AHI applauds Pompeo’s upcoming meeting with patriarch
The American Hellenic Institute (AHI) has applauded US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s plans to travel to Istanbul for talks with Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios on religious freedoms in Turkey.
“The Turkish government’s tolerance of assaults upon Greek Orthodox Christian community, the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and all religious minorities are further examples of how Turkey is a habitual violator of the rule of law in addition to Turkey’s aggressive and provocative acts in the Aegean Sea, Eastern Mediterranean, and Middle East,” AHI President Nick Larigakis wrote in a letter addressed to the outgoing secretary of state on Wednbesday.
“Turkey must implement and strictly enforce the guarantees of religious freedom and human and minority rights set forth in the Treaty of Lausanne, the UN Charter and US laws, including IFRA,” he added using the acronym for the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act.
