The news report above is startling. It describes a group of Turkish militants assaulting two U.S. Marines in Smyrna, while chanting “Yankee Go Home.” Turkey is an ally of the United States and a member of NATO. This ugly incident demonstrates what are unfortunately widespread attitudes among the Turkish population: hatred of the U.S. and the West and disdain for basic human rights. This is the same mindset that gives rise to the ongoing disregard for the religious freedom of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the remaining Orthodox Christians, as well as other Christians and religious minorities in Turkey.
Religious Restrictions Around The World: In this scatterplot, each square represents a country. A square’s placement indicates the severity of restrictions in that country on the Government Restrictions Index (GRI) and the Social Hostilities Index (SHI). The SHI is a measure of private individuals and social groups in a particular country infringing upon the freedom of a religious minority. The color of each square represents its region of the world. (Source: pewresearch.org)
The Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate urgently requests the U.S. State Department, in its discussions with the Turkish government over this incident, to raise also these violations of Turkey’s stated commitment to religious freedom, and to call upon the Turkish government to guarantee the rights of its religious minorities.
In the Service of the Ecumenical Patriarchate,
Anthony J. Limberakis, MD
Archon Megas Aktouarios
National Commander
