United States House Committee Grants Christians Freedom in Turkey by Christine Thomasos,
Christian Post Reporter July 22, 2011|2:26 pm. After years of religious
discrimination, the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs
voted to adopt a Berman-Cicilline Amendment which aims to end the
oppression of Turkey s Christian minority. The 43-1 house vote that
added a return of churches passage to H.R. 2583, a State
Department-Foreign Relation Authorization Act, called for the
protection of Christian citizens. Armenian, Greek and
Assyrian-Chaldean appear to be the groups most affected by the
amendment that recognizes the mistreatment of their people practicing
Christianity in Turkey. The driving force behind the passage of the
amendment was Republican California Representative Ed Royce, who said
it is important to recognize the wrongs being committed against
Christians in Turkey. Religious minorities are under grave threat in
today s Turkey, said Royce, a Republican from California. Rather than
enjoying protection, very vulnerable religious minority groups
including the Ecumenical Patriarchate of the Greek Orthodox Church are
denied full legal status. Ken Hachikian, chairman of the Armenian
National Committee of America, said the congressional committee vote
was a step in the right direction for Christians in Turkey. We won
this landmark victory in the face of years of Turkey s lies about its
supposed tolerance, and despite its token conversion of a few ancient
churches, said Hachikian, according to CNN-Turkey. Archbishop Vicken
Aykazian, Legate of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church, was in
attendance when the congressional committee voted in favor of the
bipartisan amendment. He expressed the importance of the vote. This is
a vote of justice against injustice, said Aykazian. I hope that this
will be the first of many steps towards preserving Armenian Christian
heritage in Turkey. The United States House Committee on Foreign
Affairs is responsible for overseeing and creating legislation
regarding foreign assistance. This type of assistance includes
security and health issues taking place overseas, according to the
U.S. House of Representatives website. The Berman-Cicilline Amendment
recently passed by the committee encourages the Turkish government to
honor international treaties and human rights laws. The amendment
encourages the Turkish government to allow the rightful church and lay
owners of Christian church properties, without hindrance or
restriction, to organize and administer prayer services, religious
education, clerical training, appointments, and succession, religious
community gatherings, social services, including ministry to the needs
of the poor and infirm, and other religious activities.
