Turkey and Ecumenical Patriarchate Religious Freedom Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3056 To oppose violations of religious freedom in Turkey by the Government of Turkey and to safeguard the rights and religious freedoms of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 7, 2021 Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York (for herself, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Ms. TITUS, Mr. SARBANES, Ms. MALLIOTAKIS, Mr. CICILLINE, Ms. LOFGREN, and Mr. SHERMAN) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs A BILL To oppose violations of religious freedom in Turkey by the Government of Turkey and to safeguard the rights and religious freedoms of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Turkey and Ecumeni- 4 cal Patriarchate Religious Freedom Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:08 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3056.IH H3056 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3056 IH (1) The promotion and protection of the univer- 1 sally recognized right to the freedom of religion is a 2 priority of United States foreign policy as stated in 3 section 402 of the International Religious Freedom 4 Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6442). 5 (2) The Ecumenical Patriarchate is the spir- 6 itual home of the world’s oldest and second largest 7 Christian Church. 8 (3) Within the 2,000-year-old Sacred See of the 9 Ecumenical Patriarchate, the New Testament was 10 codified and the Nicene Creed was created. 11 (4) Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is one 12 of the world’s preeminent spiritual leaders and 13 peacemakers representing over 300 million Orthodox 14 Christians worldwide. 15 (5) The disappearance of the See would mean 16 the end of a crucial link between the Christian and 17 the Muslim world since the continuing presence of 18 the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Turkey is a living 19 testimony of religious co-existence since 1453. 20 (6) The Ecumenical Patriarch has direct juris- 21 diction over the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of 22 America and thus is the spiritual and ecclesiastical 23 leader of its 1.5 million adherents. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:08 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3056.IH H3056 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3056 IH (7) The Ecumenical Patriarch is, in a sense, 1 also an American spiritual leader and should be af- 2 forded the protections of an American spiritual lead- 3 er. 4 (8) Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew was 5 awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest 6 award bestowed by the United States Congress, and 7 he coordinated with religious leaders around the 8 world to issue a condemnation of the September 11, 9 2001, attacks on the United States as an anti-reli- 10 gious act. 11 (9) The Ecumenical Patriarchate has a record 12 of reaching out and working for peace and reconcili- 13 ation amongst all faiths and has fostered dialogue 14 among Christians, Jews, and Muslims. 15 (10) The Ecumenical Patriarchate co-sponsored 16 the Peace and Tolerance Conference in Istanbul 17 which issued the Bosphorus Declaration that stated, 18 ‘‘A crime committed in the name of religion is a 19 crime against religion.’’. 20 (11) Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew stated 21 in Brussels in 2004, ‘‘The Ecumenical Patriarchate 22 is a supranational ecclesiastical institution . . . 23 which demonstrates religious tolerance as a beautiful 24 reality. For we bear respect toward all of our hu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:08 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3056.IH H3056 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3056 IH mans, irrespective of their faith. Without any trace 1 of fanaticism or discrimination on account of dif- 2 ferences of religion, we coexist peacefully and in a 3 spirit that honors each and every human being.’’. 4 (12) In 1993, the European Union defined the 5 membership criteria for accession to the European 6 Union at the Copenhagen European Council, obli- 7 gating candidate countries to have achieved certain 8 levels of reform, including stability of institutions 9 guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, and human 10 rights, and respect for and protection of minorities. 11 (13) Turkey’s persecution of religious minori- 12 ties violates the European Union Charter of Funda- 13 mental Rights as well as the United Nations Inter- 14 national Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 15 which Turkey has signed and ratified, and which 16 guarantees freedom of religion. 17 (14) The Government of Turkey has failed to 18 recognize the international legal personality of the 19 Ecumenical Patriarchate. 20 (15) The Government of Turkey and the gov- 21 ernments of all nations should accord to the Ecu- 22 menical Patriarchate the diplomatic rights and im- 23 munities under the Vienna Convention. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:08 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3056.IH H3056 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3056 IH (16) The Government of Turkey has and con- 1 tinues to violate the rights and privileges of the Ecu- 2 menical Patriarchate under the Treaty of Lausanne 3 of 1923 and prior treaties. 4 (17) The Government of Turkey has limited 5 candidates available to the Holy Synod of the Ecu- 6 menical Patriarchate to Turkish nationals and 7 reneged on its agreement to reopen the Theological 8 School at Halki, thus impeding the training for Or- 9 thodox clergy. 10 (18) The Government of Turkey has confiscated 11 75 percent of Ecumenical Patriarchate properties 12 and has placed a 42-percent retroactive tax on the 13 Balukli Hospital of Istanbul which is operated by 14 the Ecumenical Patriarchate. 15 (19) Turkey has systematically converted or de- 16 stroyed minority religious symbols and property, in- 17 cluding converting the Hagia Sophia and Church of 18 the Holy Saviour in Chora, UNESCO-designated 19 museums located in Istanbul, into mosques, in viola- 20 tion of the UNESCO convention. 21 (20) The European Council has agreed to open 22 accession negotiations with Turkey, conditional upon 23 the continuation by Turkey of reform processes to 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:08 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3056.IH H3056 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3056 IH increase protection and support for human rights 1 and civil liberties. 2 (21) Although the Constitution of Turkey os- 3 tensibly provides for freedom of religion, the United 4 States Commission on International Religious Free- 5 dom’s 2021 Annual Report on International Reli- 6 gious Freedom maintains that, ‘‘In 2020, religious 7 freedom conditions in Turkey continued to follow a 8 troubling trajectory. In July, Turkish President 9 Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a decree converting 10 back into a mosque the famous Hagia Sophia, a 11 former church that had been serving as a museum, 12 in a move that many denounced as divisive and hos- 13 tile to Turkey’s religious minorities. . . The govern- 14 ment furthermore made little to no effort to address 15 many longstanding religious freedom issues and it 16 ignored the continued targeting and vandalization of 17 religious minority properties throughout the country. 18 Despite repeated requests by religious minority com- 19 munities for permission to hold board member elec- 20 tions for non-Muslim foundations, the government 21 did not permit those elections during the year. Simi- 22 larly, the government disregarded calls for the re- 23 opening of the Greek Orthodox Halki Seminary and 24 continued to deny legal personality to all religious 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:08 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3056.IH H3056 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3056 IH communities. . . In December, Turkey’s parliament 1 passed a law that human rights groups warned 2 would increase governmental control over civil soci- 3 ety, including religious groups, by subjecting them to 4 intensified oversight and new limitations on online 5 fundraising. . . Many religious minorities continued 6 to feel threatened in connection with incidents per- 7 petrated by nonstate actors or due to direct pressure 8 from the state. . . Throughout the year, authorities 9 brought politically motivated charges of blasphemy 10 against individuals and groups, while others in offi- 11 cial positions utilized rhetoric characterized as hate 12 speech that denigrated nonreligious individuals and 13 members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, 14 and intersex (LGBTI) community. Religious sites— 15 including places of worship and cemeteries—were 16 subject to vandalism, damage, and, in some cases, 17 destruction, which the government regularly fails to 18 prevent or punish.’’. 19 (22) Accordingly, in its 2021 Annual Report on 20 International Religious Freedom, the United States 21 Commission on International Religious Freedom rec- 22 ommended that the Department of State ‘‘[i]nclude 23 Turkey on the U.S. Department of State’s Special 24 Watch List for engaging in or tolerating severe vio- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:08 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3056.IH H3056 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3056 IH lations of religious freedom pursuant to the Inter- 1 national Religious Freedom Act (IRFA)’’, the same 2 recommendation it made in 2020. 3 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 4 It is the sense of Congress that— 5 (1) the designation of Turkey as a country on 6 the ‘‘Special Watch List’’ for severe violations of re- 7 ligious freedom pursuant to section 402(b)(1)(A)(iii) 8 of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 9 (22 U.S.C. 6442(b)(1)(A)(iii)) would be a powerful 10 and effective tool in— 11 (A) highlighting abuses of religious free- 12 dom in Turkey and against the Ecumenical Pa- 13 triarchate; and 14 (B) in encouraging improvement with the 15 respect to religious freedoms and the rights of 16 the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Turkey; and 17 (2) the President should, in accordance with the 18 recommendation of the United States Commission 19 on International Religious Freedom, designate Tur- 20 key as a country on such ‘‘Special Watch List’’. 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:08 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3056.IH H3056 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3056 IH SEC. 4. REPORT ON FAILURE TO PLACE TURKEY ON THE 1 ‘‘SPECIAL WATCH LIST’’ FOR ENGAGING IN OR 2 TOLERATING SEVERE VIOLATIONS OF RELI- 3 GIOUS FREEDOM. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 5 (b), if— 6 (1) the United States Commission on Inter- 7 national Religious Freedom recommends in its An- 8 nual Report on International Religious Freedom 9 that Turkey should be placed on the ‘‘Special Watch 10 List’’ for engaging in or tolerating severe violations 11 of religious freedom pursuant to section 12 402(b)(1)(A)(iii) of the International Religious Free- 13 dom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6442(b)(1)(A)(iii)), and 14 (2) Turkey is not placed on such ‘‘Special 15 Watch List’’ pursuant to such section 16 402(b)(1)(A)(iii) within 90 days after the date on 17 which such Annual Report is submitted to Congress, 18 the President shall, not later than 90 days after making 19 the determination not to place Turkey on such ‘‘Special 20 Watch List’’, submit to the appropriate congressional 21 committees a report that contains a detailed justification 22 therefor. 23 (b) EXCEPTION.—The President is not required to 24 submit a report under subsection (a) if, at the time the 25 report is required to be so submitted, Turkey— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:08 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3056.IH H3056 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3056 IH (1) has been designated as a country of par- 1 ticular concern for religious freedom pursuant to 2 clause (ii) of section 402(b)(1)(A) of the Inter- 3 national Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 4 6442(b)(1)(A)); or 5 (2) has been placed on the ‘‘Special Watch 6 List’’ for engaging in or tolerating severe violations 7 of religious freedom pursuant to clause (iii) of such 8 section. 9 SEC. 5. REPORT ON THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE’S POLICY 10 FOR PROMOTING RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN 11 TURKEY. 12 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact- 13 ment of the Act, the Secretary of State, following con- 14 sultation with the appropriate congressional committees, 15 shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees 16 a report on the Department of State’s policy for promoting 17 religious freedom in Turkey, including a description of 18 planned efforts to combat deteriorating conditions for reli- 19 gious freedom in Turkey, including diplomacy, foreign as- 20 sistance, and other relevant efforts. 21 SEC. 6. APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE- 22 FINED. 23 In this Act, the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 24 mittees’’ means— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:08 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3056.IH H3056 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3056 IH (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 1 Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep- 2 resentatives; and 3 (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 4 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:08 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3056.IH H3056 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS