State Department on religious freedoms in Cyprus in 2019

The State Department referred to the state of play in the field of religious freedom in Cyprus in its 2019 International Religious Freedom report.
 
The report features a separate part for the Turkish-occupied northern part of Cyprus titled as area “administered by Turkish Cypriots,” stating that the United States does not recognize the “TRNC,” nor does any country other than Turkey.
 
With regard to the Republic of Cyprus the report states that the Constitution prohibits religious discrimination and protects the freedom to worship, teach, and practice one’s religion and that it grants the Greek Orthodox Church of Cyprus the exclusive right to regulate and administer its internal affairs and recognizes the Vakf, an Islamic institution that manages sites of worship and property Muslims have donated, as a charitable endowment.
 
Citing Cypriot media reports, the report state that on September 6 2019 the headmaster of a public secondary school instructed a Muslim student wearing a headscarf to leave the school and return only after removing it, adding that the then minister of education Kostas Champiaouris ordered an investigation of the case and transferred the headmaster from the school.
 
It also adds that two of the eight functioning mosques under the guardianship of the Ministry of Interior continued to lack bathroom and ablution facilities.
 
The report noted that the Cyprus Department of Antiquities continued to limit access to Hala Sultan Tekke Mosque to only two of the five daily prayers, although it routinely granted expanded access during Ramadan and at the request of the imam.
 
According to the report, the government continued to allow non-Cypriot nationals living in the area administered by Turkish Cypriots to travel to Hala Sultan Tekke Mosque for pilgrimages during Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, and Mawlid al-Nabi.
 
The Jewish community continued to report isolated instances of anti-Semitic verbal harassment, the report said, adding that the Jewish community reported authorities continued to conduct autopsies in nonsuspicious deaths, against the community’s wishes, and the community continued to face difficulties obtaining government permission to perform animal slaughter for food production according to Jewish law.
 
The report reiterates that Greek Orthodox Christians reported they sometimes faced ostracism from that community if they converted to another religion. In September a European Commission study found that 48 percent of respondents believed discrimination on the basis of religion or belief was widespread in the country.
 
In the section on the occupied territories, the report the Turkish Cypriot “constitution” refers to the “state” as secular and provides for freedom of religious faith and worship consistent with public order and morals, while it prohibits forced participation in worship and religious services and stipulates religious education may be conducted only under “state” supervision.
 
The report noted that “Turkish Cypriot authorities continued to grant improved access to Greek Orthodox religious sites compared with previous year.”
 
Namely it states that the so-called “Ministry of Foreign Affairs” said during the year it approved 156 of 203 total requests to hold religious services during the year, compared with 118 of 153 requests in 2018.
 
According to the report, the Turkish-Speaking Protestant Associations (TSPA) said Turkish Cypriots who converted to other faiths often experienced societal criticism.
 
The Turkish Cypriots, the report said, notified they completed the restoration of three more religious sites – two archeological sites that have basilicas and a minaret of a mosque – and said the restoration of five churches continued at year’s end, while the mufti of Cyprus Atalay and Church of Cyprus Archbishop Chrysostomos II met throughout the year and arranged visits to places of worship across the buffer zone.