Friday, September 07, 2007

TURKEY - CHRISTIANS FACE ONGOING INTIMIDATION

"Police in Turkey’s western city of Izmit have arrested a man who set a fire early yesterday morning at the entrance of the local Protestant church and then shot off his pistol several times.

The church’s pastor is the brother-in-law of one of the converts to Christianity murdered in Malatya in April and has been targeted by Islamic extremists.

Identified by police authorities as Semih Sahin, the man who set fire to the church entrance reportedly told interrogators that he had been “bothered” by what he heard and read in the newspapers about the Izmit Protestant Church, so he wanted to “make a scene” to arouse public attention against it.

According to local police, who described the apprehended suspect as a “psychopath,” Sahin has a previous criminal and prison record. He was brought before a local prosecutor, formally charged and jailed yesterday afternoon.

Yesterday’s incident, which occurred at 3:15 a.m., was recorded on a security camera installed by the church several months ago, in the wake of the gruesome stabbing deaths of three Protestant Christians in Malatya on April 18."
Compass Direct News : TURKEY - CHRISTIANS FACE ONGOING INTIMIDATION

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