Turkish Courts Uphold Freedom of Worship for Jehovah’s Witnesses

THE history of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Turkey has been marked by some 20 years of legal action in court. But this ended on March 24, 1980, when the Supreme Court of Appeals acquitted 43 of Jehovah’s Witnesses. What had been the charge? Subverting the “laical” or “secular” order of the State.

Turkey has a democratic constitution that grants freedom of worship to all its citizens. State and religion are separate. The principle of “laicism” or “secularism,” a political system characterized by the exclusion of religious control or influence, is embodied in the First Article of the constitution. It is considered an irrevocable “Principle of Atatürk,” the founder of the Turkish Republic, who in 1928 abolished the Moslem religion as the State religion. But why had Jehovah’s Witnesses been charged with transgressing this law?

Put simply, they had been misrepresented. It is well known that Jehovah’s Witnesses do not involve themselves in State affairs; they are completely neutral in all political matters. Yet they were falsely accused of attempting to establish the kingdom of God in Turkey.

As a result of those accusations, the police took action against Jehovah’s Witnesses. They were arrested, their houses searched, their peaceful meetings in private homes interrupted and their literature confiscated. Prosecutors filed charges against them in the courts. However, each trial resulted in an acquittal. By 1972, Jehovah’s Witnesses had already won 16 cases in different courts!

But misrepresentations continued, and other accusations were even added. For example, Jehovah’s Witnesses were accused of being “Zionists” and their religious status was questioned. From time to time adverse publicity was carried in the newspapers. Arrests and trials made big headlines, but acquittals were very seldom reported, and when they were it was with only a few lines.

In 1973, the Ministry of Religious Affairs, a Moslem government agency, published a book about Jehovah’s Witnesses, which was written by Assistant Professor Dr. H. Tanyu. In the foreword of the book, Dr. Tanyu claimed that he had made a “factual and scientific” study of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Did the book accurately inform the public about Jehovah’s Witnesses? The answer to that question became evident when the writer was appointed by a martial law court in Ankara to give his opinion as an expert about Jehovah’s Witnesses. What happened?

When called before the court to testify, Dr. Tanyu could not really verify his opinion about Jehovah’s Witnesses. After it was refuted in every detail, the prosecutor dismissed Dr. Tanyu’s claim by stating to the court: “While an expert must be absolutely neutral and objective in his opinion . . . it is obvious that his report has exceeded the bounds of objectivity, and as the defense of the accused ones has pointed out in every detail, it consists of passages in which the belief, as well as freedom of conscience of the accused ones, has been attacked.” (Opinion of the attorney, No. 1972/19, dated February 21, 1973. Court Files of 3. Military Court, Ankara.)

A Turning Point

In order to have their religious status clearly established, Jehovah’s Witnesses decided to go to court themselves. So they filed a Declaratory Action. The results proved to be very enlightening as to the sources of the opposition they had been encountering.

To establish the status of Jehovah’s Witnesses the court requested opinions from the Ministry of Religious Affairs, the Armenian Church, the Greek Orthodox Church, the Jewish Synagogue and legal experts of the University of Istanbul. What were these opinions?

The Ministry of Religious Affairs stated in its opinion “that Jehovah’s Witnesses are not a religion but a religious order founded under the influence of the Jewish religion.” It further stated that “the group of Jehovah’s Witnesses who are making propaganda for a religious-political order [and] working for the realization of the theocratic state and holding meetings and distributing publications for that purpose are an illegal society according to our laws and also an organization which is engaging in a detrimental activity as regards our country and national interests.”

The patriarch of the Armenian Church wrote “that the form of their worship cannot be accepted as a monotheistic religion or moral religious philosophy” but that its “propagandists are doing it for obscure purposes” and in a “dishonest and secret way for personal gain and influence.”

The Greek Patriarch stated in his opinion “that a religion called Jehovah’s Witnesses is not known by the office of the Patriarch.”

The Great Rabbi of the Jewish Synagogue of Istanbul wrote the following: “Although Jehovah’s Witnesses are known worldwide as a sect, further information cannot be given since they have no connection or any relation with the Jewish religion.”

However, the legal experts of the University of Istanbul came up with a different view of Jehovah’s Witnesses. They clearly identified their religious nature by stating that “Jehovah’s Witnesses are working to establish a doctrine which can be termed Neo-Christianity” and “based upon this new interpretation of the teaching of the Gospels, they can be considered as a new Christian sect, but not as an independent religion.”

What resulted? On November 20, 1974, the 20th District Court of Istanbul accepted Jehovah’s Witnesses as a “Sect of Christianity” and therefore as a religious body, having the same rights as any other religion in Turkey. Later, on October 20, 1976, the Supreme Court accepted and confirmed the decision of the District Court.

Based on all these various court verdicts, many government officials became convinced that Jehovah’s Witnesses are law-abiding people who do not constitute a danger to the country. As a result, Jehovah’s Witnesses were able to form a legal corporation, the Bible Course Society, for the purpose of more efficiently spreading Bible literature. Its charter was approved by the Ministry of the Interior.

Since then Jehovah’s Witnesses have enjoyed their constitutional right of freedom of worship. They have been able to print their religious literature, meet together locally for worship and also hold their national assemblies. Their largest assembly was held in 1978, when over 1,200 were in attendance at the Sports and Exhibition Palace in Istanbul. Yes, justice had prevailed over religious prejudice and false accusations!

New Trials

However, political unrest in the country several times forced the government to announce a state of martial law. Opposition against Jehovah’s Witnesses once again started up with former charges being raised and the cases being brought to the courts. On December 1, 1978, the Second Criminal Court in Izmir acquitted 43 of Jehovah’s Witnesses of the charge of subverting the “secular” order. Also, in a separate trial, the Bible Course Society was acquitted of the same charge.

However, the district attorney appealed both cases and they came before the Supreme Court. But in its decisions of May 7 and June 8, 1979, the Supreme Court upheld the acquittal of both cases. The general prosecutor appealed and the cases went back to the Supreme Court of Appeal. What was its decision? On March 24, 1980, this court rendered a final and binding verdict: not guilty!

In its decision the court stated that “if one day the things occur which the accused ones believe and God’s rule will be established over the world, a punishment of the accused ones because of such a belief will not prevent such events. But if their expectation is just a fancy idea and empty belief, their belief can in no way cause harm to our laical order of the State.” How like the opinion expressed by a wise member of a first-century court, as reported in the Bible at Acts 5:34-39!

Even though a military government was established in the country on September 12, 1980, and all political and corporation activities were suspended, including the Bible Course Society, Jehovah’s Witnesses have continued meeting for worship. They are hopeful that soon the restrictions on their corporation will be lifted.

An Unexpected Verdict

Although Jehovah’s Witnesses have been cleared from the charge of subversion and have been accepted as a religious body, a court in Ankara rendered a totally unexpected decision.

When one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, who for many years had been denied a passport because of having been involved in some of the previous court cases, again applied for a passport, he was turned down. He filed a charge against the City Passport Department in order to have this restriction lifted. But on November 11, 1980, the 12th Administrative Court rejected his request on the grounds that he “has attended meetings and worked in behalf of Jehovah’s Witnesses, who are forbidden in Turkey”!

How could the court reach such a conclusion after so many acquittals and in view of the fact that Jehovah’s Witnesses openly carry on their worship in Turkey? Did the court just overlook the aforementioned facts? Or was it influenced by some arbitrary opinion? These and many other questions are being raised in the minds of freedom-loving persons.

The case has been appealed, and it is hoped that the appeal court will correct this legal mistake and that justice will again prevail for Jehovah’s Witnesses, so that they can enjoy constitutional rights as law-abiding citizens, even as they do in many other countries.