A group of U.S. lawmakers published a letter on Thursday calling on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) to work with global partners in a sustained and coordinated effort to hold accountable the Turkish government for repeated violations of religious freedom and human rights,
Ahval reports.
“Despite international condemnation, the state of Turkey continues to engage in chronic, egregious, systematic violations of the religious freedom of the Ecumenical Patriarchate,” the members of congress said.
In addition, the Turkish state continues to reject the legal status and the identity of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
The harshly-worded letter argued that Turkey rejecting the ecumenicity of the Patriarchate violates not only the freedom of conscience, belief, and religion for all Greek Orthodox Christian citizens of Turkey, but of the 300 million Orthodox Christians worldwide who fall under the spiritual leadership of the Ecumenical Patriarch.
Over 170 members of the U.S. Congress, including prominent leadership, released a letter urging U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to hold Turkey accountable for its “gross violation of human rights” and “democratic backsliding.”