SR0002 Summary

• Urges the Turkish government to cease discrimination against the Ecumenical Patriarchate of the Orthodox Christian Church and grant appropriate international recognition and ecclesiastical succession rights.

• Calls on Turkey to permit the Ecumenical Patriarch to train clergy of all nationalities and respect property and human rights of the Patriarchate.

• Notes that Turkey has limited eligibility to hold the office of Ecumenical Patriarch to Turkish nationals only, confiscated nearly 94 percent of the Patriarchate's properties, and reneged on an agreement to reopen the Theological School on the island of Halki (closed in 1971).

• Contends that Turkey's treatment of the Ecumenical Patriarchate is inconsistent with European Union membership criteria requiring respect for and protection of minorities and human rights.

• Directs copies of the resolution to be transmitted to the President of the United States, the United States Ambassador to Turkey, and the Turkish Ambassador to the United States.