In a letter to the President of the Republic, Jacques Chirac, the president of the French bishops, Archbishop Jean-Pierre Ricard, has expressed “the concern of the Catholic Church” about the lack of respect for some fundamental human rights in Turkey. In his letter sent on the eve of the meeting of the Council of Europe (16-17 December) Msgr. Ricard asks President Chirac to ensure that France does all in its power to guarantee, as the premise for the opening of any negotiations with Turkey, the respect for religious freedom in the country and the recognition for religious minorities of a legal status conforming to the international conventions in force. Archbishop Ricard recalls in his letter that certain fundamental human rights in Turkey, and in particular religious freedom, “are not respected, in spite of the reforms undertaken”, and expresses regret in noting that the opening of any negotiations with the country is not conditional on “complete respect for all fundamental human rights, such as freedom of expression or association, the status of women and religious freedom, rights that represent the basis for the cohesion of the European Union”. Endorsed by the French Episcopal Conference, Ricard’s letter is accompanied by a statement by Archbishop Hippolyte Simon of Clermont, vice-president of COMECE (Commission of the episcopates of the European Community). “The question concerning Turkey’s membership explains Msgr. Simon is a directly political question, in the deepest sense of the term. It therefore seems to us extremely important that the more properly religious questions not be exploited for other ends in this debate”. According to the bishop, it is by this “political” interpretation that the problem of the respect for religious freedom, which is and remains a “civil right”, must be tackled”. “It adds Msgr. Simon forms part of fundamental rights. It is a constitutional guarantee granted by the State to all citizens and to all confessions, in full respect for the public order”. “That is why writes Msgr. Simon COMECE asks the heads of state and of government [of the EU] to ensure that the Turkish State pledges without further delay to recognize an official religious status for the religious minorities present in the country”, in conformity with the “Charter of Fundamental Rights adopted at the Nice Summit in 2000 and incorporated in the Constitutional Treaty now in process of ratification”.
