Monday, December 15, 2008

REGULATIONS HOBBLE PROTESTANT CHURCHES

In the city of Samsun on the north coast of Turkey, the beleaguered congregation of the Agape Church Association struggles against local Islamic hostility toward its presence. In the last three years Agape church members have endured false allegations and verbal abuse from Muslim and nationalist locals. Their pastor has received death threats, and their building has been vandalized, all in an attempt to stop the 30 or so Christians from meeting. Local authorities have also had their part in opposition to the church, threatening it with legal action based on spurious charges. The church was threatened with a lawsuit because members had hung verses of Scripture and a cross on the walls. The Provincial Directorate of Associations inspected the building and told them to remove the offending articles because their rented rooms looked too much like a church. It was this sort of harassment that led the Alliance of Protestant Churches of Turkey (TEK) to write a report on the unfounded obstacles and challenges facing Christian congregations wishing to construct or reclassify church buildings. “The process of becoming a place of worship, although legally possible, is in practice almost impossible,” said a member of the TEK’s legal committee.”
Compass Direct

New school text book encourages religious discrimination

Turkey: New school text book encourages religious discrimination
Turkey’s Ministry of Education has introduced a school text book which Christian Solidarity Worldwide says encourages discrimination of the country’s small Christian community, despite growing international concern over increasing violence against non-Muslims in Turkey.

The book, Primary Education, History of Republic Reforms and Ataturkizm, Lesson Book 8, is aimed at thirteen year olds and was published this year by Devlet [State] Books.

The controversial text describes missionary activity as a threat to national unity by destroying national and cultural values through converting people to another religion. The text accuses missionaries of using natural disasters, such as earthquakes, to serve their own interests and warns children of the subversive aims of missionaries as well as tips on how to recognise their activities.

A spokesperson for the Alliance of Protestant Churches of Turkey said: "To the Turkish State and society, the words ‘missionary activity’ encapsulates not only the work of foreign missionaries, but all Christian activity in the country.

"The state and various groups have for years, through endless disinformation, spread the belief that Turkish Christians are part of a secret foreign plot to destroy Turkey.

"This is the same twisted mindset that has led to numerous attacks on our churches by young people who are convinced that we are CIA agents or similar."

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Turkey teaches anti-Christian discrimination

Religious Intelligence - News - Turkey teaches anti-Christian discrimination
Turkey’s Ministry of Education has introduced a school text book which encourages discrimination of the country’s small Christian community, despite growing international concern over increasing violence against non-Muslims in Turkey.
Turkey teaches anti-Christian discrimination

The book, Primary Education, History of Republic Reforms and Atatürkizm, Lesson Book 8, is aimed at thirteen year olds and was published this year by Devlet [State] Books. The controversial text describes missionary activity as a threat to national unity by destroying national and cultural values through converting people to another religion.

Sunday, December 07, 2008

Turk 7 Now Offers Streaming Programs On Demand

Turk7

Turks around the world can now receive Christian programing on demand. Turk7 will regularly be rotating fresh content on the site.

Film about Turkish Christian history premieres tonight

The Charleston Gazette - West Virginia News and Sports - News - Film about Turkish Christian history premieres tonight 
Filmmaker Victoria Barrett is taking viewers on a journey from the West Virginia hills to the mountains that cradled Christianity.

In her new film "Journey of Faith," the Hedgesville native traces Christian history from biblical roots through the Byzantine Empire, exploring 15 locations in the Republic of Turkey.
Journey of Faith Website

Friday, December 05, 2008

Turkey to allow Alevi faith taught in states schools- AKP deputy

Turkey to allow Alevi faith taught in states schools- AKP deputy
Alevis, the liberal wing of Islam, held its largest rally on record in November in Turkey’s capital, Ankara, to demand the abolishment of the Religious Affairs Directorate, the closure of mosques in Alevi villages and the removal compulsory religious courses in schools.



Alevis are the second largest religious community in the country; although no official statistics are available, it is estimated that 20 million Alevis reside in Turkey.



They claim the Directorate of Religious Affairs is conducting missionary activities to assimilate Alevis into Sunnism by posting imams in Alevi populated villages, and complain their rights are ignored and places of worship not recognized by the state.



"Religion classes should be based on individual demand. If Alevis want to learn Alevi faith in schools, we could pave the way for that," Nihat Ergun, deputy head of the AKP's parliamentary group, told Reuters in an interview this week.

Turkey grants religious holidays to Jewish and Armenian students

Turkey grants religious holidays to Jewish and Armenian students
The president of Higher Education Board (YOK), Yusuf Ziya Ozcan, requested in the mandate sent to the offices of university rectors that Jewish and Armenian students in Turkey be allowed to take a vacation during their religious holidays, Hurriyet daily reported on Tuesday.

Uncertainty Over Future World’s Oldest Monastery

Link
There was uncertainty Wednesday, December 3, over the future of the world's oldest surviving Syriac Orthodox monastery in eastern Turkey, as local authorities and villagers have demanded part of its properties, an advocacy group told BosNewsLife Wednesday, December 3.

The Mor Gabriel Monastery, located near the town of Midyat in Mardin Province, is the target of several court cases, said Middle East Concern (MEC).

On Wednesday, December 3, "Bishop Timotheos Samuel Aktas will defend the monastery against numerous allegations, including claims that major buildings works have taken place without permission," MEC said.

The allegations are denied by the monastery. "One chapel was refurbished some years ago and is generally recognized as one of the most beautiful parts of the complex," MEC said. Later this month, on December 19, a local court was to examine boundary disputes raised by two neighbouring villages. However, "The monastery was built before the villages were founded," MEC stressed.