US embassy cable - 05ISTANBUL1506

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ISTANBUL 001506 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/30/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, TU, Istanbul 
SUBJECT: DAS BRYZA'S ISTANBUL MEETINGS ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM 
ISSUES 
 
REF: A. ISTANBUL 1359 
 
     B. ISTANBUL 1333 
     C. ISTANBUL 1199 
 
Classified By: Consul General Deborah K. Jones.  Reasons 1.4 (b and d). 
 
 
1. (C) Summary: In separate meetings with Ecumenical 
Patriarch Bartholomew and Istanbul Chief Rabbi Isak Haleva on 
August 24, visiting EUR DAS Matthew Bryza strongly reaffirmed 
USG support for religious freedom and pluralism in Turkey and 
stressed that the subject will remain front and center in our 
bilateral dialogue with the Turkish government.  Bartholomew 
emphasized that the Ecumenical Patriarchate continues to face 
many problems, and that while promises from Ankara have 
periodically brought optimism about the potential for 
reopening the Halki Seminary (which Bryza visited earlier in 
the week), no action has occurred.  He noted that he has 
accepted an invitation to speak at a conference on Islam in 
Vienna this fall, and will deliver a "frank message" covering 
both the positives and negatives the Ecumenical Patriarchate 
has experienced in Turkey.  In contrast, Jewish Community 
leaders, including Chief Rabbi Haleva, stressed the tolerance 
and freedom they have traditionally enjoyed in Turkey, adding 
that they have been able to work through the Turkish system 
to address their community's needs.  They added, however, 
that in recent years the Arab-Israeli conflict has had 
negative effects, spawning increased anti-semitism and even 
home-grown terrorism.  End Summary. 
 
2. (C) Stalemate: In his meeting with the Ecumenical 
Patriarchate, DAS Bryza stressed that the Patriarchate and 
its concerns would figure prominently in the agenda for his 
August 24-25 Ankara visit, as they do in all bilateral 
exchanges, up to and including at the Presidential level. 
Bartholomew expressed deep appreciation, but emphasized that 
many problems confront the Patriarchate and other religious 
minorities.  Pointing particularly to the continued closure 
of Halki Seminary, he argued that the problem could be easily 
solved if there were "political will", as even Education 
Minister Cilek and the head of the Higher Education Board 
have said there is no legal obstacle to its reopening.  He 
dismissed as hollow the argument of some in the Turkish 
bureaucracy that Halki's reopening would set a precedent 
requiring authorization of independent Islamic schools that 
could promote extremism.  24 schools provide religious 
education for Muslims in Turkey, he emphasized, but no school 
for Christians exists, in contravention of the Lausanne 
Treaty.  He also rejected any linkage to the predicament of 
the Turkish minority in Thrace, an issue he said PM Erdogan 
had raised with him in their initial meeting two years ago. 
We are Turkish citizens, he stressed, seeking our legal 
rights from our own government.  But he also agreed with 
Bryza's suggestion that a gesture by the Greek Government 
towards Greece's Turkish minority in Western Thrace could 
help improve the political climate in Turkey that surrounds 
the Halki issue. Bartholomew added that he believes that if 
the Prime Minister, as a "man of faith," were free to act as 
he believed, the situation would be better.  However, other 
forces, including the "deep state," have blocked progress. 
If no solution is found that enables the Ecumenical 
Patriarchate to train its next generation of leaders, he 
continued, "it means the Government of Turkey wants to close 
it down" and deny it continued existence in Turkey. 
 
3. (SBU) Bartholmew added that he continues to support 
Turkey's "legitimate aspirations" to be a part of the 
European Union, but the lack of progress on religious freedom 
issues is not advancing the process.  Bryza said Turkey's 
rich history of ethnic and religious diversity should be 
viewed by the GOT as a strength, but instead it is often 
viewed as a threat.  Bartholomew agreed, noting that at a 
recent dinner for EU Ambassadors, Erdogan was asked by the 
Belgian Ambassador why the GOT did not use the power and 
prestige of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, but instead sought 
to weaken and marginalize it.  Bartholomew added that he will 
speak "frankly and objectively" about the Ecumenical 
Patriarchate's situation when opportunity arises, including 
at a conference this fall that the Government of Austria is 
organizing in Vienna about Islam.  "I shall be objective," he 
said, and will set out "the positives we experience together 
with the negatives."  In response, Bryza emphasized the USG's 
solidarity with the Ecumenical Patriarchate in support of 
religious freedom and determination to continue to press 
until its key issues are resolved.  Religious freedom will 
remain at the center of the U.S.-Turkey agenda he pledged, 
for the U.S. seeks not just a business relationship with 
Turkey, but a true partnership based on shared values and 
freedoms. 
 
4. (C) Tolerance: Istanbul Chief Rabbi Isak Haleva and 
secular leaders of the Jewish community (including Vice 
Presidents Sami Herman and Lena Filiba) offered a more 
positive outlook on recent developments, though they did note 
a disturbing rise in anti-semitism in recent years.  Haleva 
and his colleagues divided the Jewish community's issues into 
three parts: religious freedom, anti-semitism, and terrorism. 
 In the first area, they stressed, they have experienced few 
problems, stemming in part from the fact that they have fewer 
properties than other communities, and in part from the fact 
they carry less historical baggage in Turkey than do their 
Orthodox and Armenian counterparts.  They conceded that the 
Turkish legislation governing religious minorities is 
cumbersome and difficult, but stressed that they have sought 
to avoid confrontation and work the system to resolve their 
problems, rather than involving others.  The approach has 
been largely successful, they said, as even when they have 
not been able to address their needs through the letter of 
the law, local authorities have winked and looked the other 
way, permitting construction of unauthorized synagogues and 
the holding of religious education classes.  In this, they 
pointed out, Turkey has continued the tradition of the 
Ottoman Empire, which respected the Jewish community's 
rights, and in some cases extended them beyond those of the 
majority, as in allowing publication of books centuries 
before it was allowed for Muslims. 
 
5. (C) Anti-semitism: Since the intensification of the 
Arab-Israeli conflict, however, Haleva and his colleagues see 
a worrying rise in anti-semitic attitudes.  This has led to 
negative propaganda and often scurrilous abuse of the 
community in the press.  The destructive potential of these 
trends for relations between religions in Turkey was evident 
in thedifferent profile of the attacks the community 
eperienced in 1986 and 2005.  Whereas the terrorist who 
stormed the Neve Shalom synagogue in 1986 wee foreign, those 
who bombed it in 2003 were Turksh.  This shows, Herman 
commented, that the "sees of hatred are bearing fruit." 
They attributed om o ths ntiseitc sentiment to 
anti-Jewis sermns in Turkish mosques, but also pointed to 
he impact of works of popular culture.  They expresed 
apprehension about a new book by the author f the infamous 
"Metal Firtina" (about a war betwen the U.S. and Turkey), 
which is about an Israei-Turkish conflict in which Israel 
bombs Ataturks mausoleum.  The author, the nted was 
rcenl quoted as admitting that th ook ha turne out to 
be "stronger" than he intended, but that he was not concerned 
as "the Jews have not been loyal to this country."  Attendees 
faulted the Turkish government for not working more 
proactively to challenge these anti-semitic attitudes. 
 
6. (C) U.S. Concern: Noting that the rise in anti-semitism 
was also accompanied by a wave of anti-Americanism, Bryza 
stressed the extent of U.S. disappointment with Turkey in the 
first half of this year.  The USG had sought to convey that 
message strongly during Erdogan's Washington visit, and it 
seemed to have had an impact.  Herman and others added that 
press articles in U.S. media had also been a wake-up call for 
the Turkish leadership, forcing it to face up to the fact 
that things had gone too far and were spiralling out of 
control.  The pressure has worked, they judged, in that 
Erdogan's recent messages in the U.S. and Israel have been 
very positive.  They did express concern, however, that GOT 
leaders have been more outspoken against anti-semitism when 
abroad or in internal party conferences than they have been 
before large audiences in Turkey.  The community's comfort 
level, however, has ncreased to the point where it will for 
the firsttime since 2003 hold festivities throughout 
Istabul's Beyoglu quarter to mark the European day of ewish 
Culture. 
 
7. (SBU) Comment: Bryza's Istabul meetings offered useful 
insight into the isses and problems that have buffeted 
Turkey's religous minorities, and the different ways in 
which wo of them view the current situation.  Certainly he 
Ecumenical Patriarchate's predicament is by fr the more 
precarious: as Bartholomew warned, uness pressing issues are 
addressed, his institution's 1700-year history in Istanbul is 
in jeopardy.  End Comment. 
 
JONES