Turkish authorities forced religious minorities to sign the Declaration
Members of the order of the Apostle Andrew announced that the Turkish authorities have forced religious minorities to declare lack of persecution.
The Turkish government has exerted pressure on Christians to sign a Declaration that they are not exposed to religious persecution. This was stated by the national commander of the order of St Andrew the Apostle, the representative of the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate Anthony J. Limberakis, writes The Christian Post.
“The order of St. Andrew the Apostle, Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate deplores the pressure that the Turkish government has provided for religious minorities to obtain their statements on religious freedom,” wrote Limberakis in his address.
According to a member of the order, do not need to be the “American Evangelist” or have “Zionist mentality”, to see that the statements of the representatives of the Greek Orthodox and Armenian Churches, and other religious minorities was obtained under duress.
The Declaration, signed by representatives of different faiths, says that people of different faiths, including the Greek Orthodox Church, living “freely” in the country’s Muslim majority.
According to Lymberakis, Erdogan used the Declaration to state that “Turkey has no problems with religious minorities.”
“We hope that this blatant statement, obviously obtained under duress, will inspire journalists around the world to investigate and shed light on the plight of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, all Christians and other religious minorities in Turkey”, concluded Limberakis.
Society archons, also known as the Order of St. Apostle Andrew was founded in the USA in 1966. Today it includes approximately 800 of the laity belonging to the American Greek Orthodox Archdiocese in the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Among the members of the order – the big businessmen, Industrialists, members of Congress and scientists.