Christians on Turkey's Fringes

"An EU report on minorities in Turkey has raised concerns over the country's treatment of its Christians. Since the Halki seminary closed in the seventies, the Church in Turkey has had no center for clerical training."

"In the area around Istanbul's main high street, which was once home to hundreds of thousands of Christians, the sound of church bells used to be as common as the call to prayer. One of the buildings in the district used to belong to a hospital foundation run by Armenian Christians, but it was seized in 1996 after a court ruled the property could not be left to the hospital."

"The foundation organizers claim the property seizures are part of a wider pattern of discrimination against Christians in Turkey and are now taking their case to the European court. Their biggest hope is that the EU can be instrumental in putting a stop to discrimination and the domestic mentality which persists in perceiving Christians as outsiders."
Christians on Turkey's Fringes | Europe | Deutsche Welle | 19.02.2006