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Minorities in Turkey expect equal citizenship from the new Constitution

Minorities in Turkey are raising high expectations over a new Constitution, Laki Vingas, who is in charge of minority foundations in the Foundations Directorate General, said yesterday during an Istanbul panel that gathered Orthodox Parliament members from various countries, the Hurriyet Daily News reports.

“Turkey is in a process of change. As minority communities, we expect equal citizenship from the new Constitution,” said Vingas, addressing the panel titled “The Social Dimension of Monotheistic Religion,” organized by The Inter-parliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy (IAO) at the Hotel Renaissance Istanbul Bosphorus.

Vingas made a speech titled “Religious minorities as a factor of democracy and co-existence,” in which he underlined the minorities’ hopes from the new Constitution.

The conference was held on Mar. 3 and 4 with the attendance of Fener Greek Patriarch Bartholomew, Turkey’s Armenians Acting Patriarch Archbishop Aram Ateşyan, President of the IAO General Assembly and Member of the Russian State Duma, Sergei Popov. Parliament members from Greece, Finland, Russia, Armenia, Egypt, Poland, Georgia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Greek Cyprus were present at the panel.

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