Will Turkey's government start paying priests and rabbis?
Non-Muslim religious leaders in Turkey cannot agree on whether to back efforts to get their personnel on the state payroll, which already supports the country's Muslim clergy.
When Turkey’s official Religious Affairs Department, the Diyanet, denied a request from the Boyacikoy Yerits Mangonts Church Foundation to pay salaries to Christian clergy in Turkey, the move was challenged by the country's chief ombudsman, who asked the Prime Ministry to pay salaries to non-Muslim clergy. The Prime Ministry has not made a decision known, but non-Muslim clergy members are clearly delighted with the proposal.
Salaries for non-Muslim clergy entered the Turkish agenda after the foundation's first application in 2013. In the document, the foundation said it was trying to survive with donations and revenues from funeral services, a mere 4,000 liras ($1,300) in 2012. It asked for its clergy be paid salaries by the Diyanet, as is Turkey's Muslim clergy. The Diyanet, which rules over about 100,000 religious affairs officials and clerics, refused.
The foundation then took its complaint to the ombudsman, saying, "There is no clause in the constitution that says the religion of this country is Islam and only Muslims can benefit from services. The Diyanet’s attitude contravenes the constitutional principle of equality.”
The ombudsman then asked for opinions from the Diyanet and the Finance Ministry. Both opposed the payment of salaries to non-Muslim clergy. Nevertheless, the ombudsman insisted on payment. In its Dec. 31 letter to the Prime Ministry, the ombudsman said the Treaty of Lausanne had guaranteed that non-Muslim Turkish citizens will benefit from the same civil rights as Muslims and “All people living in Turkey will be equal before the law without any discrimination." The letter asked for measures to eliminate such discrimination when addressing the social needs of non-Muslim citizens.
