Vatican will support Turkey for EU membership under certain conditions

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Vatican's Secretary of State has signaled that the Holy See will support Turkey's bid for membership in the European Union.



Speaking to the Italian daily La Stampa, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone said that "Turkey has come a long way" toward democracy and respect for human rights. The European community can accept the membership of an overwhelming Islamic society, he said, as long as "fundamental rules of cohabitation" are firmly in place.



Cardinal Bertone made his comments as the world's leading Orthodox prelate, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, pressed the Turkish government to recognize the autonomy of the Orthodox Church.



Patriarch Bartholomew told a group of visiting German lawmakers that he had asked the Turkish government to overturn an existing rule that bars a non-Turk from being elected Patriarch of Constantinople. The Orthodox prelate suggested that Turkey adopt the policies of Egypt and Syria, which grant automatic citizenship to the patriarchs of Alexandria and Antioch. The Turkish government has not yet replied to his request, Bartholomew said.



Patriarch Bartholomew has been demanding greater respect for religious freedom in Turkey, and critics of the Turkish bid for EU membership have pointed to the Patriarch's complaints that Christians do not receive equal treatment under Turkish law.



Cardinal Bertone acknowledged that the Turkish government resists recognition of Christianity and Judaism. Turkey, he pointed out, is an officially secular country, in which "secularism is exalted not as mere secularity but as a system of belief." This ideology of militant secularism, he added, would clash with the Christian heritage that dominates European culture. Nonetheless, the cardinal said that honest dialogue could allow for Turkish participation in the European community.



Prior to his election as Pope Benedict XVI, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger expressed serious concerns about the prospect that an Islamic nation would join the European Union. But during his trip to Turkey last November the Pontiff eased his stance, and Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told reporters that during a private meeting, the Pontiff had said that he would support Turkey's application for EU membership.



Vatican officials did not confirm that report, but said that the Holy See would "look favorably" on Turkey's membership drive as long as the Ankara government respected the principles of religious freedom and equal justice under law, Catholic World News reports.