An historic international religious freedom conference held at the European Parliament, November 16-17, focused on common issues of minorities living in Turkey. The Conference proposed solutions in the hopes that Turkey will ultimately do what is in its own best interest in order to gain accession to the European Union by dramatically improving its religious freedom policies towards the Ecumenical Patriarchate and other religious minorities.

The two-day symposium, entitled, “Religious Freedom: Turkey’s Bridge to the European Union,” brought together over thirty renowned scholars, religious freedom and human rights advocates, journalists, diplomats, parliamentarians, religious leaders, representatives of the Government of Turkey, lawyers and members of minority communities. They presented complex, diverse and contrasting viewpoints and perspectives on the status of religious freedom in Turkey to nearly two-hundred participants from across the United States, Turkey and Europe.