ECLJ to Attend European People's Party Conference in Istanbul, Turkey in October

October 7, 2005

(Strasbourg, France)-ECLJ has been invited to take part in the International Conference and Ninth Dialogue between the Orthodox Church and the Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats in Istanbul in late October.

The conference will have attendees such as the Prime Ministers of Turkey, Greece, Serbia, Croatia, and Bulgaria; the Chancellor of Austria and the President of the Ukraine. This connection may lead to a more prominent role for ECLJ in the religious freedom monitoring of Turkey. The Centre for Law and Justice has recently completed a comprehensive report on religious freedoms in Turkey with a major focus on the plight of Evangelical Protestants. The report was the product of visits to Turkey and interviews with religious leaders in the country.

EPP MEPs organizing the conference stated that it was their hope that the presence of ECLJ might encourage support for truth and religious freedom in civil society throughout Europe.

ECLJ is currently co-chairing a case on behalf of the Evangelical Church in Turkey before the European Court of Human Rights regarding obstacles placed by the government in registering their churches as places of worship.