Turkey on U.S. watch list of countries for religious freedom violations

PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkey remains on a U.S. panel’s watch list of 11 countries for the third year in a row for its violations of religious freedom, according to the annual country report released by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

This year, according to the USCIRF report, 14 countries were designated as countries of particular concern (CPC) since “those governments have engaged in - or tolerated - particularly severe violations of religious freedom.” Burma, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), Egypt, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, the People’s Republic of China, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam are on the CPC list.

According to the report, USCIRF also maintains a watch list of countries where the serious violations of religious freedom engaged in or tolerated by the governments do not meet the CPC threshold but require close monitoring. This year, along with Turkey, Afghanistan, Belarus, Cuba, India, Indonesia, Laos, Russia, Somalia, Tajikistan and Venezuela will all be on the watch list.

“Turkey was first placed on the USCIRF watch list in 2009, and the commission notes with concern that conditions have deteriorated further since then, underscoring the need for continued vigilance in monitoring,” the report states.

According to the report, the Turkish government continues to impose serious limitations on freedom of religion or belief, thereby threatening the continued vitality and survival of minority religious communities in Turkey, Today’s Zaman reported.