IN SR0003

Urges the Turkish government to cease discrimination against the Ecumenical Patriarchate of the Orthodox Christian Church and grant appropriate international recognition, ecclesiastical succession, and the right to train clergy of all nationalities.

Cites Turkish government restrictions limiting the office of Ecumenical Patriarch to Turkish nationals only and the closure of the Theological School on the island of Halki in 1971, impeding Orthodox Christian clergy training.

Notes the Turkish government has confiscated nearly 94 percent of Ecumenical Patriarchate properties and imposed a 42 percent tax retroactive to 1999 on a charity hospital and home for the elderly operated by the Patriarchate.

States that Turkey's treatment of the Ecumenical Patriarchate is inconsistent with European Union membership criteria requiring respect for minorities and human rights, which Turkey began accession negotiations to meet in 2005.

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