Minorities in Islam/Muslims as Minorities

CALL FOR PAPERS

 “Minorities in Islam/Muslims as Minorities”

(Winston-Salem, North Carolina).

 

The Middle East and South Asia Studies Program invites paper proposals for a conference at Wake Forest University.  Our chief aim is bring together scholars working on two questions often treated separately. The first day’s program will feature scholars working on questions generated by attempts in Muslim-majority contexts to grapple with minorities in their midst; the second day’s program will highlight research on the experiences of Muslim minorities throughout the world. Synthesis and dialogue will be facilitated by asking presenters from one day to serve as respondents on the other day and keynote speakers whose research explicitly addresses the intersections between the two areas of research.  We plan to publish the best papers from the conference.

Among the topics papers might address are the following:

• philosophical, historical, contextual, and critical assessments of Islamic thought and practices that broach the challenges raised by minorities in Islamic contexts;
• analyses of the ways that minorities have contributed to the development and transformation of Islamic concepts of identity, citizenship, community, and/or the state;
• Islamic conceptions of, and approaches to, religious and ethnic minorities and other groups marginalized by gender or sexuality;
• strategies for negotiating difference at the level of state or society in Muslim-majority contexts;
• case studies of Muslims living in non-Muslim contexts or minority Islamic trends or sects within Islamic contexts;
• studies of the politics of communalism and the marginalization/radicalization or integration/ assimilation of Muslims as minorities;
• studies of transnational organizations and institutions and/or the use of new communication technologies to connect Muslims throughout the world; and
• assessment of the ways that Muslim conceptions of faith, citizenship, and community have been negotiated in Muslim-minority contexts.

Please send abstracts of under 500 words to both Michaelle Browers (browerm@wfu.edu) and Nelly Van Doorn-Harder (vandoopa@wfu.edu).  Deadline: December 20, 2011.

 

Freedom of Religion and Rights of Religious Minorities

World Council of Churches

Commission of the Churches on International Affairs

International Study Consultation on

Freedom of Religion and Rights of Religious Minorities

Feronya Hotel / Taksim

 

Istanbul, Turkey

27 November to 2 December 2011

27^th  November                 Arrival

28^th  November                

09 :00-09 :30  Opening Session

Opening prayer,

Greetings  , Welcome,  Introductory Remarks, Orientation to the programme, Introductions

9.30 -10.30                           Session I                                                                                                    

Presentation on

Freedom of Religion and Rights of Religious Minorities:

International Parameters

10.30-11.00                          Tea/ Coffee

11:00-12:00    Session II

Situation Analysis-1

Religious Freedom and  Rights of Religious Minorities:

Presentation by: Ecumenical Patriarchate

12.00-13.00    Session III

Situation Analysis -2

Countries : Iraq,  Palestine

13.00-14.30                          Lunch

14:30-16:00    Session IV

Situation Analysis -3

Countries: Egypt, Syria, Lebanon

16.00-16.30                          Tea/ Coffee

16:30 -18:00   Session V

Situation Analysis -4

Countries: Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan

18.00-18.15                          Break

18.15-19.30    Session VI

Discussion

29^th  November                

08:30 – 09:00

Morning  prayer

09:00 – 10:30

Session VII

Situation Analysis -5

Countries: India, Sri Lanka, Nepal

10.30-11.00                          Tea/ Coffee

11:00 – 12:30

Session VIII

Situation Analysis -6

Countries: Malaysia, Indonesia, Caucasus region

12 :30 – 14.00                      Lunch

14:00 -15:30

Session IX

Situation Analysis-7

Countries: South Sudan, Nigeria, Eritrea

15:30-16:00

Tee/Coffee

16:30 – 18:30

Visit to the Ecumenical Patriarchate & Audience with His All Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch.

18:30 – 19.30  Session X

Discussion

30^th  November

From Morning, till afternoon.       Feast of St. Andrews – Morning service at the Ecumenical Patriarchate

Visit to  Hagia Sophia

15:30 – 16 :30 Session XI

Situation Analysis-8

Countries: Madagascar, France

16:30- 18:00   Session XII

Situation Analysis-9

Countries:  Germany, Sweden, Serbia

18:00 – 18:15                       Break

18:15 -19:30   Session XIII

Discussion

1^st December                     

08:30 – 09:00                        Morning Prayer

09:00 -10:30

Session XIV

Situation Analysis-10

Countries: Albania, Greece, Cyprus

10.30-11.00                          Tea/ Coffee

11:00 – 13:00

Session XV

Situation Analysis-11

Countries: Cuba,  USA, Turkey

13.00 -14.00                         Lunch

14:00 – 15:30

Session XVI

Plenary Discussion on

Identifying Priorities and  Action Plan

15.30-16.00                          Tea/ Coffee

16:00 – 17:30  Session XVII

Plenary Discussion on

Future direction of the Study Project

17.30-18.00                          Closing Session

2^nd December                    Departure

 

Round Table : Europe, Turkish Democracy and the Future of Religious minorities

 

Minorités religieuses, religions minoritaires

 

millets

Colloque

Vendredi 29 octobre 2010  |  Nicosie (Chypre)

Communautés religieuses et étatisation

Le passage de l’Empire ottoman aux États modernes

Religious community and modern statehood

The passage from the Ottoman empire to modern states

Résumé

The conference aims to explore various aspects of the communal organization in the Ottoman Empire for regions such as Asia Minor, Middle East and the Balkans, and to present the changes that occurred within the religious communities during the 19th century and particularly during the period from Tanzimat reforms until the First World War. Key questions in relation to the modernization process of the Ottoman state and the functioning of religious communities, are a) how does the Sublime Porte understand the process of structuring a modern state with respect to religious communities, b) who is responsible for the modern institutions: the state or the religious communities, c) what is the reaction of the religious communities regarding the modernization process d) why and in what way the religious communities are changing on the light of this process.

Annonce

We would like to invite you to attend the International Conference Religious community and modern statehood: « The passage from the Ottoman Empire to modern states », organized by the Department of Turkish and Middle Eastern Studies of the University of Cyprus and the École française d’Athènes. The Conference will be held in Nicosia during the 29th and the 30th of October 2010.
One of the main features of the modern state has been the intention of the state to penetrate to society and to control in a large extent the daily life of its citizens. In order to control the society, the modern state tried to exploit it’s citizens in different levels through various institutions, such as public education, obligatory recruitment and bureaucratic organization. Based on religious communities, the Ottoman Empire tried to control the populations in the Ottoman lands, imposing thus its own imperial perception for the state and its people. The existence of the religious communities and the functioning of the Ottoman state on the basis of these communities, made the passage from the Ottoman imperial structure to the modern states, a complicated procedure.

The conference aims to explore various aspects of the communal organization in the Ottoman Empire for regions such as Asia Minor, Middle East and the Balkans, and to present the changes that occurred within the religious communities during the 19th century and particularly during the period from Tanzimat reforms until the First World War. Key questions in relation to the modernization process of the Ottoman state and the functioning of religious communities, are a) how does the Sublime Porte understand the process of structuring a modern state with respect to religious communities, b) who is responsible for the modern institutions: the state or the religious communities, c) what is the reaction of the religious communities regarding the modernization process d) why and in what way the religious communities are changing on the light of this process.

PROGRAMME

October 29, Friday

16:30 – 16:45 Welcoming

16:45 – 17:00 STROHMEIER Martin, Chairman of the Department of Turkish and Middle Eastern Studies, Welcome Speech

• 17:00 – 17:30 DERINGIL Selim, Bogaziçi University, Istanbul – Keynote Speech

  Re-configuring Ottoman citizenship in the Tanzimat state: conversion, religion and identity politics in the late Ottoman Empire

17:30 – 18:00 Coffee Break

Session I – Christians and Muslims in the late Ottoman Empire

Chairperson: VARNAVAS Andrekos

• 18:00 – 18:20 KECHRIOTIS Vangelis, Bo¤aziçi University, ‹stanbul. Bayonets and Bullets in the name of the Constitution: Post-colonial criticism and Muslim-Christian relations in the late Ottoman Empire

• 18:20 – 18:40 ANASTASSIADOU Meropi, Centre National de la Recherché Scientifique, Paris. Non-Muslim communities and state control in the late Ottoman Empire. Administrative practice and decisionmaking within the Greek orthodox parishes of Istanbul

• 18:40 – 19:00 MICHAEL Michalis, University of Cyprus, Nicosia. The Orthodox community of Cyprus between the Ottoman and the British colonial perceptions of modernity

• 19:00 – 19:20 ANAGNOSTOPOULOU Sia, Panteion University, Athens. The millet system as a tool of a “differentiated modernity”, 19th c.-beginning of the 20th c.

19:20 – 20:00 Discussion

20:15 – 22:00 Dinner

October 30, Saturday

Session II – The Ottoman religious community and Nationalism

Chairperson: KECHRIOTIS Vangelis

• 9:00 – 9:20 VARNAVAS Andrekos, Flinders University, Adelaide. Cypriots transforming from a class, religious and regional identity, to an ethnic national identity

• 9:20 – 9:40 KONORTAS Paraskevas, National and Capodistrian University of Athens, Athens. Greek nationalism vs Greek orthodox milli establishment in Ottoman Thrace in educational matters during the first decade of the 20th century

• 9:40 – 10:00 KIZILYÜREK Niyazi, University of Cyprus, Nicosia. The Turkish Cypriots, modernity and religion

10:00 – 10:30 Discussion

10:30 – 11:00 Coffee Break

Session III-  Religious community, education and statehood

Chairperson: KONORTAS Paraskevas

• 11:00 – 11:20 FORTNA Benjamin, School of Oriental and African Studies, London

  Education between Empire and nation: spaces, lives and commodities

• 11:20 – 11:40 VERDEIL Chantal, Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales, Paris. Education in the Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire before the Crimean war

• 11:40 – 12:00 STAVRIDES Theoharis, University of Cyprus, Nicosia. The Organization and development of Greek orthodox education in Cyprus in the 19th century

• 12:00 – 12:20 LYBERATOS Andreas, Institute for Mediterranean Studies – FORTH, University of Crete School, community, state: remarks on the development of public education in late Ottoman and post-Ottoman Bulgaria (19th c. – 1912)

12:20 – 13:00 Discussion

13:15 – 14:30 Lunch

Session IV – Religious communities and colonialism

Chairperson: FORTNA Benjamin

• 17:30 – 17:50 HADJIIOSSIF Christos, Institute for Mediterranean Studies, University of Crete, Rethymnon Colonial policies and Ottoman reforms

• 17:50 – 18:10 COHEN-MULLER Rina, Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales, Paris Christians and Jews – the French game in Ottoman Jerusalem during the 19th Century

• 18:10 – 18:30 BOCQUET Jérôme, Université d’Orléans, Orléans Missionary presence, diplomatic rivalries and proselytizing among the Ottoman Empire’s religious communities: The case of 19th c. Ottoman Syria

• 18:30 – 18:50 ANASTASSIADES Tassos, École française d’Athènes/Sciences-Po, Paris. The ambiguities of a confessional age: lessons from Eastern Mediterranean

18:50 – 19:30 Discussion

19:30 – 20:00 Conclusions

20:15 – 22:00 Dinner

---

Mots-clés

• religions, état, nationalisme, modernité, éducation, empire ottoman, Méditerranée

Lieu

• Nicosie (Chypre) (The Classic Hotel, Van Gogh Conference room, 94 Rigenis street)

Dates

• vendredi 29 octobre 2010

• samedi 30 octobre 2010

Contact

• Michalis Michael

  courriel : michaelm (at) ucy.ac [point] cy

  University of Cyprus, Department of Turkish and Middle Eastern Studies, Nicosia

 

THE ROMANIAN INSTITUTE FOR

RESEARCH ON NATIONAL MINORITIES

17-20 June 2010

<!–

29.11.2009

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Conference on ‘Minority Politics within the Europe of Regions’ in Cluj-Napoca (Kolozsvár, Klausenburg), Romania.

The ECPR Standing Group on Federalism and Regionalism, together with the Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania and the Romanian Institute for Research on National Minorities (ISPMN), will organize an international conference entitled ‘Minority Politics within the Europe of Regions’ on 17-20 June 2010.

Within the European space, issues related to ethno-regionalism and the legal status of national and ethnic minorities are covered by several models, such as federalization, self-rule and autonomy. In the recent decade these models and their consequences influencing European architecture have been widely studied in all sorts of theoretical and empirical frameworks. After the expansion of the EU with the Central and Eastern European countries in 2004 and 2007, and with the coming integration of the Western Balkans and possibly other states from Eastern Europe, there has been a proliferation of multi-ethnic regions and national and ethnic minority cases within or in the close vicinity of the Union. Researchers and speakers from a broad spectrum of scientific disciplines, including social and political sciences, history, linguistics, law, economy and area studies will be invited to present empirical and theoretical studies on the minority issue in the European space. The organizers will especially welcome studies on ethno-regionalist politics, as well as on institutional arrangements and policies concerning national and ethnic minorities in the new Member States and the Eastern parts of Europe.

The organizers will select 30 papers for presentation in the following four panels:

(1) Ethno-regionalism in Europe – where the history of ethno-regionalism in the old Member States of the Union and the present state of affairs will be discussed

(2) Models of self-rule and autonomy with respect to national, ethnic and linguistic minorities in the Union: this panel will address the institutional solutions and rights benefiting minorities in old and new Member States and the solutions that are provided form by the Union’s transnational structure.

(3) The historical and the present status of national and ethnic minorities in Central and Eastern Europe – focusing on the historical, social and economic and linguistic aspects of minorities’ situation

(4) Minority regimes at work – the implementation and the practical consequences of the policies concerning national and ethnic minorities in Central and Eastern Europe.

The deadline for submitting abstracts (300 words) is 28 February 2010. Applicants will receive feedback on the acceptance of their paper by 10 March. Papers (5000-7000 words) must be submitted by 1 June 2010. The organizers intend to publish the proceedings of the conference.

The official language of the conference is English. In the case of papers presented in other languages (e.g. Hungarian, Romanian) simultaneous translation will be available.

Participants whose abstracts have been selected are expected to cover travelling expenses only, the organizers will provide for food and accommodation. Cluj-Napoca has excellent infrastructural facilities, such as an international airport that can also be reached by low budget airlines.

Please send abstracts to both of the following e-mail addresses: mineureg@ispmn.gov.ro, mineureg@sapientia.ro

Conference organizers:

Klaus Detterbeck, University of Magdeburg, ECPR Standing Group on Federalism and Regionalism

István Horváth, Romanian Institute for Research on National Minorities, Cluj-Napoca

László Marácz, University of Amsterdam

Márton Tonk, Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania, Cluj-Napoca

 

Commissioner

Strasbourg, 1 October 2009

REPORT by Thomas Hammarberg Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe

Following his visit to Turkey on 28 June – 3 July 2009

Issue reviewed: Human rights of minorities

 

. Overview of minorities in Turkey in relation to European and international instruments: Whilst the Commissioner appreciated the positive signs of good will shown by the Turkish authorities for resolving a number of issues concerning human rights of minority groups, he remains concerned by the authorities’ refusal to recognize the existence of any other minorities except for the tripartite non-Muslim one (Armenians, Greeks and Jews), following an over-restrictive interpretation of the 1923 Lausanne Peace Treaty. The Commissioner recommends that the authorities create an effective framework of consultations that would ensure a real dialogue with all minority groups in the country and pursue reforms with a view to fully aligning law and practice with the Council of Europe human rights standards concerning minorities. The Commissioner recommends in particular the prompt establishment of an effective national human rights institution, the creation and implementation of a comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation and the ratification of Protocol N° 12 to the European Convention on Human Rights. Accession to the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages is also highly recommended.

2. Minority languages and the right to freedom of expression: Despite certain efforts made in this area, the Commissioner remains very concerned at a number of persisting restrictions imposed upon education of minority members, including teaching and learning of their mother tongues. The Commissioner recommends the adoption of measures in order to enhance minority group members’ education and teaching and learning of their mother tongues, a precondition of enjoyment by them of their freedom of expression. The Commissioner is concerned about the high number of the freedom of expression-related judgments against Turkey that have been delivered by the European Court of Human Rights and whose execution is supervised by the Committee of Ministers. He calls upon the authorities to take further measures in order to effectively incorporate the European Court of Human Rights’ case law into domestic law and practice. This should include revision of certain provisions of the Criminal Code and of the anti-terrorism law mentioned in the Report, and of their application by prosecutors and courts. It is stressed that hate crimes in general, particularly those committed against persons who have exercised their right to freedom of expression, should be effectively investigated and those responsible should be promptly identified and punished, in line with the established case law of the European Court of Human Rights.

3. Minorities and the right to freedom of association: Recalling the particular importance of the freedom of association, which includes the creation and operation of political parties, for persons belonging to minorities, the Commissioner notes his serious concern about the current Turkish law and practice, especially about the proceedings that were initiated in the near past against two of the major political parties with a view to their dissolution. The Commissioner commends the determination shown by the Minister of Justice to carry on efforts to fully embed the Council of Europe human rights standards in national law and practice. He urges the authorities to follow up on and implement promptly the pertinent recommendations made notably by the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly and by the Venice Commission.

4. Minorities, freedom of religion and property rights: The Commissioner commends the readiness to dialogue with minority religious communities that the authorities demonstrated during his visit. He remains nonetheless concerned about the uneasiness and insecurity that seems to surround still religious minority groups. The Commissioner urges the authorities in particular to develop awareness-raising activities in order to alert the general public of the benefits of a multicultural society and to create an efficient, specialised body to combat, inter alia, racial and religious discrimination. Periodic, open and substantive consultations between the authorities and religious minority groups should be established, thus ensuring dialogue and solutions to major issues affecting religious minorities’ human rights, such as the one concerning the recognition of the legal personality of religious minority institutions and communities established in the country. The Commissioner notes with interest the latest legislative measures concerning the protection of property rights of non-Muslim minority foundations. A number of shortcomings however are identified in the present Report, which call for the authorities’ attention and necessitate further action in order to fully incorporate the case law of the European Court of Human Rights in the relevant legislation and practice.

5. Forced displacement in and from eastern and southeast Turkey: The Commissioner remains very concerned about the persistent humanitarian and human rights situation of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in and from the eastern and southeast Turkey, the majority of them being of Kurdish origin. The Commissioner recommends the prompt adoption of further measures that would accelerate and make more effective the reparation of the IDP victims, including the facilitation of exercise by IDPs of their right to voluntary return, voluntary resettlement or local integration. Whilst noting with satisfaction the Ministry of Interior’s willingness to resolve the persistent, IDP-related problems, including the positive efforts made in the context of the IDP action plan in the Van province, the Commissioner stresses the need for the authorities to promote a comprehensive, national strategy that would include improvement of living and education-related conditions in IDP-source areas. The Commissioner also urges the authorities to examine the possibility of abolishing the system of village guards and to proceed immediately to the completion of clearance of the mined areas, especially those from or near which IDPs originate.

6. Certain issues concerning human rights of Roma: The Commissioner notes with concern the social marginalization of Roma in Turkey, their serious difficulties in enjoying effectively certain social and civil rights, such as those concerning adequate housing, employment, health care and social assistance, and violence by police and non-state actors. The Commissioner recommends that Turkey adopt and implement promptly a coherent, comprehensive and adequately resourced national and regional strategy with short- and long-term action plans for implementing policies that address legal and/or social discrimination against Roma, in accordance with the Council of Europe standards. The Commissioner remains very concerned about the dislocation of Roma people, including families and children, in various parts of Turkey, in particular in the context of urban renovation projects. Of special concern have been the house demolitions, evictions and dislocation of Roma from the historic area of Sulukule, Istanbul. The Commissioner urges national and local authorities to take immediately measures in order to effectively respect and protect cultural heritage, to review urban renovation legislation and practice and to ratify promptly the 2005 Council of Europe Framework Convention on the Value of Cultural Heritage for Society.

 

Minorities / Minorités

"Rapport Hunault" sur les minorités en Turquie en et en Grèce

La liberté de religion et autres droits de l’homme des minorités non musulmanes en Turquie et de la minorité musulmane en Thrace (Grèce orientale)

Freedom of religion and other human rights for non-Muslim minorities in Turkey and for the Muslim minority in Thrace (Eastern Greece)

 

Minorities in Turkey and Greece

The expected "Hunault Report" on Minorities in Turkey and in Greece is available.

Greece and Turkey should treat their religious minorities according to European standards

Both Greece and Turkey should treat all their citizens who are members of religious minorities according to the standards of the European Convention on Human Rights – rather than invoking “reciprocity” under the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne as a basis for refusing to implement some rights.

Approving a report today on “Freedom of religion and other human rights for non-Muslim minorities in Turkey and for the Muslim minority in Thrace (Eastern Greece)”, the Committee on Legal Affairs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) acknowledged the question was “emotionally very highly charged”.

Nevertheless, it said the two countries should “treat all their citizens without discrimination, without taking into account the way in which the neighbouring state might treat its own citizens”.

In a draft resolution, the committee said the recurrent invoking by Greece and Turkey of the principle of reciprocity as a basis for refusing to implement the rights guaranteed to the minorities concerned by the Treaty of Lausanne was “anachronistic” and could jeapordise each country’s national cohesion.

However, it also welcomed “a degree of new awareness by the authorities of both countries, which have demonstrated their commitment to finding appropriate responses to the difficulties facing the members of these minorities”.

The parliamentarians urged both governments to recognise the “freedom of ethnic self-identification” and to make a series of changes in minority, education and religious policy.

Read the Draft resolution (provisional version)

 

Book

KIRIK AYNALAR

Avrupa’nın Müslümanları ve Orta Doğu’nun Hıristiyanları

Saraybosna’dan Kudüs’e bir Görsel Seyahatname

Balkanlar’dan Orta Doğu’ya Parçalanmış Kimlikler

BROKEN MIRRORS

European Muslims, Eastern Christians

A Visual Travelbook from Sarajevo to Jerusalem

Scattered Identities between the Balkans and the Middle East

 

 Tanitim Yazisi / Read the presentation : mesut-tufan