Harut Sassounian
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courierwww.TheCaliforniaCourier.comThe government of Azerbaijan spends a large fortune each year to convince the world that Azeris are tolerant people who respect the human rights of all minorities living in the country.However, no matter how many fake ecumenical services Azerbaijan’s lobbyists in Europe and the United States organize by bribing Christian and Jewish leaders, the truth about Azeri intolerance is impossible to cover up.Azerbaijan’s 10 million population is 96% Muslim, of which approximately 65% is Shia and 35% Sunni. Between 15,000 and 20,000 Jews live in Baku, while there are hardly any Armenians left after they were massacred or deported during the Artsakh war.The U.S. State Department’s latest annual report (2017) on International Religious Freedom around the world indicates that Azerbaijan discriminates against certain religious groups, even though its laws prohibit the government from interfering in their activities.Azerbaijan’s laws specify that “the government may dissolve religious organizations if they cause racial, national, religious, or social animosity; proselytize in a way that ‘degrades human dignity;’ and hinder secular education….” The State Dept. reports that “local human rights groups and others stated that the government continued to physically abuse, arrest, and imprison religious activists. The reported total incarcerated at the end of the year was 80…. In January and December courts sentenced leaders of the Muslim Unity Movement and others arrested in a 2015 police operation in Nardaran to long prison terms on charges many activists considered fabricated, including inciting religious hatred and terrorism. In July authorities sentenced a theologian to three years in prison for performing a religious ceremony after studying Islam abroad. Authorities detained, fined, or warned numerous individuals for holding unauthorized religious meetings. According to religious groups, the government continued to deny or delay registration to minority religious groups it considered ‘nontraditional,’ disrupting their religious services and fining participants. Groups previously registered but which authorities required to reregister continued to face obstacles in doing so. Authorities permitted some of these groups to operate freely, but others reported difficulties in trying to practice their faith.”Furthermore, according to the State Department, “local religious experts stated the government continued to close mosques on the pretext of repairing them but said the actual reason was government concerns the mosques served as places for the propagation of extremist views. The government continued to control the importation, distribution, and sale of religious materials. The courts fined numerous individuals for the unauthorized sale or distribution of religious materials, although some individuals had their fines revoked on appeal. The government sponsored training sessions throughout the country to promote religious tolerance and combat what it considered religious extremism.”The State Department also reported that “the punishment for the illegal production, distribution, or importation of religious literature can include fines ranging from $2,900 to $4,100 or up to two years’ imprisonment for first offenses, and fines of $4,100 to $5,300 or imprisonment of between two and five years for subsequent offenses.”Despite the fact that Azerbaijan’s constitution “allows alternative service ‘in some cases’ when military service conflicts with personal beliefs, there is no legislation permitting alternative service, including on religious grounds, and refusal to perform military service is punishable under the criminal code with imprisonment of up to two years or forced conscription,” according to the State Department.“On September 30, authorities detained 30 men who, in violation of local edict, were marching towards the Imamzadeh Mosque in Ganja to commemorate Ashura. Police charged four individuals with hooliganism and for resisting the police and placed them in pretrial detention. Human rights lawyers reported the police severely beat many of the detainees in custody,” the State Department reported.There were also reports of illegal and bizarre actions by the Azeri government against opposition groups and individuals perceived to be radical Muslims. For example, on May 31, 2017, “the Sheki Court of Appeals upheld a fine of $880 imposed on Sunni Muslim Shahin Ahmadov for holding an ‘illegal’ religious meeting. Police had detained him for reading aloud from the works of theologian Said Nursi to three friends while picnicking on April 18,” as reported by the State Department.Finally, “local religious experts stated the government continued to close mosques under the pretext of repairing or renovating them; they said the government’s real motivation was countering perceived religious extremism. Once closed, they said, the mosques remained closed. For example, after the Ashurbey Mosque in the Old City of Baku became popular with Salafis as a place of worship, authorities announced it needed renovation and closed it in July 2016.” The mosque was still closed by the end of 2017, according to the State Department.The much-publicized ‘tolerant’ Azerbaijan turns out to be not so ‘tolerant’ after all. Its ‘lenient’ laws remain on paper and are often ignored by the police and the judges.
US State Department Slams Turkey In its Annual Religious Freedom Report
By Harut SassounianPublisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
The US State Department just issued its 2017 report on International Religious Freedom in about 200 countries, including Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia. This week, we will focus our attention on the section on Turkey.
In general, all religious groups that are not Sunni Muslim suffer from discrimination and persecution in Turkey. Alevis, who constitute over a quarter of Turkey’s population of 81 million, are viewed by the state as “Heterodox Muslims” whose houses of worship are not recognized. Anti-Semitic articles vilifying Jews are frequently published in Turkish newspaper. Pres. Erdogan constantly provokes the public by his Anti-Israel rhetoric.
The State Department reports that “Religious minorities said they continued to experience difficulties obtaining exemptions from mandatory [Islamic] religion classes in public schools, operating or opening houses of worship, and in addressing land and property disputes. The government restricted minority religious groups’ efforts to train their clergy…. [Islamic] religion classes are two hours per week for students in grades four through 12. Only students who marked ‘Christian’ or ‘Jewish’ on their national identity cards may apply for an exemption from religion classes. Atheists, agnostics, Alevis or other non-Sunni Muslims, Bahais, Yezidis, or those who left the religion section blank on their national identity card may not be exempted.”
Approximately 90,000 members of the Armenian Apostolic Church live in Turkey, of which 60,000 are citizens and 30,000 are migrants from Armenia without legal residence. The U.S. Report states that “children of undocumented Armenian migrants and Armenian refugees from Syria” could attend public schools. “Because the government legally classified migrant and refugee children as ‘visitors,’ however, they were ineligible to receive a diploma from these schools.”
The Turkish government, as required by the 1923 Lausanne Treaty, grants a special status to “non-Muslim minorities” (Armenian Apostolic Christians, Jews, and Greek Orthodox Christians). However, according to the U.S. Religious Report, the government does not acknowledge “the leadership or administrative structures of non-Muslim minorities, such as the patriarchates and chief rabbinate, as legal entities, leaving them unable to buy or hold title to property or to press claims in court. These three groups, along with other minority religious communities, had to rely on independent foundations they previously organized, with separate governing boards, in order to hold and control individual religious properties. The foundations remained unable to hold elections to renew the membership of their governing boards because the government, despite promises to do so, had still not promulgated new regulations to replace those repealed in 2013 that would have allowed the election of foundation board members.”
Nevertheless, “The Armenian Apostolic Patriarchate and the [Greek] Ecumenical Patriarchate continued to seek legal recognition, and their communities operated as conglomerations of individual religious foundations. Because the patriarchates did not have legal personality, associated foundations controlled by individual boards held all the property of the religious communities, and the patriarchates had no legal authority to direct the use of any assets or otherwise govern their communities,” the U.S. Report states.
The Turkish government also obstructs the election of a new Patriarch for the Armenian Church in Turkey to succeed the incapacitated Patriarch. The U.S. Report states that “in March [2017] the Istanbul governor’s office suspended a decision by the Spiritual Assembly of the Armenian Patriarchate to elect a trustee to start the process for the election of a new patriarch. Incumbent Patriarch Mesrob II remained unable to perform his duties because of his medical condition, and an acting patriarch continued to fill the position. Some members of the community criticized the governorship’s notification as interference in the internal affairs of the church. Patriarchate sources said the government later recognized the March election to elect a trustee. In July the elected trustee applied to the government to hold the patriarchal election in December. At year’s end, the community had not received a response from the government about how to proceed with the patriarchal election.”
According to the U.S. Report, “Religious communities continued to challenge the government’s 2016 expropriation of their properties damaged in clashes between government security forces and the terrorist group Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK). The government expropriated those properties for their stated goal of ‘post-conflict reconstruction.’ By the end of the year, the government had not returned or completed repairs on any of the properties, including the historic and ancient Sur District of Diyarbakir Province, Kursunlu Mosque, Hasirli Mosque, Surp Giragos Armenian Church, Mar Petyun Chaldean Church, Syriac Protestant Church, and the Armenian Catholic Church. In April the Council of State, the top administrative court, issued an interim decision to suspend the expropriation of Surp Giragos Armenian Church.”
Armenian and other religious minority foundations had submitted 1,560 applications since 2011 for the return of their properties confiscated decades ago. The government returned only 333 properties and paid compensation for 21 others.
The U.S. Report also states that “various self-defined Islamist groups continued to threaten and vandalize Christian places of worship. In September an unidentified group threw stones at the Armenian Surp Tateos Church in the Narlikapi neighborhood of Istanbul, breaking windows. Some witnesses said the attackers shouted anti-Armenian slogans while a baptismal ceremony took place inside. In September the president of the Surp Giragos Armenian Church Foundation said unidentified looters had burglarized the church in Diyarbakir multiple times, despite a continuing curfew in the area.”
As expected, the Turkish Foreign Ministry rejected the U.S Report of the violations of religious rights calling it “a repetition of certain baseless claims.” However, the repetition confirms that there has not been an improvement in the protection of the religious rights of minorities. The Turkish government has continued to blatantly ignore the rights of Armenian, Assyrian and Greek religious minorities, as well as Jews and Alevis.
As an indication of the reign of terror prevailing in Turkey under Pres. Erdogan, the religious leaders of the Jewish, Armenian Apostolic, Armenian Catholic, and Syriac communities felt obligated to issue congratulations last Sunday for the re-election of Erdogan, the tyrant of Turkey!
US State Department reacts to ongoing protests in Armenia
The US Department of State has reacted to the recent political developments in Armenia, addressing the mass rallies protesting Serzh Sargsyan’s nomination and election as the country’s prime minister, the Voice of America reported.
In a statement, the Department says they are closely following the ongoing mass protests in downtown Yerevan and in other cities and towns across Armenia.
“We are inspired by the respectful and responsible conduct by the Police and the majority of demonstrators in recent days. However, we are concerned by the information on the occasional clashes between the Police and protesters, which have left some wounded,” reads the statement.
The State Department also called on the authorities and demonstrators to show restraint and refrain from any form of violence or tensions.
US State Dept ’deeply disturbed’ by Azerbaijan radio raid
WASHINGTON – Agence France-Presse
The State Department is “deeply disturbed” by reports that prosecutors raided Azerbaijan’s local Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty office Dec. 26, a US official said, calling the motive for the episode “unclear.”
Prosecutors in the tightly-controlled Caucasus nation searched the offices of US-funded Radio Azadliq, confiscating equipment and computers while accompanied by armed police, its director Kenan Aliyev told AFP.
The search was the latest in a string of similar raids on foreign-funded groups in recent months.
“We are deeply disturbed by reports that employees of the RFE/RL bureau in Baku have been detained in their offices and questioned while the premises were searched by police,” a senior State Department official said.
“The reasons for the questioning and search are unclear.”
Those searching the office whose telephone and Internet lines were cut, said they had a court order to shut it down and forced journalists out, Aliyev said.
The move came after a prominent investigative reporter working for Radio Azadliq, Khadija Ismayilova, was arrested in early December and placed in pre-trial detention for two months.
“We call on the responsible authorities to respect Azerbaijan’s international commitment to protecting media freedom,” the State Department official said.
“A free and independent press is critical to the wellbeing of the nation.”
Non-governmental organisation groups focused on reporter and human rights called the move the latest crackdown against a free media in Azerbaijan, where dissent is often met with a tough government response.
Headquartered in Prague and funded by the US Congress, RFE/RL broadcasts to 21 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East.
December/27/2014