Whereas the United States has an interest in protecting and preserving the rights of national, religious, and ethnic groups worldwide;

Whereas the United States remains concerned about the welfare of Christian communities within the Republic of Turkey, their right to worship and practice their faiths freely, and the legal status and condition of churches and other places of worship, monasteries, schools, hospitals, monuments, relics, holy sites, and other religious properties in the Republic of Turkey;

Whereas the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) affirms that ‘(e)veryone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance’;

Whereas the Republic of Turkey is a signatory to the UDHR and therefore is obligated to accord to all its citizens, including religious minorities, ‘freedom of thought, conscience, and religion’, as defined by the UDHR;

Whereas the Ottoman Empire’s oppression and intentional destruction of much of its ancient Christian populations, including over 2,000,000 Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians, Pontians, and Syriacs, has left only a small fraction of these populations to care for their vast religious heritage within modern Turkey;

Whereas the non-Muslim population in the contemporary Republic of Turkey is less than one percent of the total population, rendering these religious communities especially vulnerable;

Whereas the Republic of Turkey has been responsible for the destruction and theft of much of the Christian heritage within its borders;

Whereas the Republic of Turkey, through official and unofficial acts of discrimination, intolerance, and intimidation, has hindered the remaining Christians on its territory from freely practicing their ancient faiths;