The record of systemic discrimination experienced by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople is included in the new report of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). The report examines threats to religious properties in Turkey, including places of worship, religious institutions and cemeteries.

The report notes that although the Treaty of Lausanne provided protection and freedom of worship for the remaining non-Muslim communities, this protection and freedom was often significantly curtailed, not infrequently, through action against Christian holy sites. The report shows that the highest number of attacks on Greek Orthodox and other Orthodox churches occurred in the Marmara region of Istanbul, which is associated with the largest concentration of non-Muslim populations.

In addition, the report states that the seizure of property can be used as a form of retaliationn, presenting as an example the confiscation of the Greek Orthodox orphanage of the Prince. The particular orphanage was confiscated in 1964 by the Turkish authorities, who did not carry out the necessary maintenance, thus leaving the building to suffer the wear and tear of time.

As noted, by the time the Ecumenical Patriarchate managed to regain ownership of the building, through an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, “the building had suffered significant damage and was deserted. The burden for repair and maintenance, which has significant financial costs, falls on the Greek Orthodox community.”

Although bombings and terrorist attacks have declined over the past decade, the report concludes that incidents of vandalism, destruction of religious property through arson and gold hunting, combined with the lack of prosecution of these incidents, have increasingly affected the Greek Orthodox and other Orthodox communities in Turkey. In summary, the report finds that these findings are indicative of a wider political indifference to the protection and property rights of the country’s non-Muslim minority communities.