Turkey’s Constitutional Court ruled in September that two Greek Orthodox clerics were unlawfully barred from serving on a foundation board in violation of their constitutional right to freedom of association, the Agos news website reported, citing the court’s reasoned decision published in the country’s Official Gazette on Friday.
Clerics Atanasios Mamasis and George Kasapoğlu, affiliated with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of İstanbul, were elected to the board of the Samatya Aya Analipsis Greek Orthodox Church Foundation in 2011. However, the General Directorate of Foundations (VGM), a Turkish government agency responsible for the oversight and administration of foundations, refused to validate the election unless the clerics were removed, citing their religious roles as incompatible with board membership.
The clerics challenged the decision, arguing that the 2008 Foundations Regulation did not prohibit clergy from serving on foundation boards. The VGM countered, citing the Treaty of Lausanne, which they interpreted as barring religious leaders from administrative and political roles.
The 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, which established modern Turkey’s borders, recognized and guaranteed the rights of non-Muslim minorities, including their autonomy to manage religious, educational and charitable institutions. However, Turkish authorities have often interpreted the treaty as a basis for limiting the political and administrative roles of minority religious leaders, arguing that their responsibilities must remain strictly spiritual.
Critics of this interpretation contend that the Treaty of Lausanne does not explicitly restrict clergy from serving on administrative boards, arguing that such limitations undermine the autonomy promised under the treaty.
After exhausting all legal avenues without success, Kasapoğlu and Mamasis, accompanied by their attorney Hülya Benlisoy, filed an individual application with the Constitutional Court on October 24, 2019.
In its September 18, 2024 ruling, the court found that the protracted legal uncertainty deprived the applicants of their right to freedom of association, protected under Article 33 of the Turkish Constitution. The court awarded each applicant 30,000 Turkish lira ($847) in non-pecuniary damages and ordered that a copy of the decision be sent to the VGM and the Ministry of Justice.
The case is not the first of its kind. In 2023 the Constitutional Court ruled in favor of George Kasapoğlu and another cleric, Niko Mavrakis, who were similarly barred from serving on boards of other Greek Orthodox foundations. Both cases highlighted systemic restrictions faced by minority religious groups in Turkey.
