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) introduced 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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Turkey and Ecumeni5 cal Patriarchate Religious Freedom Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The promotion and protection of the univer2 sally recognized right to the freedom of religion is a 

3 priority of United States foreign policy as stated in 

4 section 402 of the International Religious Freedom 

5 Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6442). 

6 (2) The Ecumenical Patriarchate is the spir7 itual home of the world’s oldest and second largest 

8 Christian Church. 

9 (3) Within the 2,000-year-old Sacred See of the 

10 Ecumenical Patriarchate, the New Testament was 

11 codified and the Nicene Creed was created. 

12 (4) Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is one 

13 of the world’s preeminent spiritual leaders and 

14 peacemakers representing over 300 million Orthodox 

15 Christians worldwide. 

16 (5) The disappearance of the See would mean 

17 the end of a crucial link between the Christian and 

18 the Muslim world since the continuing presence of 

19 the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Turkey is a living 

20 testimony of religious co-existence since 1453. 

21 (6) The Ecumenical Patriarch has direct juris22 diction over the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of 

23 America and thus is the spiritual and ecclesiastical 

24 leader of its 1.5 million adherents. 


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1 (7) The Ecumenical Patriarch is, in a sense, 

2 also an American spiritual leader and should be af3 forded the protections of an American spiritual lead4 er. 

5 (8) Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew was 

6 awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest 

7 award bestowed by the United States Congress, and 

8 he coordinated with religious leaders around the 

9 world to issue a condemnation of the September 11, 

10 2001, attacks on the United States as an anti-reli11 gious act. 

12 (9) The Ecumenical Patriarchate has a record 

13 of reaching out and working for peace and reconcili14 ation amongst all faiths and has fostered dialogue 

15 among Christians, Jews, and Muslims. 

16 (10) The Ecumenical Patriarchate co-sponsored 

17 the Peace and Tolerance Conference in Istanbul 

18 which issued the Bosphorus Declaration that stated, 

19 ‘‘A crime committed in the name of religion is a 

20 crime against religion.’’. 

21 (11) Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew stated 

22 in Brussels in 2004, ‘‘The Ecumenical Patriarchate 

23 is a supranational ecclesiastical institution . . . 

24 which demonstrates religious tolerance as a beautiful 

25 reality. For we bear respect toward all of our huVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:08 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3056.IH H3056

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1 mans, irrespective of their faith. Without any trace 

2 of fanaticism or discrimination on account of dif3 ferences of religion, we coexist peacefully and in a 

4 spirit that honors each and every human being.’’. 

5 (12) In 1993, the European Union defined the 

6 membership criteria for accession to the European 

7 Union at the Copenhagen European Council, obli8 gating candidate countries to have achieved certain 

9 levels of reform, including stability of institutions 

10 guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, and human 

11 rights, and respect for and protection of minorities. 

12 (13) Turkey’s persecution of religious minori13 ties violates the European Union Charter of Funda14 mental Rights as well as the United Nations Inter15 national Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 

16 which Turkey has signed and ratified, and which 

17 guarantees freedom of religion. 

18 (14) The Government of Turkey has failed to 

19 recognize the international legal personality of the 

20 Ecumenical Patriarchate. 

21 (15) The Government of Turkey and the gov22 ernments of all nations should accord to the Ecu23 menical Patriarchate the diplomatic rights and im24 munities under the Vienna Convention. 


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1 (16) The Government of Turkey has and con2 tinues to violate the rights and privileges of the Ecu3 menical Patriarchate under the Treaty of Lausanne 

4 of 1923 and prior treaties. 

5 (17) The Government of Turkey has limited 

6 candidates available to the Holy Synod of the Ecu7 menical Patriarchate to Turkish nationals and 

8 reneged on its agreement to reopen the Theological 

9 School at Halki, thus impeding the training for Or10 thodox clergy. 

11 (18) The Government of Turkey has confiscated 

12 75 percent of Ecumenical Patriarchate properties 

13 and has placed a 42-percent retroactive tax on the 

14 Balukli Hospital of Istanbul which is operated by 

15 the Ecumenical Patriarchate. 

16 (19) Turkey has systematically converted or de17 stroyed minority religious symbols and property, in18 cluding converting the Hagia Sophia and Church of 

19 the Holy Saviour in Chora, UNESCO-designated 

20 museums located in Istanbul, into mosques, in viola21 tion of the UNESCO convention. 

22 (20) The European Council has agreed to open 

23 accession negotiations with Turkey, conditional upon 

24 the continuation by Turkey of reform processes to 


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1 increase protection and support for human rights 

2 and civil liberties. 

3 (21) Although the Constitution of Turkey os4 tensibly provides for freedom of religion, the United 

5 States Commission on International Religious Free6 dom’s 2021 Annual Report on International Reli7 gious Freedom maintains that, ‘‘In 2020, religious 

8 freedom conditions in Turkey continued to follow a 

9 troubling trajectory. In July, Turkish President 

10 Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a decree converting 

11 back into a mosque the famous Hagia Sophia, a 

12 former church that had been serving as a museum, 

13 in a move that many denounced as divisive and hos14 tile to Turkey’s religious minorities. . . The govern15 ment furthermore made little to no effort to address 

16 many longstanding religious freedom issues and it 

17 ignored the continued targeting and vandalization of 

18 religious minority properties throughout the country. 

19 Despite repeated requests by religious minority com20 munities for permission to hold board member elec21 tions for non-Muslim foundations, the government 

22 did not permit those elections during the year. Simi23 larly, the government disregarded calls for the re24 opening of the Greek Orthodox Halki Seminary and 

25 continued to deny legal personality to all religious 


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1 communities. . . In December, Turkey’s parliament 

2 passed a law that human rights groups warned 

3 would increase governmental control over civil soci4 ety, including religious groups, by subjecting them to 

5 intensified oversight and new limitations on online 

6 fundraising. . . Many religious minorities continued 

7 to feel threatened in connection with incidents per8 petrated by nonstate actors or due to direct pressure 

9 from the state. . . Throughout the year, authorities 

10 brought politically motivated charges of blasphemy 

11 against individuals and groups, while others in offi12 cial positions utilized rhetoric characterized as hate 

13 speech that denigrated nonreligious individuals and 

14 members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, 

15 and intersex (LGBTI) community. Religious sites— 

16 including places of worship and cemeteries—were 

17 subject to vandalism, damage, and, in some cases, 

18 destruction, which the government regularly fails to 

19 prevent or punish.’’. 

20 (22) Accordingly, in its 2021 Annual Report on 

21 International Religious Freedom, the United States 

22 Commission on International Religious Freedom rec23 ommended that the Department of State ‘‘[i]nclude 

24 Turkey on the U.S. Department of State’s Special 

25 Watch List for engaging in or tolerating severe vioVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:08 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3056.IH H3056

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1 lations of religious freedom pursuant to the Inter2 national Religious Freedom Act (IRFA)’’, the same 

3 recommendation it made in 2020. 

4 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

5 It is the sense of Congress that— 

6 (1) the designation of Turkey as a country on 

7 the ‘‘Special Watch List’’ for severe violations of re8 ligious freedom pursuant to section 402(b)(1)(A)(iii) 

9 of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 

10 (22 U.S.C. 6442(b)(1)(A)(iii)) would be a powerful 

11 and effective tool in— 

12 (A) highlighting abuses of religious free13 dom in Turkey and against the Ecumenical Pa14 triarchate; and 

15 (B) in encouraging improvement with the 

16 respect to religious freedoms and the rights of 

17 the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Turkey; and 

18 (2) the President should, in accordance with the 

19 recommendation of the United States Commission 

20 on International Religious Freedom, designate Tur21 key as a country on such ‘‘Special Watch List’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. REPORT ON FAILURE TO PLACE TURKEY ON THE 

2 ‘‘SPECIAL WATCH LIST’’ FOR ENGAGING IN OR 

3 TOLERATING SEVERE VIOLATIONS OF RELI4 GIOUS FREEDOM. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

6 (b), if— 

7 (1) the United States Commission on Inter8 national Religious Freedom recommends in its An9 nual Report on International Religious Freedom 

10 that Turkey should be placed on the ‘‘Special Watch 

11 List’’ for engaging in or tolerating severe violations 

12 of religious freedom pursuant to section 

13 402(b)(1)(A)(iii) of the International Religious Free14 dom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6442(b)(1)(A)(iii)), and 

15 (2) Turkey is not placed on such ‘‘Special 

16 Watch List’’ pursuant to such section 

17 402(b)(1)(A)(iii) within 90 days after the date on 

18 which such Annual Report is submitted to Congress, 

19 the President shall, not later than 90 days after making 

20 the determination not to place Turkey on such ‘‘Special 

21 Watch List’’, submit to the appropriate congressional 

22 committees a report that contains a detailed justification 

23 therefor. 

24 (b) EXCEPTION.—The President is not required to 

25 submit a report under subsection (a) if, at the time the 

26 report is required to be so submitted, Turkey— 


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1 (1) has been designated as a country of par2 ticular concern for religious freedom pursuant to 

3 clause (ii) of section 402(b)(1)(A) of the Inter4 national Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 

5 6442(b)(1)(A)); or 

6 (2) has been placed on the ‘‘Special Watch 

7 List’’ for engaging in or tolerating severe violations 

8 of religious freedom pursuant to clause (iii) of such 

9 section. 

10 SEC. 5. REPORT ON THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE’S POLICY 

11 FOR PROMOTING RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN 

12 TURKEY. 

13 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact14 ment of the Act, the Secretary of State, following con15 sultation with the appropriate congressional committees, 

16 shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees 

17 a report on the Department of State’s policy for promoting 

18 religious freedom in Turkey, including a description of 

19 planned efforts to combat deteriorating conditions for reli20 gious freedom in Turkey, including diplomacy, foreign as21 sistance, and other relevant efforts. 

22 SEC. 6. APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE23 FINED. 

24 In this Act, the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com25 mittees’’ means— 


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1 (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 

2 Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep3 resentatives; and 

4 (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 

5 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate. 

Æ 


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