Turkey’s allies in Washington try to mute criticism anti-Christian abuses

PanARMENIAN.Net - A major national publication has revealed the inner-workings of how allies of Ankara in Washington twist arms to mute legitimate criticism of Turkey’s anti-Christian abuses, Asbarez reports.

Nina Shea, a member of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, which recently placed Ankara on its “black list,” has publicly shared a troubling revelation about the Obama Administration pressuring commissioners to sweep criticism of Turkey’s anti-Christian policies and practices under the rug.

“Turkey’s Ambassador Tan predictably protested the listing as ‘unfair.’ More surprisingly, after the State Department was tipped off by a USCIRF commissioner who was appointed by Pres. Obama, assistant secretary for human rights Michael Posner ‘reached out’ on Turkey to another commissioner, resulting in his changing his mind after the report was put to bed. The Turkey decision resulted from a new analysis that will stir controversy,” said Shea in a revealing new piece in the National Review Online.

“These days, Turkey uses more sophisticated, subtler measures that are resulting in the elimination of its Christian and non-Muslim minorities. The cudgel is a dense tangle of bureaucratic restrictions that thwart the ability of churches to perpetuate themselves and, in some cases, even to meet together for worship,” added Shea.

“As Uscirf chair Leonard Leo explained, ‘some of the countries we recommend for CPC designation maintain intricate webs of discriminatory rules, requirements and edicts that can impose tremendous burdens for members of religious minority communities, making it difficult for them to function and grow from one generation to the next, potentially threatening their existence,’” explained Shea.