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Intolerance against various groups varies over time. The experience of the community I know best, my own small 3,000-strong Protestant community, illustrates the problems that these communities face. In the case of the Protestants, these ultimately resulted in the Malatya murders. Other communities also suffer intolerance and violence. Because many Protestants are converts from an Islamic background, theirs is a very good "test case" to examine how far tolerance in Turkey can accommodate true religious freedom.
What is the source of the intolerance that has fuelled violence against Christians? I think three trends can be identified:
1. disinformation about Christianity in statements by public figures and through the media;
2. the rise of Turkish nationalism;
3. and the implicit and explicit approval both of the marginalisation of Christians from Turkish society and also of actions – including murders - against them.
All three trends feed off and interact with each other.
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