IN SR0004

Urges the government of Turkey to cease discrimination against the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul and grant the Ecumenical Patriarch appropriate international recognition and ecclesiastical succession rights

Calls on Turkey to reopen the Theological School on the island of Halki, which was closed by the government in 1971, to allow training of Orthodox Christian clergy of all nationalities

Notes that Turkey has confiscated approximately 94 percent of the Ecumenical Patriarchate's properties and imposed a 42 percent retroactive tax on its charity hospital

Highlights that the Orthodox Christian population in Turkey has declined from millions at the turn of the 20th century to fewer than 3,000 today due to discriminatory policies

Directs the Secretary of the Senate to transmit copies of the resolution to the U.S. President, the U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, and the Turkish Ambassador to the United States