CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
1050 17th Street, N.W., Suite 490
Washington, D.C. 20036
Tel: 202-659-CAIR (2247)
Fax: 202-659-2254
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AMERICAN MUSLIMS DISCUSS RELIGIOUS RIGHTS IN TURKEY AT STATE DEPARTMENT
MEETING
Turkish parliamentarian stripped of citizenship in dispute over headscarf
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 5/25/99) - Representatives of several national American
Muslim organizations met today with State Department officials to discuss
the
religious and political rights of Turkish parliamentarian-elect Merve
Kavakci.
Kavakci was recently denied the right to take her seat in parliament and was
subsequently stripped of her Turkish citizenship after refusing to remove
her
religiously-mandated headscarf. She is also the target of a smear campaign
by
secular extremists in government and in the media.
The Muslim representatives discussed the denial of Kavakci's religious
rights
as well as the broader issue of religious freedom in Turkey. Groups
represented at the meeting included the Council on American-Islamic
Relations
(CAIR), American Muslim Council (AMC), Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC),
North American Council for Muslim Women (NACMW), and the American-Arab Anti-
Discrimination Committee (ADC).*
Government officials present at today's meeting included representatives of
the
State Department's Turkey Desk, the office of the Ambassador-at-Large for
International Religious Freedom and the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights
and
Labor. Today's meeting was one of several in a series of discussions with
officials on this and other issues related to religious freedom.
"We will continue to monitor the status of religious and human rights in
Turkey
and hope to see concrete actions on the part of American officials," said
CAIR
Executive Director Nihad Awad, who attended the meeting. Awad characterized
the
discussion as "positive and constructive."
There are an estimated six million Muslims in this country and some 1.2
billion
worldwide. Islam is one of the fastest growing faiths in the United States.
- END -
*The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), Islamic Circle of North
(ICNA),
American Muslim Foundation (AMF), Arab American Institute (AAI), Karamah,
and
Muslim Women's Association also signed on to the request for the meeting.
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