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NO GENOCIDE |
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QUESTION 10: WHAT ARE THE CIRCUMSTANCES
UNDER
WHICH THE ARMENIANS OF TURKEY LIVE?
Armenian nationalist propagandists ever so
often claim that the Armenians of
Turkey are subject to persecution. They
resort to this tactic, not only to reinforce
their
allegations that Turks persecuted Armenians
throughout history, but also to provide a
unifying bond for Armenian action groups and
to get foreign states intervene in Turkey's
internal affairs. Like other Armenian
claims, this also is not based on facts.
In Turkey all citizens are equal before the
law. They enjoy the same rights and
have the same obligations without
discrimination of any kind. The exercise of
these rights and freedoms are under constitutional
guarantee. Armenians, like other non-Muslim
religious communities in Turkey, enjoy
additional safeguards extended to them by
the Lausanne Peace Treaty which recognizes their
minority status.
The 50,000 Armenians living in Turkey today
are in no way separated from their
fellow Turkish citizens. They are full
citizens, with the same rights and
privileges as other
Turkish citizens, having their lives,
liberties and happiness guaranteed by law.
The Armenians of Turkey continue to worship in
their own churches and teach in their own
language in their own schools. They publish
newspapers, books and magazines in
Armenian and have their own social and
cultural institutions in addition to
participating fully in those open to all Turkish citizens.
The Armenian community in Istanbul has 18
schools, 17 cultural and social
organizations, three daily newspapers, five
periodicals, two sports clubs, 57 churches, 58 foundations
and two hospitals.
In this context, there has been significant
progress in Turkey in improving the
legislation concerning religious minorities
as well. The fourth EU harmonization package
adopted in January 2003 facilitated the
acquisition of real estate by non-Muslim
religious foundations by revising the Law on
Foundations. The sixth harmonization package
adopted in July 2003 prolonged the
application period granted to non-Muslim
religious foundations to acquire real estate currently
in their possession. The same package
revised the Law on Construction to meet the needs
for places of worship by religions and
faiths other than Islam. A bylaw adopted in January
2005 transferred the duties of the
Directorate General of Security concerning
the issues related to religious minorities
to the Governorship and Sub-governorship offices.
Turkey is a secular state with a
predominantly Muslim population. The
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe, in its resolution No. 1380 (2004),
confirmed that "this unique state of affairs
is evidence of its attachment to European
democratic values based on tolerance and
mutual respect". As a constituent principle,
secularism in the Republic of Turkey ensures
the state's neutrality towards its citizens
whatever their religious beliefs are.
The Armenians of Turkey are enjoying the
advantages of a free society to live
prosperous and happy lives as Turkish
citizens belonging to other faiths. Many of
them
are prosperous merchants, prominent artists
or prestigious academicians. The Armenians
of Turkey are proud to be Turkish citizens
and, along with all other Turks, deeply
resent the lies about their country spread in their
name by radical Armenian nationalists
abroad.
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