The Legal Treatment of Religious Minorities: Non-Muslims in Turkey and Muslims in Germany

This chapter examines the legal status of Turkey’s non-Muslims and Germany’s Muslims in the light of European standards of human rights, as defined by the European Union (EU) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). While Germany is an EU member and Turkey is a candidate for membership, both countries are members of the Council of Europe and subject to the jurisdiction of the ECtHR. It is argued that, despite the differences in their legal treatment of religious minorities, the question in both Turkey and Germany is the same: the need to find a fair balance between the protection of fundamental rights and the definition of national identity, which excludes those who have different cultural values than the majority. No fair treatment of religious minorities can be accomplished without recognizing that all individuals, not just citizens or persons belonging to majority culture, are entitled to religious freedom. Whereas this right is not absolute, only those restrictions that are proportionate to the legitimate aims pursued should be introduced; and differences between the treatment of majority and minority communities or between distinct minority communities should only be based on neutral and objective grounds.