Malatya victims seek compensation, question whole system

Malatya victims seek compensation, question whole system

The relatives of two Turkish citizens who were brutally killed in Malatya last year filed a joint petition with an administrative court in Ankara last week to open a compensation case against authorities whom they believe are responsible for the murder of their loved ones.

TESTIMONY SHOWS MALATYA MURDERS PREMEDITATED

Compass Direct News : TURKEY - TESTIMONY SHOWS MALATYA MURDERS PREMEDITATED

Testimony in the murder case of three Christians here indicates the attack was premeditated for at least two suspects, despite the defense team’s insistence that the killers acted spontaneously.

The 11th hearing on the murders at a publishing house in this southeastern city 17 months ago took place Friday (Sept. 12) at the Malatya Third Criminal Court. Two Turkish Christians who converted from Islam, Necati Aydin and Ugur Yuksel, and a German, Tilmann Geske, were brutally tortured and killed on April 18, 2007.

Malatya killer might have hinted of murders to girlfriend

Malatya killer might have hinted of murders to girlfriend

The 11th hearing of the trial over the murder of three Christians in the southeastern province of Malatya in 2007 convened yesterday. Two witnesses who knew some of the suspects before the incident, including suspect Emre Günaydın's girlfriend Turna Işıklı, testified at yesterday's hearing.

Işıklı told the court she had stopped talking to Günaydın when she found he had feelings for her but said the two made up later through a friend. In response to a question from the judge as to whether she was aware of Günaydın's political leanings, she said no.

Işıklı was asked during cross-examination what Günaydın might have meant in an SMS message he wrote to her one day before the murders in which he said, "I will be at the interrogation tomorrow." Işıklı said she thought it meant Günaydın would be "questioned" by her father over school-related matters.

Meanwhile, Günaydın shouted at one of the lawyers for the victims' families when the lawyer's phone rang to "Switch it off, you are disturbing my concentration."

Orthodox Christianity under threat

Orthodox Christianity under threat - International Herald Tribune

When Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and his Islamic-rooted party came under fierce fire this summer from secularists, who came close to persuading the country's supreme court to bar both from politics, he called the campaign an attack against religious freedom and a threat to Turkey's efforts to join the European Union.

Yet in nearly six years in power, Erdogan has shown no inclination to extend even a modicum of religious freedom to the most revered Christian institution in Turkey - the Patriarchate of Constantinople, the spiritual center of 300 million Orthodox Christians throughout the world. As a result, Turkey's persecution of the Patriarchate looms as a major obstacle to its European aspirations, and rightly so.

The Kalenderhane Mosque: a former church with a long history

[SACRED SITES] The Kalenderhane Mosque: a former church with a long history

İstanbul, the former capital of the Ottoman Empire, is home to many mosques that were formerly churches prior to the conquest of the city by Mehmet II in 1453. One such historical jewel is located in the Vezneciler area of Eminönü, though it lacks the fame of the Aya Sofya.

The Kalenderhane Mosque in Vezneciler, close to the Fatih district, is just one of many such examples. Built as a church by the Byzantines, the small mosque first served as a dervish convent after the conquest of Constantinople and then as a mosque

Turkish municipality recognizes Alevi places of worship

Turkish municipality recognizes Alevi places of worship

The assembly houses at which Turkey's Alevi communities pray, known as cemevis, have been approved as official places of worship in Turkey for the first time with a key decision taken by a regional municipality.

Politics, not religion 'behind Turkey killings'

Religious Intelligence - News - Politics, not religion 'behind Turkey killings'

Politics, not religion, may have been the motive for the killing of three Christians last year in Turkey, according to testimony presented in the trial of five men accused of the murders.
Politics, not religion 'behind Turkey killings'

On Aug 21 prosecuting attorneys requested police investigate possible links between the ultra-nationalist Ergenekon movement and the April 18, 2007 torture and murder of Turkish Christians Necati Aydin and Ugur Yuksel and German missionary Tilmann Geske in the southeastern city of Malatya.

According to Turkish press accounts of the trial, the alleged ringleader of the Malatya murders, Emre Gunaydin was a member of an ultra-nationalist youth movement, the Ulku Ocaklari, and was linked to a retired general and journalist alleged to be part of Ergenekon network.

Facebook Population: A Global Breakdown

Turkish Digest: Facebook Population: A Global Breakdown

Facebook Population By Region: all numbers current to last Friday (Aug 22nd 2008)

Top 8

1 USA 31,679,380 about 1 in 10
2 United Kingdom 12,216,660 about 1 in 5
3 Canada 9,878,540 about 1 in 3
4 Turkey 3,747,000 about 1 in 20

Central broadcasting system for Islamic call to prayer

Can they just broadcast direct to their cell phones?

Central broadcasting system for Islamic call to prayer - Turkish Daily News Aug 27, 2008

Recently adopted by the Religious Affairs Directorate, a central broadcasting system for "azhan," the Islamic call to prayer, has satisfied many citizens who used to be disturbed by its non-simultaneous broadcast from minarets.

SEN. MENENDEZ FIGHTS TO ENSURE TURKISH GOVERNMENT RESPECTS RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS OF ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHURCH'S ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE

Hellenic News of America

U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has introduced legislation to urge the Government of Turkey to respect the rights and freedoms of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of the Orthodox Christian Church, in accordance with criteria necessary to join the European Union. The Ecumenical Patriarch is the leading figure in the Orthodox Church and has suffered from discriminatory treatment from the Turkish government.

MALATYA MURDERS LINKED TO POLITICAL CONSPIRACY

Compass Direct News

The five young Turkish men accused of torturing and killing three Christians in Malatya last year may have been incited by members of a vast political conspiracy allegedly responsible for multiple murders in recent years. The 10th hearing on the murder of three Christians at a publishing house in southeast Turkey 16 months ago took place yesterday (Aug. 21) at the Malatya Third Criminal Court. Plaintiff attorneys requested the case be integrated with an investigation into Ergenekon, an ultranationalist cabal of retired generals, politicians, journalists and mafia members under investigation for conspiracy in various murders. In January police uncovered and started arresting members of Ergenekon. A criminal investigation has linked them to high-profile attacks, murders and plans to engineer domestic chaos and ultimately overthrow the government. Two Turkish Christians, Necati Aydin and Ugur Yuksel, and a German, Tilmann Geske, were brutally tortured and killed on April 18, 2007 in the southeastern city of Malatya. Evidence suggests Emre Gunaydin, the suspected ringleader of the murderers, was in contact with at least two people connected to Ergenekon: a retired brigadier general and a journalist. The latter, Varol Bulent Aral, told Gunaydin he saw a connection between missionaries and the Kurdistan Worker’s Party terrorist organization.

Ergenekon indictment to be included in Malatya murders case

Ergenekon indictment to be included in Malatya murders case

The panel of judges hearing the murder trial of three missionaries killed at a Christian publishing house in the eastern province of Malatya last year has ruled to integrate the nearly 2,500-page indictment against Ergenekon, a gang accused of trying to topple the government by force, into the Malatya case.

We are all equal as citizens of the Turkish Republic

Gül: We are all equal as citizens of the Turkish Republic

All Turkish citizens, irrespective of religion or ethnicity, are equal, President Abdullah Gül said on Saturday during a festival of Turkey's Alevi community, a religious group that differs from Sunni Islam with membership thought to number between 6 million and 12 million in Turkey.

Debate on prayer in schools in Turkey

The right to pornography - Turkish Daily News Aug 09, 2008

A new hot debate started this week in the Turkish media with the draft law prepared by Edibe Sözen, a member of Parliament on the ticket of the governing Justice and Development Party, or AKP.
Another suggestion in Ms. Sözen’s draft is the opening of “prayer rooms” in public schools, “for students from all different religious faiths.” The secularist media perceived this as “an attempt to insert Islamic prayer to schools,” and Ms. Sözen responded by saying that she meant “all faiths,” not just Islam.

This is, again, a complex issue. It is nice that Ms. Sözen refers to “all faiths,” but it is also true that more than “99 percent” of Turkey is Muslim, and the prayers rooms, if they will be opened, will all be Islamic ones. So, in real life, the issue is about allowing Islamic prayer in Turkish schools. And it is not easy to give an answer. On the one hand, there is the idea that public schools are supposed to be secular, so they should not promote religious services. But on the other hand, there is the idea that public schools, let alone private ones, should respect the demands of their students to observe their religious practices. Which one is true?

The issue actually cuts down to this question: Should the secular state respect the religious practices of its citizens and make some regulations accordingly? My answer is often yes, because otherwise religious citizens would feel be discriminated against by the state. And they would be alienated.

I recall that the director of my high school would not allow students to go to the Friday prayer by taking a slightly longer noon break. He used to say, “Study at school is more important than prayer at the mosque.” That sort of secularism is an assertive one that seeks to triumph over religion. And it is inevitable for true believers to dislike, and stand against, such a secularism. The wiser way would be to develop a model in which the religious lifestyle would be embraced, as well as the secular lifestyle. And citizens should decide whether they are driven to prayer or porn.

Sümela Monastery: Ancient jewel at the foot of the Black Mountains

Sümela Monastery: Ancient jewel at the foot of the Black Mountainsah

The Black Sea province of Trabzon is known for its beautiful natural scenery, but it is also known for its centuries-old monastery complex. As you arrive at Altındere Valley in the town of Maçka, you will likely catch a glimpse of the Sümela Monastery by gazing down into the valley from far above before you can take in the magnificent view around you: the sparkling stream, the green cloak covering the valley and the Sümela Monastery in all its glory.



The monastery, also known as the Meryem Ana (Virgin Mary) among locals, is a Greek monastery complex at the foot of the Karadağlar (Black Mountains). It is perhaps the most significant attraction of the region. Its full name is Panagia Sümela, or Theotokos Sümela, in some sources.