Monday, November 16, 2020
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The Forum for Development and Human Rights Dialogue has called upon Mr. Ahmed Shahid, special rapporteur on freedom of religion & belief, to investigate Turkey’s fueling of conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan aimed at eliminating the Armenian sect in the disputed karbach region for decades. The foundation said in a letter to the special commissioner that there are many indications that Turkey has targeted Armenians, which lives in the disputed region of
145,000 Armenian Orthodox Christians, by supporting the Azerbaijani army with weapons that have been heavily used against civilians, causing casualties and injuries, and pushing hundreds of them out of the province in a scene in which the Turkish state is recalling the Armenian genocide of 1915, which killed 1.5 million Armenians.
Armenia has officially accused Turkey of supporting Azerbaijan with sophisticated weapons with military experts and transporting thousands of Syrian mercenaries to take part in the Karabakh attack, and international media have confirmed reports that dozens of Syrian militants have been killed on the lines of Azerbaijani confrontations with Armenian fighters.
Armenia also stressed that Azerbaijan and Turkey’s goal is the “Armenian genocide” and that it has evidence that Turkey militarily supports Azerbaijani troops with fighter jets, drones and other military equipment, sending military advisers, mercenaries and terrorists, and that it has been used to bomb civilians with the aim of exterminating the majority of The Christian population living in the region and changing its demographics.
French President Emmanuel Macron also accused Turkey of transferring 300 fighters from “extremist groups” in Syria to Azerbaijan, and urged NATO to “look directly” at what Turkey is doing as a member. In an earlier report on religious freedoms in Turkey, the forum monitored many evidence of systematic persecution by the Turkish regime against the Christian minority, the most prominent of which was the transformation of the
Church of Aya Sofia from museum to mosque, which was condemned by all churches of the world, and Turkey closed the Greek Orthodox Theological Institute, and the Turkish government claims that the reason for its closure is the inability of the Greek government to guarantee the religious freedom of its Turkish Muslim minority.
An increase in hate speech against some Protestant churches, and against the media investigating certain places of worship, was also observed during the Christmas holidays, to sow fear among believers who wished to attend the celebrations. The Turkish regime has also pursued a policy of unjustified interference in the internal affairs of
religious communities by preventing the election of board members to non-Muslim institutions and introducing new restrictions on the long-awaited elections of the Patriarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
In November 2019, a Turkish Supreme Court also issued a decision allowingt he Chora Kariye Museum, a former Greek Orthodox church, to be converted into a mosque.
Churches such as the Cortolos Church in Malatia, the Church of Balekser and the Kadikoy International Church (Istanbul) were also attacked, and windows were broken, and offensive drawings and graffiti were painted on their walls.
In March 2017, threats were sent to Radio Shima in Ankara, killing a Christian broadcaster, and since then, the station and its director have received greater police protection.
The Forum for Development and Human Rights Dialogue calls upon Mr. Ahmed Shahid to carry out his mandate as special rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, to implement its commitments through Human Rights Council Resolution 6/37 and to investigate the systematic persecution of religious minorities by the Turkish regime and its dissemination of religious intolerance throughout the country.
Identify existing and emerging obstacles to the enjoyment of the right to freedom of religion or belief, and ways to overcome those obstacles; continue its efforts to examine government facts and actions that are contrary to the provisions of the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination based on religion or belief, and recommend remedial measures as appropriate.
The foundation called on the Special Rapporteur to conduct country visits to Turkey to investigate the facts, submit his report to the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly and work to stop these systematic violations against religious freedoms due to theTurkish government’s practices because of its feeding of intolerance and hatred against the other.
