The conference topic: Religious freedom

Turkey

Turkey (MNN) ― The past couple of months have been filled with reports of pastors being thrown in jail, churches being shut down, and Christians being persecuted for their beliefs. Kazakhstan, for example, just passed a new law that will affect over 500 different churches. "If they don't reach the number of membership of more then 50, they have to be liquidated within this year," says Sergey Rakhuba of Russian Ministries.

With religious freedom in mind, a conference is being held in Turkey, where over 50 organizations are coming together. Their goal? They are "concentrating on the evangelical church and helping evangelicals fight for their freedom--especially in those countries where Christianity is under pressure," according to Rakhuba.
This year, the conference is focusing on the area of Eurasia, which is made up of countries from the former Soviet Union. Says Rakhuba, "There are lots of issues today with sharp rise of religious freedom issues and persecution specifically in the countries of Central Asia."

Russian Ministries is "spearheading the initiatives" in terms of religious freedom. They are creating an awareness of the problem, educating pastors, and showing them how to lead their congregation in this situation.

"We are equipping the Evangelical church in those countries to fight for their freedom, to value their freedom, to educate their congregations about freedom, how to be careful with freedom. We believe that freedom is a gift of God we have to be careful with it, but at the same time everyone has a right to it," explains Rakhuba.

"Going to this consultation we will be presenting all these cases that represent Eurasia, Eurasian territories, and specifically evangelical churches that experience pressure, experience persecution," explains Rakhuba. "We will developing some policies and will be developing some letters that we will be sending to some of those oppressive governments, just making a statement on behalf of the entire evangelical global community in support of those who are persecuted."

Prayer is vital to the work that Russian Ministries and the 50 other organizations are going to be doing in Turkey. "I would greatly appreciate the evangelical family...to pray that God would give us guidance, God would give us wisdom."

Rakhuba also asks that you "continue praying for the evangelical church, that God would equip the church to not just survive but to be productive, be progressive in those situations, and continue reaching their communities with the Gospel. "

Turkish courts finally put murder suspects on trial

Turkey (MNN) ― In 2007, three Christians were brutally murdered in the Malatya Massacre. Five years down the road, suspects are finally taking the stand, and there could be an end in sight, according to Compass Direct News (CDN). In a recent article, CDN said 19 suspects stood on trial for the Zerve Publishing slayings. This is a big step, as the case has progressed at a remarkably sluggish pace.

But during the six recent consecutive days of court hearings, the massacre mastermind failed to show up. On the stand, one of the defendants denied any connection to the prime suspect.

"We went on an expedition on behalf of Islam on our own to accomplish this event," said defendant Emre Gunaydin.

A recurring theme seems to have surfaced for this trial: one step forward, three steps back.

In late 2007, five men went to trial and faced life sentences for tying up, torturing, and slitting the throats of Necati Aydin, 35, Ugur Yuksel, 32, and German national Tilmann Geske, 46. A year later, the Turkish Interior Ministry investigated accusations against state prosecutors for mishandling the case. The case was expanded in 2009 when evidence suggested the attacks were instigated by Ergenekon, a loose collection of ultra-nationalist generals, businessmen, mafia and journalists. It hit a bump in the road in June 2009 when a suspected middleman failed to show up for court. 

Although the end seemed to be in sight in 2010, the trial dragged on for another two years.

In June, CDN recounts, the courts accepted a new indictment accusing military higher-ups of orchestrating the attacks. The 761-page report claims the murders were planned by a retired military general as part of the Cage Action Plan, formed by military officials trying to undercut the government through "assassinations, threats, and acts of terror against Turkey's non-Muslim minorities."

"This indictment provides the first solid evidence that our military authorities officially assigned the named suspects to monitor and attack the Christians in Malatya," a representative told CDN.

The case's prime suspect, 70-year-old Ret. Gen. Hursit Tolon, reportedly sent the court a 10-day medical excuse from his prison cell. CDN said Tolon and the remaining suspects will testify on November 12, when hearings are scheduled to resume.

Two widows, five young children, and a fiancée survive the victims of the Malatya Massacre. Keep them in your prayers, and pray for the quick resolution of this case. Turkey is #31 on the Open Doors World Watch List. Pray for boldness for Turkish believers.

Syrian refugee crisis hits Jordan

Hussein Malla\AP

Jordan (MNN) ― The violence continues in Syria, and now a border situation is causing a refugee crisis.

Bill Bray with Christian Aid Mission says, "Early in the week the Turks closed their border, and it's created a lot of panic. The fighting on the ground is horrific. A lot of these [refugees] are widows and children. This is a real crisis."

Jordanian native missionary leaders say they are being overwhelmed by a new surge of terrified Syrian refugees. "They are coming under the fences every night--2,500 to 3,000 at a time since the border with Turkey closed two days ago," says an indigenous leader of one of the main mission groups who asked not to be identified for security reasons.

"There are already 180,000 refugees here from Syria, and they are growing every day. This is a very, very intense time for us." The Christians are responding as good Samaritans to the desperate refugees, helping them find food and shelter. Most are women and children.

The indigenous leaders asked Christian Aid Mission and others in the USA to help send more immediate financial aid so that food, medicine, and clothing can be purchased on the local market for free distribution to the refugees.

"The refugees are only dressed in light, summer wear and have nothing but the clothes on their backs," he said. "They don't want to enter government camps where there is food and water shortages. Instead, they are coming to us for food and clothing."

Winter is coming, he added, and at least $150,000 will be needed now to keep food parcels going out, supply blankets and winter clothing.

Like all the other front line states, Jordan has officially closed its borders to Syrian refugees and is trying to resist pressure by Sunni Jihadists from nearby Saudi and Qatar. The Islamic Jihad wants to divide up Syrian territory under various militias in order to help bring down the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, an Alawite Muslim who is accused of many atrocities but has protected the Christian minority.

A special fund has been set up by Christian Aid coded 400REF to aid the Syrian Christians during this time of crisis. 

Offerings for the suffering believers of Syria are being collected by phone at 800-977-5650 or at the Christian Aid Mission Web site: www.ChristianAid.or.

"We want to thank you Americans from the bottom of our hearts," said the Jordanian native missionary. "Your prayer and support is helping us befriend, love, and supply aid to these people. Discipleship requires an investment of time, resources, and courage, which we trust the Lord to provide to us."

Bray says, "The biggest thing they need right now is cash immediately to purchase food, medicines, and warm clothing."

A nearby pastor said, "I feel like finally, for the first time, we are doing outreach successfully."

Among the biggest needs they face:

• $70 each to sponsor the education of one child
• $45 each to supply medications for a refugee family
• $12 each for Arabic Bibles
• $55 each for food packets
• $180 per share of rent if a family shares an apartment with several other families

All the Syrian refugees told Christian Aid Mission reporters that they fled Syria after family members were killed. "We lost it all in Syria," said one woman. "I feared for my children, but here in Jordan they can play without being shot! I worry for my family that didn't make it out. I lost friends and loved ones. I've lost all hope."

Just crossing the border can be deadly. "We waited until nightfall, climbed through a barbed-wire fence under heavy gunfire with our husbands and kids. Our husbands didn't make it across."

Another said she came because "I couldn't sleep at night as I watched over my kids thinking this is our last night."

Bray says workers supported by Christian Aid Mission are using this for the Gospel sake. "In the midst of it, they're doing a lot of child evangelism and children's classes. This provides a lot of context in which to do a lot of Christian outreach."

Christian Aid Mission has been supporting indigenous missions in Syria and the front line states of Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, and Turkey for decades. "We already had an indigenous network in place before the fighting began," said a Christian Aid Mission spokesperson in Charlottesville, Virginia. "We are able to get help to the field quickly."

Fate of Turkish believers might lie in this decision

(Image courtesy of Wikipedia)

Turkey (MNN) ― Currently the cause of unrest between parties writing Turkey's new constitution, the issue of religious freedom could act as a catalyst.

"Depending on who wins this battle, they certainly will gain more power in moving the country: either toward a more secular, European/Western country," Rody Rodeheaver with IN Network explains, "or into a closed, Islamic fundamentalist country like their neighbor, Iran."

What would this decision mean for Turkish believers?

"There is great danger here, and in the midst of this are the Christians," he said.

One point of controversy in the freedom of religion proposals is education: namely, the Religious Culture and Knowledge of Ethnics (RCKE) courses required at all public schools. In this class, kids have to memorize parts of the Koran, the history of Mohammed, and various teachings from the Koran. They're also expected to participate in various Muslim celebrations and holidays.

The RCKE course puts children of believers on the front-lines of persecution. Rodeheaver explains that a common Turkish view is: "If you're a Turk, you're Muslim." This can be very difficult for kids trying to fit in at school because the RCKE course requires them to reveal their faith, making them stick out like a sore thumb.

"Our director and his children have experienced some very hurtful things," Rodeheaver said. "The children were selected for ridicule: 'You Christians, you're just all Americans in disguise.'"

Pray for Christian children who face persecution from their peers.

Another area impacted by this decision is Turkey's membership in the European Union (EU). Turks are primarily divided into two groups; some Turks want their nation to join the European Union and adopt policies with a secular lean, while others want Turkey to become a fundamental, Islamic nation. With Turkey's interest in becoming a part of the EU comes freedom for believers.

"If this changes, [believers] will lose a lot of ground and it could become very dangerous for them."

However, a recent survey by the Turkey-Europe Educational and Scientific Research Foundation (TAVAK) shows a significant drop in Turks' desire to join the EU. The study attributes this drop in support to the economic crises in EU member states and self-assurance among Turks that "they can do without the EU."

As the government continues to drag its feet toward change, there is a desperate need for prayer. Pray for the safety of believers in Turkey.

Syrian nightmare continues; believers deliver respite

(Photo courtesy Baptist Global Response)

Syria (BGR/MNN) ― Syria's government forces spent much of Thursday in a violent confrontation with rebels in parts of the capital city.

Pro- and anti-Assad gunmen, fueled by tensions in neighboring Syria, were also fighting over the border in Lebanon's city of Tripoli, nullifying a truce less than 24 hours old.

At the same time, the U.S. and Turkey held an "operational planning" meeting aimed at ending  Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's embattled regime.

In the 18-months since the first rebellion during the "Arab Spring," the United Nations estimates 2.5 million people are in need of humanitarian aid. The flow of refugees to neighboring countries continues its steady growth, although there are many thousands still trapped within Syria. Civilian deaths, according to observer reports topped 21,000 earlier this month. That number has climbed higher over the last two weeks.

Despite the growing desperation, there are some who bring hope and light with the gentle knock at the door. Baptist Global Responsesays there's a Syrian Christian couple living in a neighboring country who is delivering food and other basic necessities to internal refugees.

These Christians are going into Sunni Muslims neighborhoods near one of the Syrian cities hit hard by shelling and army-rebel combat. The nearby area, populated primarily by Syrian Christians, has been spared the worst of the violence.

"I don't know that there's any 'safe zone' in Syria, but because this area is largely Christian, it hasn't been a target of a lot of the fighting," a Christian worker says. "A lot of refugees who didn't leave the country went to this area and sought refuge. There's a great opportunity there. We're in the very beginning stages of that project.The severity of the need is greater inside the country than what we're seeing [among refugees leaving the country]."

Confused and frightened, thousands of Syrians are looking for something to cling to. They are disillusioned by the war around them and respond to Truth that appears on their doorstep in the form of physical aid, the compassion of Christ, and ultimately, the Word of God.

"In the midst of all the violence, you see these bright spots and know He really is at work and drawing the hearts of people to Himself," the aid worker says. Pray for as these workers share the hope of Christ.

Turkey's new constitution may not allow for a neutral state

Turkey (MNN) ― Turkey Constitutional Reconciliation Commission (AUK) started writing the draft of a new Constitution on May 1. But since the project has been underway, Forum 18 News Service has noted that it is still unclear as to whether or not the new constitution will effectively protect the right to freedom of thought, religion, or belief at all.

Turkey does not exactly have a history of equality among its people. Although it's certainly much more tolerant of minorities than neighboring countries, Turkey remains 31st on the Open Doors World Watch List for persecuted of Christians.

A quality, neutral Constitution would not necessarily solve problems of persecution, but Forum 18 argues it "could solve at least some of the systemic problems and send a strong signal to government and society of other necessary changes."

In other words, it may encourage change in the daily lives of the Turkish people.

Throughout the Constitution drafting process, representatives from multiple religious groups have presented their views to the AUK. A few smaller minority groups have been left out of the process, but Sunni Muslims, minority Alevis, Christians, and more have been able to express their concerns and ideas.

Forum 18 says, "Some of the key religious freedom manifestations that religious groups--including minorities and groups within the majority Sunni Muslim population--hope to see protected in the new Constitution include: the right to establish schools where religious training can be provided, the right for religious organizations and communities to acquire legal entity status, the right to establish places of worship, the right to appoint leaders in accordance with their respective religious traditions."

These are ideas they have been able to express to the AUK. However, recent government decisions suggest that the AUK may not necessarily take all of these concerns into consideration.

For one thing, there have been odd moves in the education realm. Forum 18 notes that the Turkish government recently allowed the opening of Islamic schools and the creation of distance learning for female students who want to wear headscarves. However, no accomodations have been made for other minority groups.

At the same time, the "Religious Culture and Knowledge of Ethics" class students are required to take has yet to be abolished or even refined. Forum 18 suggests it could be redefined to include education about all religions in Turkey or at least provide optional lessons to learn about Christianity, Judaism, and other religions found in Turkey.

Furthermore, on June 1, legislation was passed introducing tax exemptions for people building places of worship or places of religious instruction. But Forum 18 notes that in order to get the exemption, the places must be approved by the local Governorship. Forum 18 says that seriously limits who can receive the tax exemptions. They say Protestants already face serious obstacles in establishing places of worship.

If the strange goings-on of the government indicated nothing, and the AUK created a truly neutral Constitution, things still might not pan out in favor of religious freedom. Forum 18 reports that although the AUK has to make a unanimous decision, the draft Constitution will be subject to changes by the General Assembly of parliament, the Grand National Assembly.

Clearly there are multiple variables in this Constitution process that could jeopardize religious freedom and tolerance within Turkey. The best thing to do now is pray. Pray for a Turkey's Constitution to provide freedom for believers, but most importantly, pray that the Gospel would move forward regardless of what comes next. 

Turkey’s Religious Freedom Record Slides

Pastor in Black Sea region’s bastion of nationalism feels the hate; slow justice in Malatya.

ISTANBUL, April 9 (CDN) — Sentiment against Christians in Turkey has persisted long enough for a U.S. religious rights monitor to recommend it as a “Country of Particular Concern,” and pastor Orhan Picaklar knows such anti-Christian hostility first-hand.


Picaklar, of Agape Church in Samsun, lives in the Black Sea region, a bastion of Turkey’s unique Islamic-imbued nationalism, where Christians live under increasing pressure. He has seen his building attacked and his family and congregation threatened.


“Just as it is difficult to belong to Jesus all over the world, unfortunately it is the same in Samsun, if not worse,” Picaklar said. “We have been here for 10 years, and people here still treat us like cursed enemies. Our families feel anxiety. On the hour my wife calls me and I have to say, ‘There’s no problem,’ as if to say, ‘I’m still alive.’”


Picaklar’s son received death threats on Facebook last September. A man in his early 20s caused minor damage to Picaklar’s church building last month, the latest in a series of aggressions that has led the church to file charges after long declining to do so.


Police called Picaklar in the middle of the night on March 4 to tell him to come to the police station because a young man had disturbed neighbors near the church building. Neighbors heard the suspect, Eren Cilce, yelling, “Corrupt, perverted Christians, we are going to bring this church down on your heads, get lost,” among other threats, Picaklar said.


The church was housing visitors who had travelled from Romania, he said. Visitors, especially foreigners, attract unwanted attention from local nationalist groups, he added.


The assailant’s threat was nothing new. In June a man broke into the church building and painted threats on the wall. When authorities captured the perpetrator, he asked Picaklar for forgiveness. The church didn’t press charges.


Though Picaklar’s congregation has never pressed charges for previous hate crimes, last month they decided to formally complain.


“We are always forgiving, but since the threats are continuing in aggression and we are innocent, we decided as a congregation for the first time to press charges,” he said.


A court hearing will likely take place in May, and Picaklar said he expects the culprit will be fined. Police informed him that Cilce was drunk, and Picaklar said he hopes the court doesn’t dismiss the case on that basis. The congregation does not have a lawyer.


Of the 50 members of his church, only a dozen have made the brave move to change the religion status on their identification cards from Muslim to Christian, or at least to leave it blank, Picaklar said.


Many in Turkey see Christians as corrupt elements of the West out to shake the integrity of Turkey and Islam; this portrayal has been propagated to some extent in media and literature, including school textbooks. Though constitutionally Turks are allowed to share their faith with others, the word “missionary” carries negative connotations, including the mistaken notion of undermining Turkish sovereignty. In recent years a series of assassinations of Christians in Turkey has brought to the fore deep-rooted prejudices against Christians.


Country of Particular Concern
Such indiscretions are one reason the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) last month recommended that Turkey be designated as a “Country of Particular Concern (CPC),” among Iran, Saudi Arabia and Sudan, for religious freedom violations.


The report cited the government for “systematic and egregious limitations” on religious freedom, stating that Turkey, “in the name of secularism, has long imposed burdensome regulations and denied full legal status to religious groups, violating the religious freedom rights of all religious communities.”


Restrictions that deny non-Muslim communities the rights to train clergy, offer religious education and own and maintain places of worship have led to their decline and in some cases their disappearance, the report stated. The Greek Orthodox community of Turkey has dwindled to around 2,500 from tens of thousands early in the 20th century.


The report called some of the positive steps the government has made in the area of property, education and religious dress as “ad hoc” that have not led to systematic constitutional and legal changes.


Religious restrictions in Turkey have not increased in the last year, but the report stated that continued legal discrimination against non-Muslim groups was a dangerous trend.


Turkish officials called USCIRF’s recommendation to the U.S. Department of State “null and void.” Turkey’s parliament is in the process of drafting a new constitution, and a special parliamentary committee has met with members of Turkey’s non-Muslim communities to hear from them how the new constitution could better represent their communities.


A researcher on religious freedom in Turkey, Mine Yildirim of ABO Academy in Finland, told Compass that USCIRF’s portrayal of religious freedom in Turkey is correct but that the country did not deserve to be designated as a CPC.


“I think it was an unfair attestation, and though they wanted to give a strong message to Turkey, it backfired because the ministry said it was null and void and they wouldn’t take it into account at all,” said Yildirim, a Turkish Christian.


Yildirim acknowledged that religious freedom violations against Protestants had increased in 2011, noting that with few exceptions they are still unable to establish places of worship. Most of Turkey’s churches function as civil associations and can therefore meet in buildings.


Malatya, Five Years LaterFive years after the murder of Turkish Christians Necati Aydin, Ugur Yuksel and German Christian Tilmann Geske in Malatya, no verdict has been issued due to Turkey’s slow judiciary. This has not helped Turkey’s religious rights image.


The Malatya Third Criminal Court is making some progress in shedding light on a shadowy group that was allegedly behind the murders, experts said, but the process has been painfully slow.


A new indictment due last month against the alleged “masterminds” of the murders is still not ready, prosecution lawyers said, setting back hopes for progress at hearings this week.


“Nothing is going to happen,” plaintiff lawyer Erdal Dogan said before today’s court hearing. “We are still waiting for the new indictment.”


The court decided to re-convene on June 18.


The April 2007 murders are believed to be part of a conspiracy to overthrow the current pro-Islamic government.


Prosecuting lawyers and members of the local Protestant community still hope that the new indictment due ahead of the June 18 hearing will be a step forward in bringing the perpetrators to justice.


“I believe the indictment will uncover many details we are not aware of,” Umut Sahin, coordinator of the Legal Committee of the Association of Turkish Protestant Churches (TEK), told Compass. “I think it might surprise us.”


Sahin said he believed the delay of the new indictment was due to its complexity and length and not any unwillingness to advance the case.


Since 2008 there have not been similar bloody attacks against Protestants, but according to TEK, 2011 saw a spike in hate crimes against the association’s 4,500 members.


Commenting on the slow proceedings of the Malatya trial, researcher Yildirim of the ABO Academy said that the judiciary and Turkish “problems of rule and law” were partially to blame, but that the forthcoming new indictment would be a positive step.


“For Malatya, if you put aside the slowness, now finally a new indictment is being prepared to find the instigators,” she said. “So this is a positive effect. It’s not what we expect from justice, but even though it is slow, this is a positive outcome of the trial.”



END

Turkey's justice moves forward...slowly

Plaintiff lawyers Erdal Dogan (left)
 and Orhan Kemal Cengiz on the
steps of the Malatya courthouse.
 (Photo by Compass Direct News) 

Turkey (MNN) ― Compass Direct News says the suspects arrested in Turkey's 2007 Zirve Publishing House murder case were before the court last week telling their story once more.  

The original case stems from the brutal murders of three people (Necati Aydin and Ugur Yüksel and Christian German national Tilmann Geske) who sold Christian literature in a publishing house in the eastern province of Malatya.   

IN Network USA president Rody Rodeheaver explains, "There were several young men who were caught red-handed in this situation. But there has always been the feeling that the people who wielded the knives were not the people who really were behind this."

The arrested are accused of having masterminded and instigated the April murders as part of Ergenekon's plan to lay the groundwork for a military takeover. Rodeheaver says that led to more investigation which uncovered the dark underbelly of Turkey. "They felt that it was a shadowy group called 'Ergenekon' which is a terrorist group at the highest levels of the Turkish military; their goal is to undermine the Turkish government and to keep them out of the European union."

The reason the  judges of the Third Criminal Court of Malatya wanted to hear the testimony was so they could prepare another part of the case that links the suspects to the masterminds. So far, that's been a tough call. Rodeheaver says, "There is a concern on the part of the Christian church that an indictment will not really go deep enough because the lead prosecutor and the head judge were taken off the case, and there's always been a fear that this was the starting of a cover-up."

An indictment of the masterminds behind the murders is expected on April 9 if it process true justice. The trial hearings for the murders of the three Christians continued slowly last year amid advances in investigations and the replacement of key personnel--a move some think was intended to slow justice even more.

Compass Direct says while there were 20 suspects arrested in connection to last year's investigation connecting Ergenekon and Malatya, only seven of them are still in custody--five of whom are in the military. Their report goes on to say evidence garnered from a CD which surfaced was enough to connect the country's agenda, the Malatya murders, and fees for the slayings.

IN Network doesn't have a direct link to the case, but what effects one part of the body affects them all, says Rodeheaver. "If I had any message for the Christian community around the world, it would be to pray that this case would actually do what it was really intended to do -- and that would be to find those who were guilty of these crimes."

IN Network faces both the scrutiny of terrorist groups and the threat of violence. These can be very distracting, Rodeheaver admits. "There have been some spikes in some places trying to intimidate Christians: threats, assassination plots, things like that. But this is a pretty normal lifestyle for the Christians who live in this kind of environment."

Last December, an Al Qaeda plot targeting churches came to light. At the same time, Ergenekon threatened to assassinate IN Network's country director.

While the incidents are unnerving, they won't stop the outreach. Church Planting and Evangelism are carried out by a small church that was planted in Istanbul, through personal visits, discipling church members, and building them up in their faith.

The I.N. Network in Turkey also works with Internet Evangelism -- a "door-opening" forum to chat with those who do not know Christ. A new constitution is in the works, so there is some hope for believers, especially with the advocacy that's come into play with the Greek Prelate.

Turkey is poised for change, notes Rodeheaver. "Anything that changes in Turkey will change because the people of God are praying. Turkey is a very pivotal place in terms of assisting the Christian church to be the church all over the world."

Indictment of ‘Masterminds’ of Murders in Turkey Expected

Erdal Dogan (left) and Orhan Kemal Cengiz on
 the step of the Malatya courthouse.
(Photo: Compass)

Court sets a week of court hearings in April for witness testimony.

ISTANBUL, February 28 (CDN) — Judges in Turkey’s southeastern city of Malatya have announced the preparation of an indictment in the case of three murdered Christians that is expected to reveal a shadowy network that incited five young men to carry out the crime.


The Third Criminal Court of Malatya is expected to announce the indictment on April 9, followed by a week of witness testimony that judges believe will link the five murder suspects to the “masterminds” who prompted them, plaintiff lawyers said. The brutal murders of Turkish Christians Necati Aydin and Ugur Yuksel and German Christian Tilmann Geske at the Zirve Publishing House by five young men in 2007 are believed to be part of a conspiracy to overthrow the current pro-Islamic government.


“In the next court hearing, the new indictment will certainly be ready, and the case will deepen as the suspects and instigators are judged together,” co-plaintiff lawyer Erdal Dogan told Compass.


Dogan said the case will speed up with the introduction of the new indictment and make it easier to bring those responsible to justice.


Co-plaintiff attorney Orhan Kemal Cengiz said that with this second indictment he expects former gendarmerie commanders and other officers who have been arrested in connection with the Malatya murders to finally take the stand in the case – something he and colleagues have long hoped for.


“The longer we wait, the more anxious we become, because it should have been announced [long ago],” Cengiz said.


Cengiz said he is not sure how deep the second indictment will probe into the network he and other attorneys believe was behind the five murderers. For the last five years, plaintiff lawyers have argued there is overwhelming evidence that the Malatya murders were connected to Ergenekon, a hidden network within the state alleged to have plotted crimes to destabilize the government.


“It is difficult to speak about it without seeing the indictment itself,” said Cengiz. “It should implicate a wider network behind these murders. But we don’t know to what extent they will expand the limits of the case. I hope it will uncover the real network, but it may be too shallow; then again, it may really go deep.”


Ergenekon is believed to be behind at least three key murders of Christians since 2006, including those in Malatya, as well as other crimes.


This month plaintiff lawyers for families of the Malatya murder victims demanded key Ergenekonindictments be joined to the Malatya murders case. The 37th hearing of the Malatya murders case took place on Feb. 17.


One of the requested indictments concerns a case opened against retired Gen. Ilker Basbug, a former chief of general staff. Basbug testified last month in an investigation that implicates him in an anti-government propaganda campaign of the Turkish Armed Forces. The propaganda campaign aimed to instill fear in the public that the government was attempting to establish a religious order based on Islamic law.


This month authorities prepared an indictment against him as a senior administrator of the Ergenekonterrorist organization within the Turkish Armed Forces. Basbug is the highest-ranking officer to be jailed and involved in legal proceedings in Turkey this far, according to Today’s Zaman. 


In April 2010, judges added to the Malatya case file one of the Ergenekon indictments concerning the so-called Cage Operation Action Plan. The Cage Plan surfaced when authorities seized a CD from the office of retired naval officer Maj. Levent Bektas, a suspect in the Ergenekon case, which exposed plans to assassinate prominent non-Muslim Turkish citizens. The naval forces group planned to pin the murders to the current pro-Muslim government.


The Cage Plan called the killings of Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in Istanbul, Catholic priest Andrea Santoro in Trabzon, and the three Christians in Malatya successful “operations.”


Ergenekon hearings have been ongoing since October 2008, and scores of its alleged members, including military personnel, members of the press, academics and businessmen, are in jail.


Advances and Setbacks
The trial hearings for the murders of the three Christians in southeastern Turkey in 2007 continued slowly last year amid advances in investigations – and the replacement of judges whom lawyers say were making significant progress in the case.


Last year the prosecutor for the Ergenekon case in Istanbul, Zekeriya Oz, ordered the arrests of various suspects in relation to the Malatya case. Malatya plaintiff lawyers saw this as a major advance in their efforts to illustrate to the courts and public that the two files should be joined, as they concern the same perpetrators.


Initially 20 suspects were arrested in last year’s investigation pertaining to the links between Ergenekonand Malatya, and seven of them are still in custody . They include former Malatya Provincial Gendarmerie Brigade Commander retired Col. Mehmet Ulger and a theology instructor at Malatya’s Inonu University, Ruhi Polat. Five of the seven are active in the military.

These suspects were arrested after a CD surfaced with a voice recording of a meeting in which they discussed the Malatya killings, how much they paid the assailants and how the murders influenced the country’s agenda.


It is believed that Ergenekon members were spying on Christians in Malatya and organized numerous talks vilifying missionaries in Turkey as agents who aimed to overrun the state. There are approximately 4,000 Christian converts among Turkey’s population of 75 million.


A transcript of a speech made on April 18, 2007, the day of the Malatya murders at Inonu University in Malatya entitled, “Besieged Turkey at the Start of the 21st Century,” by Hursit Tolon, was included in the Malatya case file this month. Tolon is a retired general and key suspect in the Ergenekon investigation.


Though the Turkish Constitution ensures freedom to disseminate information about one’s faith, many Turks hold deep-seated, anti-Western nationalism and suspicion of Christians, who are seen as seeds of Western propaganda aimed at questioning Turkish sovereignty.


The Malatya case experienced a major setback last year when Ergenekon prosecutor Oz and Malatya head judge Eray Gurtekin were taken off the cases and promoted to higher positions. Plaintiff lawyers expressed dismay as both prosecutors had contributed to major advances in the case. Plaintiff lawyers in both cases said they believed the promotions were an effort to sidetrack the cases and sabotage the advances they had made.


Buried CasesLast month an Istanbul prosecutor acquitted seven suspects in Dink’s murder of belonging to a network or terrorist organization. The acquittal came as a surprise in the face of evidence linking Dink’s murder to members of police, Ergenekon suspects and the Gendarmerie Intelligence Organization.


In January 2007, Dink, an Armenian Christian and editor-in-chief of Agos, was shot by 17-year-old Ogun Samast from Trabzon. Samast was sentenced to 22 years and 10 months of prison for killing Dink, while the man who instructed Samast to kill Dink received an aggravated life sentence on charges of instigation to premeditated murder. Other suspects also received prison sentences.


Dink’s death five years ago, and the court’s decision last month, created public outrage over prejudice against Armenians and non-Muslim minorities in Turkey and the court’s inability to bring to justice the instigators of the crime.


After the the Istanbul court reviewing Dink’s court case declined to pursue evident links between the young men who killed him and Ergenekon, Cengiz, who is also a writer for English daily Today’s Zaman, wrote a column titled, “Will the Malatya massacre be also covered up after Dink?”


“This verdict was the worst of the worst that the court could ever deliver in this case,” Cengiz wrote.


The Turkish Presidency’s State Supervisory Council (DDK), in a 650-page report issued this month, recommended that the Dink case be re-opened in order to bring top police and gendarmerie officials to justice for negligence before and after Dink’s murder.


The DDK recomendation is not binding, but a prosecutor in the case is already collecting evidence to re-open the case. The Malatya case file is expected to be used as evidence in the new Dink case.


This month marks the six-year anniversary since the murder of Santoro in the northern city of Trabzon. Authorities arrested a 16-year-old in relation to Santoro’s death and sentenced him to 18 years of prison for pre-meditated murder.


No further probes were made into who might have been behind the crime despite evidence that the Trabzon police had tapped Santoro’s phone three months before the murder. Malatya lawyers say a deeper investigation would easily uncover links to the murders of Christians that followed.


In June 2010, Catholic Bishop Luigi Padovese, vicar apostolic of Anatolia, was murdered by his driver. There are suspicions that this case could also be linked to the other Christian assassinations, but court proceedings by the state prosecutor are closed to the press.


Hate
A book released in October 2011 by Turkish journalist Ismail Saymaz shocked the nation, exposing how the Malatya murders constituted an act of national hate. The book is entitled, “Hate, Malatya: A Murder with National Consent.”


Saymaz provides detailed information that shows how the killing of Santoro in Trabzon and the murders in Malatya are connected, and how the security forces viewed the Christians as national threats.


Shortly after the release of Saymaz’s book, a veteran crime reporter for the Hurriyet newspaper, Ali Daglar, published “The Priest Murders – 200 Years of Close Pursuit and the Bloody Zirve Finale.” The book examined the Malatya murders in the context of national prejudice toward Christians throughout the last two centuries.


There is no legislation in Turkey to penalize hate crimes. This month the Hate Crime Legislation Campaign Platform organized a series of meetings between civil society groups, academics and concerned citizens.


Lawyers from the group are drafting legislation that will define and authorize penalties for hate crimes. The group plans to submit it to the Turkish Parliament by the end of 2012. The platform cites the murders of Santoro, Dink and those at the Zirve Publishing House as examples of hate crimes.


END

Turkish Christians Subject to Discrimination, Attacks, Report Says

Textbooks, media vilify followers of Christ; intolerance an ‘urgent problem.’

ISTANBUL, February 14 (CDN) — Despite some promising developments, Christians in Turkey continue to suffer attacks from private citizens, discrimination by lower-level government officials and vilification in both school textbooks and news media, according to a study by a Protestant group.


In its annual “Report on Human Rights Violations,” released in January, the country’s Association of Protestant Churches notes mixed indicators of improvement but states that there is a “root of intolerance” in Turkish society toward adherents of non-Islamic faiths.


“The removal of this root of intolerance is an urgent problem that still awaits to be dealt with,” the report states.


“There is still a lot of room for improvement,” said Mine Yildirim, a member of the legal committee for the association. “These problems have not been solved in some time.”


The report documented 12 attacks against Christians in 2011, including incidents in which individuals were beaten in Istanbul for sharing their faith, church members were threatened and church buildings attacked. None of the attackers have been charged. In some of the attacks, the victims declined to bring charges against the assailants.


In some places in Turkey, some church leaders have to “live under some sort of police protection,” the report reads.


“There are at least five church leaders who have bodyguards, and at least two have a direct phone line to a police protection unit,” the report states. “Several churches have police protection during worship services.”


Yildirim said attacks have increased since the previous year, and that much of the problem lies in the fact that the Turkish government won’t admit there is a problem. The state routinely characterizes attacks on Christians as isolated acts of violence rather than the result of intolerance within elements across Turkish society.


“I think it has to be identified as a problem by the state, initially,” Yildirim said. “It is a problem that nothing is being done about at all.”


There are an estimated 120,000 Christians in Turkey, of which 3,000 are Protestants. Sunni Muslims make up close to 99 percent of the country’s 75 million people, according to United Nations’ population figures.


Attacks against Christians come from those who, at a minimum, question the “Turkishness” of Christian nationals or who, at the extreme, view Christians as spies out to destroy the country from within. Many of the more horrific attacks, such as the 2007 torture and killing of three Christians in Malatya, have been linked to members of nationalist movements. The criminal case into the murders continues without a court ruling thus far.


Along with attacks, Christians in Turkey continue to have problems establishing places of worship. The worst incident in that regard last year was on Dec. 23, when the local government of Istanbul’s Sancaktepe district sealed the entrance to the floor of a building rented by the Istanbul Family Life Association, allegedly because of licensing issues.


“When individuals went to the municipality to inquire about the situation, they were told there would not be any activity by the association allowed in that area and that the seal would not be removed,” the report states. “In the same building there are bars and cafes that continue their work along with other businesses. It is only the church association activities that are being banned; they are targets of hate speech and open favoritism of others.”


The report also identifies state policies that single out Christian children for harassment or vilification. A civics book, “The History of the Turkish Republic’s Reforms and ‘Ataturkism,’” taught to eighth-grade students, continues to characterize “missionary activities” as a national threat. The Ministry of Education ignored the association’s efforts to change the language, according to the association’s report.


“This example vividly shows that prejudice and intolerance has been built up by the Ministry of Education and has been worked into the thinking of others,” the report states.


Along with the government, the association points a finger squarely at Turkish news media for perceived bigotry toward Turkish Christians.


“The increase in the slanderous and misinformation-filled and subjective reporting with regard to Christians in 2011 is a worrisome development,” the report states.


Being a Christian is often characterized in the news media as a negative thing, according to the study, and many legal activities of church bodies were portrayed as if they were illegal or a liability to society. Some church groups were falsely linked to at least one terrorist group.


Despite all the problems, Christian Turkish nationals are still faring better than their regional counterparts in countries such as Iran, Iraq and Egypt. The report notes some positive developments in Turkey over the past year, including school administrators being more responsive to the rights of non-Muslim students to opt out of state-mandated Islamic education.


In addition, due to a court order, Turkish citizens are allowed to leave the religious affiliation space blank on their state-issued identification cards. The association noted that some government agencies have been more responsive to concerns about the rights of the Christian minority.


Yildirim declined to speculate on the future of Christians in Turkey but concluded, “Change can happen in Turkey; it just needs to be a priority.”


END

Al Qaeda accused of plotting to bomb churches in Turkey

(Photo: T.C. Buyuk Millet Meclisi)

Turkey (MNN) ― A startling plot involving Al Qaeda and an attack on churches in Turkey came to light Friday.

According to reports from the daily Taraf newspaper and Compass Direct News, a homegrown terrorist cell had laid plans to attack all of Ankara's churches as well as their Christian clergy. Rody Rodeheaver with  I.N. Network USA says, "These were terrorists tied to al Qaeda, who were gathering caches of explosives, weapons, plans, maps--all that you need to bring about a terrorist attack."

The militants planned a "jihad" strategy by focusing their attacks against Turkey before waging war against the United States and other countries. He explains, "Part of the rationale behind this is that it is much easier to strike in Turkey than to take the risk of making these strikes by al Qaeda in the U.S. I think the other things that were being talked about here and planned were some bombings and continued assassination attempts on Christian leaders."

Police also discovered lists of the names and home addresses of Christian clergy and other church workers residing in Ankara. Christian leaders were caught flat-footed with the revelation of the details. However, security measures had already been beefed up with recent threats. Rodeheaver says the report comes as a reminder of the environment that Turk Christians live in. "One of the churches that was being singled out, there's actually a guard booth where the police sit 24/7 because this is a major target as well as our staff person who has a bodyguard."

Police raids netted 14 suspected Al Qaeda militants, several of whom faced additional charges December 10. Christians are soft targets, which is why, Rodeheaver notes, they are used as scapegoats by extremists. "It falls into the pattern of wanting to embarrass the Turkish government, whom they wish to see become Islamic and pull away from their secular bent."

Despite the alarm raised by the revelation of the plot to destroy Ankara's churches, I.N. Network's team in Turkey won't be deterred. On the one hand, it's a logical approach. "If they became overly concerned about these various plots, they wouldn't be able to do their ministry."

On the other hand, "There is a commitment on the part of these believers that God has called them to do what they're doing. Because He has called them, He will both supply their needs and protect them." It means I.N. Network has chosen to stay focused on their mission of developing the Church in Turkey.

Church planting and evangelism are carried out by a small church plant in Istanbul. Due to the ostracism many Christians feel, internet evangelism and a Christian children's ministry are also very important parts of I.N. Network Turkey.

Rodeheaver urges believers to "pray for the protection both for the ministry staff in these countries, the national workers, who, day in and day out, are doing their job in sharing the Gospel. I think the other thing to pray for is that the staff has great wisdom in how they communicate and how they share the Gospel."

Al Qaeda Cell in Turkey Accused of Planning to Bomb Churches

Indictment reveals Christian targets in Ankara, along with Parliament and U.S. Embassy.

By Barbara G. Baker

 

ISTANBUL, December 9 (Compass Direct News) – A large-scale Al Qaeda plot to bomb “all the churches in Ankara,” as well as the Turkish Parliament and U.S. Embassy in the Turkish capital, was made public today.

 

In an exclusive splashed across the front page of the daily Taraf newspaper, contents of an official indictment against 11 alleged Al Qaeda militants arrested in July revealed the homegrown terrorist cell’s alleged plans to attack Ankara’s churches as well as their Christian clergy.

 

Prepared and filed by the Special Prosecutor’s Office in Ankara, the 50-page indictment outlined the militants’ revised “jihad” strategy to begin focusing their attacks against Turkey before waging war against the United States and other countries.

 

“It is more advantageous to wage jihad against Turkey than the United States,” documents seized in the July 14 raid near Ankara reportedly declared. “Let’s blow the Parliament into the sky!”

 

Quoting from deciphered CDs and other materials, the indictment noted that the extremists reportedly referred to Turkey as a “war zone,” labeling the Turkish government as “apostates” and calling the Turkish state “Satan.”

 

Among the CDs, detailed maps, sketches and building diagrams, police also discovered lists of the names and home addresses of Christian clergy and other church workers residing in Ankara.

 

The news took Christian leaders in Ankara by total surprise, according to one Turkish Christian leader in Ankara.

 

“No one has had any news about this until now,” he said.

 

In addition to chapels on Ankara’s British, French, Vatican, Italian and Greek embassy grounds, the capital city has several international churches as well as a handful of Turkish Protestant congregations.

 

According to Taraf, police investigators were tipped off to the militant cell’s activities by citizens living outside Ankara who filed a claim that their son had been kidnapped by Al Qaeda. Police reportedly tracked one of the suspects for six months before nabbing him a week before the others.

 

Starting from the city of Bursa, a branch of Turkey’s Anti-Terror police began investigations in various municipalities that resulted in the arrest of suspects last July in a duplex apartment in Sincan, a town on the outskirts of Ankara. Video footage found at the scene indicated the men had undergone training in the use of Kalashnikov rifles.

 

Police seized 700 kilos (1,500 pounds) of explosives, along with assault rifles, ammunition, bomb-making instructions and detailed maps of Ankara.

 

According to documents summarized in the indictment, Al Qaeda leaders strictly forbade the members of the cell to enroll in Turkey’s required military service, recognize the authority of Turkish courts, send their children to public schools, perform Muslim prayers under the leadership of state-salaried prayer leaders or vote in national elections. Those who disobeyed were warned they would be punished.

 

Further guidelines noted in the suspects’ diaries came from their leaders in Afghanistan, instructing them how to conduct themselves if arrested: “Stay relaxed under interrogation, refuse to accept charges by giving reasonable answers, and do not provide any information regarding the community.”

 

Although Al Qaeda’s violent interpretation of Islam receives little public backing in officially secular Turkey, Ankara admits that “dozens” of Turks have received training in Afghanistan.

 

The 2003 bombings of the British Consulate, a British bank and two synagogues in Istanbul that killed 58 people were attributed to Al Qaeda-affiliated operatives. A 2008 attack also blamed on Al Qaeda left three assailants and three Turkish policemen dead outside the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul.

 

In 2010 Turkish authorities made several mass arrests of suspected Al Qaeda members and sympathizers, indicating a significant support network for its cause within Turkey. But terrorism experts have maintained that the local group focused mainly on fundraising and recruitment in Turkey for jihad activities overseas.

 

In a related development, Istanbul authorities confirmed today that police were searching for three identified Al Qaeda extremists and five other individuals involved in a $3.5 million heist from a Turkish businessman’s bank account.

 

According to Aksam newspaper, the militants used false identities and bribed bank employees to steal the funds, designated to support the Al Qaeda cause. Four bank employees have been arrested in what police said was one of the first “fiscal terrorism” operations in Turkey.

 

www.compassdirect.org

 

END

 

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Copyright 2011 Compass Direct News

 

Turkey's Armenians Reconsecrate 16th Century Church Building

Ethnic Armenians who grew up as Muslims baptized in Diyarbakir 


By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

DIYARBAKIR, TURKEY (ANS) -- Compass Direct News (CDN) is reporting that just hours before a deadly 7.2 earthquake struck Turkey's southeast on Oct. 23, well over 3,000 visitors crowded into an ancient Armenian cathedral in nearby Diyarbakir, one of the largest cities in southeastern Turkey, for Sunday mass.

A photo of the Oct. 23 service at the restored St. Giragos Armenian Apostolic Church building (Photo: Compass Direct News)

"The mass was the first worship service in decades in the ancient St. Giragos Armenian Apostolic Church, which had fallen into serious disrepair in the early 1980s," said the CDN story. "Built 350 years ago and still the largest Armenian church building in the Middle East, it once served as the metropolitan cathedral of Diyarbakir.

"In a private ceremony the following day, 10 ethnic Armenians who had been raised as Sunni Muslims were baptized as Christians in the restored sanctuary. St. Giragos was virtually abandoned after the massacre and deportation of its congregants in 1915."

CDN went on to say that the building was confiscated during World War I as a headquarters for German army officers, used for a time as a stable, and later turned into a cotton warehouse in the 1960s.

According to Taraf newspaper columnist Markar Esayan, the church building was still intact until 1980, after which "because of hate . in modern times" it was attacked, looted and fell into disrepair, with just the walls and arched columns remaining.

Costing US$3.5 million, the church's two-year restoration project was funded largely by Armenian donations from Istanbul and abroad, although a third of the costs were donated by the Diyarbakir municipality.

CDN added that at the conclusion of the Sunday mass, Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir addressed the congregation, declaring first in Armenian, and then Kurdish, Turkish, English and Arabic: "Welcome to your home. You are not guests here; this is your home."

For more information, please go to: www.compassdirect.org.

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Dan Wooding, 70, is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for 48 years. They have two sons, Andrew and Peter, and six grandchildren who all live in the UK. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS) and was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC. He now hosts the weekly "Front Page Radio" show on KWVE in Southern California which is also carried throughout the United States. The program is also aired in Great Britain on Calvary Chapel Radio UK and also in Belize and South Africa. Besides this, Wooding is a host for His Channel Live, which is carried via the Internet to some 200 countries and also provides a regular commentary for Worship Life Radio on KWVE. You can follow Dan Wooding on Facebook under his name there or at ASSIST News Service. He is the author of some 44 books. Two of the latest include his aut obiography, "From Tabloid to Truth", which is published by Theatron Books. To order a copy, press this link. Wooding, who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, has also recently released his first novel "Red Dagger" which is available this link.

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** You may republish this story with proper attribution.

Orthodox leaders smooth path to proposed summit meeting

The patriarchs of three ancient Orthodox Christian churches met from 1-2 September in Istanbul to discuss the situation of Christian minorities in the Middle East, and perhaps an even more prickly topic - the move toward a historic pan-Orthodox council - removing major stumbling blocks to what would be the first such gathering in centuries - writes Sophia Kishkovsky.

The pan-Orthodox council is regarded with great interest by the world's Orthodox churches, many of which are in unstable regions following revolutions in the Middle East, or in countries facing a third decade of economic and social transition following the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.

"The patriarchs, and of course the Archbishop of Cyprus, they all expressed the readiness to proceed to the pan-Orthodox council that is forthcoming, and they said to me that they support the initiative of the Ecumenical Patriarch to this direction," said Metropolitan Elpidophoros of Proussa, former Chief Secretary of the Synodical Office of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, also known as the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

The meeting, called a synaxis, was hosted by Patriarch Bartholemew of Constantinople and attended by Patriarch Theodoros of Alexandria, Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem, and Archbishop Chrysostomos of Cyprus. Patriarch Igantius of Antioch was represented by a bishop.

Representatives of 14 Orthodox churches met in Chambesy, Switzerland last February to try establish a consensus towards a pan-Orthodox council, but became mired in disputes about diptychs, the order of commemoration of the churches, and procedures for autocephaly, or the granting of independence to a church.

This time, Elpidophoros, said, "the answer of almost all the Orthodox churches was that we can proceed to the pan-Orthodox council without having agreed on these two issues of diptychs and the autocephaly," he said in an interview with ENInews.

Last month, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate's Department of External Church Relations, toured the Middle East and met with the patriarchs of Constantinople, Antioch and Jerusalem. He discussed the importance to Moscow, which is the world's largest Orthodox Church, of the Istanbul meeting and its potential for influencing the move towards a pan-Orthodox council.

At the Istanbul meeting, the leaders discussed the threats to Christians in the Middle East in the wake of recent upheavals and expressed concern that "the behaviour of these revolutionaries towards the Christian minorities is very hostile and aggressive, and this makes the Christian leaders, and of course the patriarchs, to be very much concerned about the future," said Elpidophoros.

[With acknowledgements to ENInews. ENInews, formerly Ecumenical News International, is jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Communion of Reformed Churches and the Conference of European Churches.]

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