was in Vienna in June, the Co-Chairs
declared that we intend to take a break and wait for the reaction of
the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan regarding the main
principles suggested by the mediators. We told the Presidents: you
can improve these principles or decline these, but we do not want you
to blame the mediators for lack of progress.’
`During the recent months Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan had
three meetings. Since there was acceleration of the process of
improvement of the main principles we proposed, we suggested to
organize the meeting of the Presidents, which will be most probably
held November 28 in the framework of the CIS summit in Minsk,’ said
Matthew Bryza.

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Nov 23 2006

28th Session of General Assembly of PA OBSEC Concluded

Source: Trend
Author: A. Ismayilova

23.11.2006

The 28th plenary sitting of the General Assembly of the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Organization for the Black Sea Economic Cooperation
(PA OBSEC) has been held at the highest level, Azerbaijani MP Asif
Hajiyev, Vice-Chairman of PA OBSEC has said during the
press-conference at the end of the Session, Trend reports.

He also touched upon Armenia’s non-participation in this meeting and
assessed it as a repeated proof of the non-constructive positions of
Armenians. Mr. Hajiyev said that invitations had been sent to all the
member-states of the Organization. For its part, Azerbaijan took part
in the 27th session of the General Assembly held in Armenia, and
proved once more that our country was the supporter of conflicts
settlement peacefully through negotiations.

Mr. Hajiyev said that during the Session of the Organization, three
kinds of issues were discussed: political, economic, and cultural
cooperation between the member-states of the Organization. He said
that the Organization’s future would be bright, and holding the last
session of PA OBSEC gave grounds to make such a conclusion. The
Representative of the Organization is sure that the Organization
could have its influence on processes happening in the Black Sea
region.

David Saganelidze, Vice-Chairman, Head of the Georgian delegation to
PA OBSEC, also touched upon an issue on frozen conflicts, and
particularly marked the Georgian-Abkhazian and the Georgian-South
Ossetian conflicts. He expressed his regrets that PA OBSEC was just
an economic organization, and solving these issues were not the
responsibilities of the Organization. `We only hope that this and
other international organizations could find a joint approach in the
issue of the above-mentioned conflicts. But, unfortunately, there
have been no real concrete decisions of these issues’, emphasized Mr.
Saganelidze.

Representatives of the other delegations also expressed their
opinions on the issues and ideas discussed during the Session.

ARMENIAN, AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENTS TO MEET AT CIS SUMMIT

Agence France Presse — English
November 22, 2006 Wednesday 9:07 PM GMT

Armenia’s President Robert Kocharyan will meet with his Azerbaijani
counterpart Ilham Aliyev next week in Minsk, on the sidelines of the
summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), OSCE officials
said Wednesday.

"I want to inform you that the Armenian president agreed to a meeting
with his Azerbaijani colleague in Minsk" on November 27-28, the
Russian co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk group on the Karabakh conflict,
Yuri Merzlyakov, told reporters.

"This meeting was being prepared very meticulously and for a long
time. It will no doubt prove another step forward in resolving this
conflict, because this is a third such meeting this year, and there
never was such a full schedule," Merzlyakov said.

A source in the Azerbaijani presidential administration told AFP that
Aliyev also agreed to meet with Kocharyan.

Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in a territorial dispute
over the Nagorny Karabakh ethnic-Armenian enclave since before the
break-up of the Soviet Union.

Azerbaijan lost control of the territory and seven surrounding regions
during a war in the early 1990s, but Karabakh’s status has yet to
be settled.

AZERBAIJANI DELEGATION INTRODUCES AMENDMENTS INTO NATO PA REPORT ON SITUATION IN SOUTH CAUCASUS

Regnum, Russia
Nov 22 2006

"The report on the situation in South Caucasus was changed three
times during the 52nd session of NATO Parliamentary Assembly (PA)
carried out in Quebec (Canada)," Azerbaijani Parliament’s Deputy
Speaker, head of the Azeri delegation at NATO PA Ziyafet Askerov is
quoted by Azeri Press Agency as saying. He stressed that "issue of
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity was the most important one for us
in the report on South Caucasus prepared by UK deputy Frank Cook."

"The issue was mentioned superficially in the first draft report. We
made our proposals in that connection. We made our proposals concerning
the report’s second variant, too. As for the third variant, it
satisfied us comparing with previous ones," he stressed.

According to Askerov, problems connected with the Azerbaijani economy,
presence of more than 1mln of refugees and IDPs, deportation of 200,000
Azerbaijanis from Armenia, construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan
oil pipeline, Baku-Tbilisi-Erzerum and Baku-Tbilisi-Akhalkalaki-Kars
railway were present in the report.

According to Askerov, "Armenians protested against giving certain
number of refugees and IDPs, as well as dimensions of the occupied
Azerbaijani territories." "We provided in advance all official
representatives of NATO PA with decisions concerning recognition
of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity adopted by international
organizations. We demonstrated to NATO PA documents proving arrival of
Armenians in Nagorno Karabakh 150 years ago, as well as a photograph of
a monument erected by them on the occasion. I believe it exerted big
impact. If the separate issue of Azerbaijan is discussed in future,
we will achieve adoption of a special NATO PA resolution," the Azeri
first deputy speaker stressed.

According to him, instability of the situation in Abkhazia, South
Ossetia, Transdnestr, and Nagorno Karabakh was reflected in 13th
clause of report of NATO PA Committee on Security Civil Control on
cooperation with countries of the Black Sea basin.

SECULARISM IN TURKEY MEANS GOVERNMENT CONTROLS ALL RELIGIONS
By Cindy Wooden

Catholic News Service
Nov 16 2006

ROME (CNS) — Turkey’s unique brand of secularism is not separation
of religion and state, but rather government control of religion,
impacting both the Muslim majority and religious minorities.

The government builds and funds mosques, employs Muslim prayer
leaders, controls religious education and bans Muslim women and men
from wearing certain head coverings in public offices and universities.

The Turkish Constitution guarantees the religious freedom of all the
country’s residents, and a 1923 treaty guarantees that religious
minorities will be allowed to found and operate religious and
charitable institutions.

Secularists in Turkey see control of religion as the only way to
guarantee Islam will not overpower the secularism of the state and
its institutions.

However, the fact that the constitution and Turkish law do not
recognize minority religious communities as legal entities has severely
limited their ability to own property, and laws restricting private
religious higher education have made it almost impossible for them
to operate seminaries and schools of theology.

Pope Benedict XVI is expected to address the need for a broader
understanding of the religious freedom guarantees during his Nov.
28-Dec. 1 visit to Turkey.

Otmar Oehring, head of the human rights office of Missio, the German
Catholic aid and development agency, said that when the Republic of
Turkey was founded in 1923 the Department of Religious Affairs was
established "to crush Islam and replace it with Turkish nationalism,
which was seen as the only way to promote the modernization and
development of Turkey."

"But it is clear that you cannot take religion away from a religious
country," Oehring said in a Nov. 15 telephone interview from Aachen,
Germany. "Turks are not fundamentalists and radicals, but they
are pious."

Oehring lived in Turkey until he was 16, and he wrote his doctoral
thesis on ideological tensions within the country.

Once multiparty democracy was established in Turkey in the 1950s, he
said, the Religious Affairs Department started opening more mosques
and training and hiring more imams.

Although the effort to crush Islam was set aside, a conviction that
religion had to be controlled was not, he said.

"The state controls and organizes a state brand of Islam," he said.

Particularly as Turkey’s human rights record is examined as part of
its bid to enter the European Union, "many say religious freedom in
Turkey would be dangerous" because of a perceived threat of Islamic
fundamentalism, Oehring said.

"However, I argue that under international human rights agreements
people must be given full religious freedom, but the state can take
action against those who pose a danger for public safety or the state,"
he said.

As far as religious rights go, "in Turkey they first say ‘no,’ then
try to see how they can make it work. We say ‘yes,’ then work to
prevent abuses," Oehring said.

While Turkish Muslims live their faith under government control,
minority religious communities operate under government restrictions,
and minorities often face discrimination in education and employment,
he said.

"If you are a Turkish citizen of Turkish origin, with a Turkish name
and you are a Sunni Muslim, you will have no problems," Oehring said.

"But if you are Catholic — or worse, Greek Orthodox with a Greek name
— you are considered a foreigner, even if you are a Turkish citizen."

One of the most difficult issues Christians, Jews and other religious
minorities are facing is their lack of recognition under Turkish law,
particularly as it applies to their ability to acquire and own property
for churches or synagogues, schools and hospitals, he said.

Running seminaries is evening more difficult, Oehring said.

"In 1971, the government decided there would be no more private
religious schools offering higher education," so the Greek and
Armenian Orthodox seminaries were closed, he said. The Jewish community
already was sending its rabbinical students abroad, and the Latin-rite
Catholic seminary remained open since it was housed in the compound
of the French consulate in Istanbul.

"The Muslim schools had already been closed in 1924 and were reopened
as government-run high schools or faculties of divinity in Turkish
universities," so the state controlled what the students learned,
he said.

While many people recognize the continued closure of the seminaries
as a problem, he said, "the Kemalists and secularists say if you give
Christians the possibility of opening schools, Islamic schools not
under state control also would have a right to open."

In early November, under pressure from the European Union, the
Turkish Parliament passed a "religious foundations law" ordering
the state to return property it owns that had been confiscated from
religious communities. As of Nov. 15, the legislation had not been
signed into law.

"A lot of church people prefer that this not become law because then
the government can say it did what it was asked to do and nothing
will change for another 20 years," Oehring said.

The biggest problem with the law, he said, is that it applies only to
confiscated property still owned by the state, but it does not address
the issue of compensation for confiscated property subsequently sold
by the government.

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