Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Media Bias Fans Anti-Christian Sentiment in Turkey

"Normally, Turkish nationalists threatening to hang local Protestants for operating a Christian literature stall at the Bursa annual book fair wouldn’t have raised an eyebrow. But it wasn’t long before Turkish television video and newspaper commentary was running. And some of that commentary only further fanned anti-Christian sentiment."

"On March 8, five teenage members of the Nationalist Party Movement (MHP) at the book fair in the northwestern city of Bursa challenged Turkish Bible Society volunteers Samir Serkek and Vahit Yildiz for selling Bibles in a “Muslim country.”

“We’ll settle with you by tying ropes around your necks,” one young man said before they left the Turkish Bible Society stall.

The five MHP youths quickly became loud and antagonistic, trying to block other people from approaching the stall. Before threatening the volunteers with hanging, one of them had yelled, “How can you sell Bibles here? This is a Muslim country!”

"Two days later, a group of five MHP young women approached the stall and began to shout insults at the workers for selling books that denigrated the Turkish culture and the Turkish people. “They accused us of trying to divide the country,” Serkek commented.



According to another bookstand volunteer, Sefa Gormezoz, a group of 35 MHP members, mostly young people, returned to the book fair on Saturday (March 11) at 1 p.m. and began to argue with workers at the Love Publications book stand. After 30 minutes, the group started yelling and chanting slogans such as “Turkey is Turkish and will stay Turkish,” Gormezoz said."

"While Serkek said that Show TV’s coverage was unbiased, right wing daily Yeni Cag spun what it incorrectly reported as free Bible distribution in a negative light.

“Missionaries who are taking over every part of Turkey have now taken up residence at book fairs,” the March 12 article’s subhead read."

"In the past, Turkish press and private television stations have consistently portrayed Christians in a poor light, causing recent concern that national media are partly responsible for violence against religious minorities."

"With negative media coverage fueling violence against Christians, skewed articles and slanderous television programs carry a very real threat for Turkish churches."

"Attacks against Christians in Turkey rarely received media attention until last month, when Santoro’s death made national and international headlines. Since then Turkish media have reported further attacks against priests in the western city of Izmir and the southern coastal city of Mersin.

Recent attacks against Turkey’s tiny Protestant community have gone almost unnoticed in the Turkish press. In January, church leader Kamil Kiroglu was attacked in the southern city of Adana and beaten unconscious, while in Trabzon two Protestant house church members were beaten and told to leave the city."

"But for Serkek, challenging disinformation about Christians in Turkey is not primarily about avoiding persecution. “Our goal is not to complain about Turkey or to defend ourselves, because that won’t provide a solution,” he told Compass.

According to the pastor, “persecution must come,” and he hopes that in response the Turkish church will further develop the “fruit” of love. “Our goal is to pray for Turks with tears, because when they threaten and attack us they don’t understand what they are doing. That is how we can be most useful to our country.”

This article is summarized from Compass Direct. For more information, subscribe to Compass Direct at Compass Direct

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