Religion – Weltanschauung – Recht [ RWR ]

The applicant association, Cumhuriyetçi Eğitim Ve Kültür Merkezi Vakfı (Foundation for Republican Education and Culture, hereafter “the Foundation”), is a foundation established under Turkish law, which was set up in 1995 and has charitable status. In this case, the foundation complains about the refusal to exempt it from paying its electricity bills, arguing that national legislation provides for such an exemption for places of worship.

The applicant foundation manages many cemevis in Turkey, which are premises dedicated to the religious practice of Alevism, a minority and heterodox branch of Islam. In particular, it manages the Yenibosna Cultural Centre, a complex which houses, among other things, the applicant foundation’s headquarters, a restaurant, library, conference hall, classroom, a room for funerals and a cemevi.

In August 2006, submitting that the Foundation was a place of worship for the Alevi community, its director requested exemption from paying electricity bills, since the legislation provides that the electricity bills for places of worship are paid from a fund administered by the Directorate of Religious Affairs (DAR). The courts dismissed the Foundation’s claims, basing their decision on the DAR’s opinion that the cemevis are not places of worship but places of assembly in which spiritual ceremonies are held. The total amount of the Yenibosna Centre’s bills comes to 668,012.13 Turkish lira (TRY), or € 289,182, under the exchange rate at the relevant time.

Relying on Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination) taken together with Article 9 (right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion), the applicant foundation submits that, although the electricity bills of places of worship are usually paid by the Directorate of Religious Affairs, it has been deprived of this privilege on account of the failure in Turkey to recognise the cemevis as places of worship.

Press release ECHR 341 (2014) 26/11/2014