Compass Direct News : TURKEY - ALLEGED ‘MIDDLEMAN’ IN MALATYA MURDERS A NO-SHOWA suspected “middleman” between the alleged masterminds and young executors in the stabbing murders of three Christians here failed to appear at a hearing on Friday (June 19) because of a procedural error.
The state prosecutor’s office failed to set aside funds to transport Varol Bulent Aral to the southeastern city of Malatya from Istanbul, where he is held, the court announced. Aral is the second suspected middleman connecting the five young murderers to “deep state” masterminds who allegedly plotted to kill Turkish Christians Necati Aydin and Ugur Yuksel and German Christian Tilmann Geske.
Holy people to compete to convert atheists on Turkish TV showAccording to a report on the Hurriyet DailyNews.com Web site, a new Turkish TV show is set to air in September that will challenge holy people to convert atheists to their brand of godliness. The show, which is loosely translated as "Penitents Compete," will feature a "Muslim imam, a Christian priest, a Jewish rabbi... a Buddhist monk" and 10 atheists.
The holy folk will compete to see who can turn the most atheists into followers of their given religion. Their goal is to convert at least one non-believer each week. According to Ahmet Özdemir, Deputy Director of Kanal T which will air the new show, "'The project aims to turn disbelievers into [believers in] God.'"
The premise of the show, according to the report is that "[e]ach week, a different group of atheists will appear in front of the religious leaders. The producers of the show are well aware that there is a chance none of the atheists will be convinced by the arguments presented to them. Yet if an ex-atheist is 'persuaded' to start following one of the religions, he or she will have the chance to travel to that religion’s center, whether Jerusalem for Christians and Jews or Mecca for Muslims or Tibet for Buddhists." The main goal of producers for the show is to teach people about a variety of religions.
‘Churches of İstanbul’İstanbul is home to some of the most amazing churches in the world. The glory of the Hagia Sophia has been marveled at by visitors throughout the centuries, ever since Justinian exclaimed, “Solomon, I have surpassed you,” demonstrating his belief that this new church outshone the Temple of the Old Testament.
Compass Direct News : TURKEY - IRANIAN REFUGEE BEATEN FOR HIS FAITHSince Iranian native Nasser Ghorbani fled to Turkey seven years ago, he has been unable to keep a job for more than a year – eventually his co-workers would ask why he didn’t come to the mosque on Fridays, and one way or another they’d learn that he was a convert to Christianity.
Soon thereafter he would be gone.
Never had anyone gotten violent with him, however, until three weeks ago, when someone at his workplace in Istanbul hit him on the temple so hard he knocked him out. When he came back to his senses, Ghorbani was covered in dirt, and his left eye was swollen shut. It hurt to breathe.
His whole body was in pain. He had no idea what had happened.
“I’ve always had problems at work in Turkey because I’m a Christian, but never anything like this,” Ghorbani told Compass.
Survey: Neighborhood pressure is rare in Turkey, but intolerance is not"although a majority of the respondents said diversity is an asset for societies, most respondents gave answers suggesting that there is widespread intolerance toward those who are different. Seventy-two percent said they wouldn't want to have neighbors who consumed alcohol, and 52 percent said they wouldn't like to have any Christian neighbors, while 64 percent said they wouldn't like to have Jewish neighbors. Sixty-six percent do not want irreligious people as neighbors, while 26 percent wouldn't like to have a neighbor of a different race. Unmarried couples, Americans, daughters who wear shorts and gay people are among the kinds of neighbors a majority of Turkish people said they would mind."
Compass Direct News : TURKEY - EFFORTS TO TIE MALATYA MURDERS TO ‘DEEP STATE’ FIZZLErosecutors’ efforts to tie the murderers of three Christians here to state-linked masterminds were set back on Friday (May 22) when the alleged ring-leader unexpectedly contradicted his previous testimony implicating a suspected “middleman.” As the suspected middleman between the murderers and “deep state” elements, Huseyin Yelki, was testifying at Friday’s hearing, Emre Gunaydin – whose previous private testimony led to Yelki’s arrest – stood up and said, “Huseyin Yelki is not guilty, he’s being held in prison for no reason.” The prosecuting team and judges at the Malatya Third Criminal Court froze at the statement, and then demanded to know why he had previously implicated Yelki. Gunaydin said he did so because Yelki was a Christian missionary. Yelki testified during the court hearing that he had met Gunaydin only once prior to the murders. Gunaydin’s retraction raised suspicion among the judges that in recent months he has received visits in prison from those behind the murders who have pressured him to change his statement. Tired and frustrated, lead prosecutor Orhan Kemal Cengiz told Compass, “My conclusion is that we’re going nowhere, because the powers behind the scenes were very successful in organizing everything.”
The Great Monastery of St. Gabriel in Captivity | AssyriaTimes.comA long-standing land dispute between the Syrian Orthodox community in south-east Turkey and the local villagers has finally turned into a legal battle attracting international attention. The disagreement has been closely monitored by the European Union for some time, and US President Barack Obama and the State Department are monitoring the dispute.
Christians urge Turkey to protect ancient monasteryA leading Syriac Christian group urged Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan on Monday to protect a fifth-century Christian monastery in eastern Turkey from local officials claiming land the monastery has owned for centuries.
Arameans send letter to president, PM demanding rightsThe Turabdin Solidarity Committee (Solidaritattsgruppe), an umbrella organization for the diaspora Arameans from Turkey, sent a letter to President Abdullah Gül and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan about the situation of Arameans in Turkey and asked to be treated in accordance with the Lausanne Treaty and auspices of the state.
In the letter, the Arameans also noted that the Prophet Jesus spoke in Aramaic and the state should give the permission and financial support for Aramaic language courses. The letter also underlined the concerns of the Arameans regarding the ongoing trial over the Mor Gabriel Monastery, which was constructed in A.D. 397.
Financialmirror.com News - Cyprus President: Turkey responsible for destruction of religious heritagePresident of the Republic Demetris Christofias has said that Turkey is responsible to a great extent for the destruction of the cultural heritage in the Turkish occupied north of Cyprus.
He was speaking during an exhibition in London’s Gallery K of 23 artists, including Cypriots and British, inspired by photographs of churches and other holy sites in the Turkish occupied north by Cypriot cameraman and photographer Doros Partasides. The photographs depict the destruction of the country’s religious and cultural heritage.
President Christofias congratulated Partasides and the 23 artists, describing their work as excellent. The government, he said, will use the exhibition in its campaign to put an end to the atrocities which are the result of the continuing Turkish invasion and occupation.
He said Turkey is greatly responsible for the destruction of the island’s heritage, stressing that the cultural heritage belongs not only to the Greek Cypriots but also to the Turkish Cypriots and the whole of humanity.
‘Religious freedoms in Turkey curbed by hard-line secularism’A report presented to US President Barack Obama has added Turkey to a watch list of countries where people's right to worship as they please or not to worship at all are at risk.
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom said Turkey's problem was its interpretation of secularism, which has "resulted in violations of religious freedom for many of the country's citizens, including members of majority and, especially, minority religious communities."
Martyrs' Legacy: Hope for Christians in Turkey - Christian World News - CBN NewsApril 18 marks the second anniversary of one of the most brutal attacks against Christians in Turkey. Five men are on trial for the stabbing death of two Turkish Christians and a German. The outcome of the case could have an impact on the future of the country's tiny Christian community.
For Susanne Geske and her three young children it is sadly just another day of remembrance."You see everyday is April 18," Susanne Geske told CBN News during a recent visit to her home in Malatya. "Everyday I have to live without him.
Compass Direct News : TURKEY - LOCAL OFFICIALS’ ROLE EMERGES IN MALATYA MURDERS Two years after the murder of three Christians in this city in southeastern Turkey, lawyers at a hearing here on Monday (April 13) uncovered important information on the role that local security forces played in the slaughter. At the 16th hearing of the murder case at the Malatya Third Criminal Court, plaintiff attorneys called a heavy slate of witnesses, including Mehmet Ulger, the gendarmerie commander of Malatya province during the 2007 slaughter who was arrested on March 12 for his alleged connection to a political conspiracy, and Ruhi Abat, a theology instructor at the local Ismet Inonu University. Two Turkish Christians, Necati Aydin and Ugur Yuksel, and a German Christian, Tilmann Geske, were tied up and stabbed to death at Zirve Publishing Co. offices on April 18, 2007. Plaintiff attorneys have moved the focus of the trial away from the five suspects – Salih Gurler, Cuma Ozdemir, Hamit Ceker, Abuzer Yildirim, and alleged ringleader Emre Gunaydin – to local officials believed to be liaisons or masterminds of the murders. The retired gendarmerie commander and the theology researcher have suspected links to the crime. In January an anonymous letter sent to Turkish churches and obtained by the media claimed that then-commander Ulger instigated the murders and directed Abat to prepare arguments against missionary activity.
Seven officers guilty of job derelictionSeven police officers receive a five-month suspended sentence each after being found guilty of dereliction of duty in the case where three people, one of whom was a German citizen, were found murdered in the Zirve Publishing House in Malatya for alleged missionary actions.
