A/55/280/Add.1 letter recognizing the election results and authorizing the Patriarch to wear religious habits in public (the Hat Law and the Law relating to Prohibited Garments of 1934 emphasized that religious clothing should not be worn outside religious places). This was, nevertheless, merely de facto recognition, with no legal effect, and it has posed some real difficulties: for example, some authorities have refused to accept the Patriarch as a valid representative, because of the Patriarchate’s lack of legal status, and the courts have on occasion adopted a similar attitude, thereby denying it legal recourse. 83. This precarious status of the Patriarchate prevents it from legally owning property and receiving revenues, and obliges the Patriarch to act solely in his personal capacity. He must appeal to his followers for funds to cover the many financial burdens involved in supporting religious personnel, places of worship, schools and other establishments run by the community. The Patriarchate must also act through foundations, which have legal status but which remain exposed to the difficulties described above (paras. 73 to 75). 84. The Patriarch said that he understood governmental concerns that granting legal status to non-Muslim minorities might lead to similar demands by Muslim religious dignitaries. He insisted, however, that while citizens from the religious minorities enjoy equality before the law with other Turkish citizens in terms of economic, social and religious freedoms, the same freedoms must extend on an institutional basis to the minority communities. (b) Religious training institutions 85. As with the Greek Orthodox community, the Armenian Patriarchate no longer has a seminary for training clergy. Consequently, the Patriarchate currently has only 24 priests in Istanbul, serving 38 churches. Again, the Patriarch noted the authorities’ concerns that allowing non-Muslim minorities to have their own private religious training institutions would lead to similar demands by Muslims, with the potential risk of religious extremism that might emerge in private Muslim religious institutions. The Patriarch has therefore initiated a private dialogue with the education authorities for establishment of an Armenian religious department in a State university. 18 (c) Properties 86. The problems described by the Greek Orthodox Patriarch concerning the attitude of the courts and of the General Director of Foundations and the confiscation of community properties are of similar concern to the Armenian Patriarchate. One case was mentioned in which a place of worship at Hidyat was confiscated even after the Armenian community had decided to offer it to the Turkish authorities. Under the circumstances, the Patriarch considered this confiscation to be a totally improper act. 87. According to the Patriarch, a second tourniquet on Armenian-owned foundations is slowly being applied through the antiquated system of electoral districts within Istanbul, where Armenians no longer cluster in the same residential areas. Under current Turkish legal restrictions, those who have moved away from these neighbourhoods are no longer eligible to vote for or serve on the administrative boards of the respective trusts. As a result, elections are barred indefinitely, financial transactions blocked and the trust in danger of being closed down by the State. In the face of these restrictions, the Patriarchate is unable to establish, much less to build, places of worship in new Armenian neighbourhoods. 88. The Patriarch added that a further dilemma was posed by a 1981 decree requiring all Armenian religious trusts to shoulder a five-percent tax to pay for government inspections and audits, while Greek and Jewish trusts were exempt. Similarly, non-profit Armenian institutions such as schools and hospitals were required by the Ministry of Finance to pay corporate taxes, since those community charities charged for their services. However, all these trusts were in fact debit operations subsidized from within the community. (d) Educational establishments 89. As with the Greek Orthodox community, Turkish curricula and assistant headmasters ensure that education given is in accordance with Turkish standards. (e) Election of the Patriarch 90. In response to the Special Rapporteur’s request for information on interference by the authorities in the election of the Patriarch (see E/CN.4/1999/58), the Patriarch replied that his church had no concordat with