Faith Digest: Report names Turkey as offender
30/3/2012
Turkey cited for religious freedom woes. Turkey stands as a new and controversial addition to an annual list of the worst offenders of religious freedom released by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. Four of nine commissioners objected to adding Turkey to the list of Countries of Particular Concern—a who’s who of dictatorships and closed societies—and a fifth commissioner is second-guessing his vote to include the NATO ally.
But some Greek Orthodox Americans are pleased with the decision, citing longtime abuses against Orthodox Christians in the historic heartland of Eastern Orthodoxy. Congress established the independent watchdog panel in 1998 to monitor religious freedom globally.
It recommends countries to the State Department for inclusion on its own annual list of worst offenders, which typically is smaller. This year, the commission’s list includes 16 countries, two of which are new—Turkey and Tajikistan. The others are Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Uzbekistan, Egypt, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Turkmenistan and Vietnam.
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