Turkey Still Imposes Restrictions on Religious Freedom

Not according to this year’s International Religious Freedom Report (via the Assyrian International News Agency):

Here’s what certain religious minorities, including the Baha’is, have to face:

“There were reports of societal abuses and discrimination based on religious belief or practice. Violent attacks and threats against non-Muslims during the reporting period created an atmosphere of pressure and diminished freedom for some non-Muslim communities. Although proselytizing is legal in the country, some Muslims, Christians, and Bahais faced a few restrictions and occasional harassment for alleged proselytizing or unauthorized meetings,” the report said.

The report put into the spotlight problems of religious minorities arguing that they were effectively blocked from careers in state institutions because of their faith. “Christians, Bahais, and some Muslims faced societal suspicion and mistrust, and more radical Islamist elements continued to express anti-Semitic sentiments. Additionally, persons wishing to convert from Islam to another religion sometimes experienced social harassment and violence from relatives and neighbors,” it said.

The report underlined that apart from its 99 percent Muslim population Turkey hosts approximately 65,000 Armenian Orthodox Christians, 23,000 Jews, and up to 4,000 Greek Orthodox Christians. There also are approximately 10,000 Bahais; an estimated 15,000 Syrian Orthodox (Syriac) Christians; 5,000 Yezidis; 3,300 Jehovah’s Witnesses; 3,000 Protestants; and small, undetermined numbers of Bulgarian, Chaldean, Nestorian, Georgian, Roman Catholic, and Maronite Christians, according to the State’s Department’s report.

Read the full report here.

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Religious freedom

Leif

23 September, 2007

It may be worth making very clear that Baha’is are forbidden to proselytize. See the following from a 3 January 1983 letter from the Universal House of Justice to an individual Baha’i:

It is true that Baha’u'llah lays on every Baha’i the duty to teach His Faith. At the same time, however, we are forbidden to proselytize, so it is important for all believers to understand the difference between teaching and proselytizing. It is a significant difference and, in some countries where teaching a religion is permitted, but proselytizing is forbidden, the distinction is made in the law of the land. Proselytizing implies bringing undue pressure to bear upon someone to change his Faith. It is also usually understood to imply the making of threats or the offering of material benefits as an inducement to conversion.

The letter quotes Baha’u'llah from a passage in which He sets a standard of conduct for Baha’is:

Beware lest ye contend with any one, nay, strive to make him aware of the truth with kindly manner and most convincing exhortation. If your hearer respond, he will have responded to his own behoof, and if not, turn ye away from him, and set your faces towards God’s sacred Court, the seat of resplendent holiness. Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u'llah, no. 128