TURKISH MINISTER ATTACKS MISSIONARY ACTIVITIES

Here's a recap of a story from a couple of weeks ago that some of you missed:

"A Turkish state minister warned that missionary activities are being driven by ulterior political motives, undermining the peace and unity of Turkish society.

“The goal of those activities is harming the cultural, religious, national and historical unity of the people of Turkey,” said Mehmet Aydin, the state minister overseeing the Religious Affairs Directorate, as reported by the Turkish Daily News. “These are not merely religious activities and they are not only carried out by Christian clerics,” he noted.

Aydin said government officials have observed doctors, nurses, engineers, Red Cross officials, human rights defenders, peace activists and language tutors conducting missionary activities. “Rather than being instances of enjoying freedom of belief and conveying religion, missionary activities are well-planned pursuits with ulterior political motives,” he noted."

"While Turkey is officially a secular state, the population is about 99 percent Muslim. It remains one of the largest unreached nations in the world, with many who have never heard the gospel. A small minority of Christians faces persecution in a variety of forms: social exclusion, harassment, arbitrary arrests, and disruption of church services.

There are over 50 missions agencies active in Turkey, employing more than 400 expatriates from 20 countries, according to Operation World.

“One of the most common charges is that the American government is paying missionaries and they are all working for the CIA,” says Steve Hagerman, founder of Turkish World Outreach. To Hagerman’s knowledge, there are no Christian workers in Turkey on the payroll of the American government. “The CIA itself has strongly stated it will never use missionaries,” he says.

Unfortunately, these charges appear regularly in the Turkish media. “There is a great deal of yellow journalism in the most reputable Turkish newspapers,” Hagerman notes. “None of the missionaries are there as secret agents of any kind.”

Hagerman sees a power struggle going on politically between those who want to see Turkey join the European Union, and those who want to maintain the status quo. If Turkey joins the EU, they will have to undergo reforms that would threaten the ruling political elite. Therefore, these same people—mostly secular Muslims—are stoking the fires of radical Islam to undermine any reform movement.

“I don’t think there would be a single Christian worker in Turkey who would want to undermine the government,” Hagerman notes. “We want them to choose Christianity of their own free will.”

TURKISH MINISTER ATTACKS MISSIONARY ACTIVITIES