ASIA/TURKEY - The institutional impasse for religious minority Foundations

Ankara (Agenzia Fides) - The 168 Foundations linked to ethnic and religious minorities in Turkey - including those animated by Jews and Armenian, Greek, Assyrian, Chaldeans, Bulgarian and Georgian Christians - operate according to the rules and regulations laid down by the General Directorate of Foundations. A new legislation on the matter, approved more than two years ago, has not yet entered into force. Since their leaders are elected by members of the Foundation every four years, the Foundations have not been able to carry out elections for the renewal of the executive positions for 7 years. In some cases, such as the Foundation of the Greek Balikli Hospital, the last election dates back to the early nineties.
Already in March – say local sources to Agenzia Fides - the representative of the minority Foundations at the General Assembly of Foundations had met Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to denounce the state of institutional impasse in which the bodies by him represented find themselves. The Turkish Premier had assured that the problems would be addressed and resolved before the general election, held last November 1 and won by the Islamic Party of Presedent Recep Tayyip Erdogan. But now that the elections were celebrated - highlight the Turkish media, reporting the feelings of the heads of the Foundations - the broken promise by the Turkish political leadership remains as yet another indication of the marginality of non-Muslim minorities in Turkey. (GV) (Agenzia Fides 10/11/2015)

Share:

religious minorities

---

---