European Parliamentarians Call on Turkey to Protect Assyrian Monastery

European Parliamentarians Call on Turkey to Protect Assyrian Monastery

ast week the Parliamentary Assembly of the council of Europe held its plenary session. MP's from 47 countries (including all EU countries, Russia and Turkey) debated the state of Human Rights in Europe. During this session Dutch MP Pieter Omtzigt took the initiave to raise the question of the St. Gabriel Assyrian Monastery in Turkey.

In conjunction with 23 other MPs, Mr. Omtzigt made a motion for a resolution which "calls on Turkish authorities not to take away ownership of grounds with wrong pretexts and with potential irreparable consequences for this world's cultural heritage and on one of the foremost places of religious worship in Turkey. The Assembly sees this as a test for the exercise of freedom of religion in Turkey and decides to follow this issue carefully."

FACTBOX: Christians in Turkey

FACTBOX: Christians in Turkey | International | Reuters

Turkey is overwhelmingly Muslim but hosts several ancient Christian communities -- dwindling remnants of sizeable populations that prospered for centuries in the Muslim-led but multi-ethnic, multi-faith Ottoman Empire.

They include Syriac Christians, Greek Orthodox, Armenians and Catholics. Modern Turkey was founded as a secular republic by Kemal Mustafa Ataturk on the empire's ashes in 1923.

Here are some details about Christians in Turkey:

* SOME HISTORY:

-- At the beginning of World War One, Christians still made up 20 percent of the population. However in May 1915, Ottoman commanders began mass deportation of Armenians from eastern Turkey thinking they might assist Russian invaders.

-- Thousands were marched from the Anatolian borders toward Syria and Mesopotamia (now Iraq) and Armenians say some 1.5 million died either in massacres or from starvation or deprivation as they were marched through the desert. There are some 70,000 Armenians left in Turkey. Turkey says large numbers of both Christian Armenians and Muslim Turks were killed during the violent and chaotic break-up of the Ottoman Empire. The number of Christians has now fallen to around 100,000 in a total population of more than 70 million.

Click the link above to keep reading . . .

Fethullah Gülen's Grand Ambition Turkey's Islamist Danger

200901123303 | Fethullah Gülen's Grand Ambition Turkey's Islamist Danger | / | Global Terrorism

Today, despite the rhetoric of European Union accession, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has turned Turkey away from Europe and toward Russia and Iran and reoriented Turkish policy in the Middle East away from sympathy toward Israel and much more toward friendship with Hamas, Hezbollah, and Syria. Anti-American, anti-Christian, and anti-Semitic sentiments have increased. Behind Turkey's transformation has been not only the impressive AKP political machine but also a shadowy Islamist sect led by the mysterious hocaefendi (master lord) Fethullah Gülen; the sect often bills itself as a proponent of tolerance and dialogue but works toward purposes quite the opposite. Today, Gülen and his backers (Fethullahcılar, Fethullahists) not only seek to influence government but also to become the government.

MUSLIM SENTENCED FOR STABBING PRIEST IN IZMIR

Compass Direct News : TURKEY - MUSLIM SENTENCED FOR STABBING PRIEST IN IZMIR

A judge in Turkey sentenced a 19-year-old Muslim to four-and-a-half years in prison on Jan. 5 for stabbing a Catholic priest in the coastal city of Izmir in December 2007.

Ramazan Bay, then 17, had met with Father Adriano Franchini, a 65-year-old Italian and long-term resident of Turkey, after expressing an interest in Christianity following mass at St. Anthony church. During their conversation, Bay became irritated and pulled out a knife, stabbing the priest in the stomach.

Fr. Franchini was hospitalized but released the next day as his wounds were not critical.

Bay, originally from Balikesir 90 miles north of Izmir, reportedly said he was influenced by an episode of the TV serial drama “Kurtlar Vadisi” (“Valley of the Wolves”). The series caricatures Christian missionaries as political “infiltrators” who pay poor families to convert to Christianity.

“Valley of the Wolves” also played a role in a foiled attack on another Christian leader in December 2007. Murat Tabuk reportedly admitted under police interrogation that the popular ultra-nationalist show had inspired him to plan the murder of Antalya pastor Ramazan Arkan. The plan was thwarted, with the pastor receiving armed police protection and Antalya’s anti-terrorism police bureau ordering plainclothes guards to accompany him.

Together with 20 other Protestant church leaders, Arkan on Dec. 3, 2007 filed a formal complaint with the Istanbul State Prosecutor’s office protesting “Valley of the Wolves” for “presenting them as a terrorist group and broadcasting scenes making them an open target.”

Turkey Teaches anti-Christian Discrimination

Turkey Teaches anti-Christian Discrimination | AssyriaTimes.com

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.

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.

Turkish youth convicted of stabbing priest

Turkish youth convicted of stabbing priest - International Herald Tribune

A Turkish court has convicted a youth of stabbing a Catholic priest last year and sentenced him to 4 1/2 years in prison.

The court in the Aegean port city of Izmir on Monday found 19-year-old Ramazan Bay guilty of stabbing and wounding Adriano Franchini in December 2007.

The attack on the Italian priest was one of a string of hate attacks against Christians in Turkey in 2006 and 2007.

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."

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.

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

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.

BIRDS WITHOUT WINGS By Louis de Bernieres

Bewitching Birds

IN the decade that I was a book merchandiser, I read many of the thousands of titles of every imaginable genre that passed through my hands. But I never ever read historical fiction.

It was the one genre that daunted me because I reckoned the joy of reading would be constantly interrupted by wondering which part was historic fact and which, fiction.

Then Birds Without Wings fell into my hands recently and proved me completely wrong: I was besotted, savouring its 796 pages within a week. Months have passed since I put it down, but it remains resonant, as my mind regularly plays out pieces of this compelling tale of love, friendship, and culture during the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in Turkey after World War I.

Highly recommended!