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| Europe |
| Greek Orthodox Church Bombed In Northern Cyprus |
| 2004-08-27 |
| A bomb exploded early Friday near a Greek Orthodox church in Turkish northern Cyrpus where a controversial Mass is due to be celebrated next week, causing damage but no injuries, police said. The explosion occured at the disused Saint Mamas church in Guzelyurt, or Morphou, some 30 kilometres (18 miles) west of the capital Nicosia, where Greek Cypriots are planning to hold an Orthodox Mass for the saint's feast day next Thursday for the first time in 30 years. Windows, a door and the roof of the church were damaged and windows in several neighbouring shops were blown off by the force of the blast at around 3:30 am (0030 GMT). A Molotov cocktail was also hurled at the church facade, according to the Turkish Cypriot news agency TAK. The decision to allow the Mass, and an evening service the previous day, to celebrate Saint Mamas Day, feast of the town's patron saint, was part of the rapprochement between Greeks and Turks, but was fiercely opposed by Rauf Denktash, leader of the breakaway Turkish statelet. "The arrival of thousands of Greek Cypriots .. and their wish to return every Sunday constitutes a serious provocation towards Turkish Cypriots," Denktash said earlier this week. "They have many churches on their own side of the island," Denktash added, calling the celebration of the Mass "a political act" by the Greek Cypriot government "to which we must react without violence." |
| Posted by:TS(vice girl) |
| #16 Could this be the original Murat? I would have sworn he was knocked off by the dread bedwettian or Robert Crawford. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-08-27 5:00:53 PM |
| #15 Murat isn't a terrorist sympathezier. His recent comments could have fooled me. Can we at least say his outrage is extremely selective? |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2004-08-27 12:35:02 PM |
| #14 ...just when I'm ready to write Murat off as a hopeless troll, but Frank G makes the point - next time Americans are killed he'll go back to stomping around and waving his loincloth. |
| Posted by: Rex Mundi 2004-08-27 11:39:52 AM |
| #13 respectfully disagree, Steve - basing my opinion on more than his (yes, I agree with him on this one) comment above - see, for example: 90%+ of his previous comments |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-08-27 11:20:13 AM |
| #12 C'mon folks, let's be nice, Murat isn't a terrorist sympathezier. I appreciate the fact that he'd drown whoever did this in the Med. I would only add some Chicago-style concrete shoes to that person before heaving him overboard, but otherwise Murat is right on. Murat isn't the problem in the Middle East, he just has a differernt point of view. That's rather, um, American. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2004-08-27 11:16:50 AM |
| #11 he's pro-terrorist, and above all, anti-american. Turkish penis-envy |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-08-27 11:09:15 AM |
| #10 And just for giggles, I went back through Rantburg's archives, and in the articles dealing with the church bombings in Iraq, I couldn't find a single quote from the 'Rat! Was it beneath his notice? I find that hard to believe -- FOUR churches were bombed on August 1st, killing around a dozen people, and Murat makes no comment. I'm sure he condemned it somewhere, if only in his own mind. Then again, maybe not. Murat (or his doppelganger) has been quite the cheerleader for the "resistance" in Iraq. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2004-08-27 11:01:34 AM |
| #9 Comparing this with Iraq needs some irony (a lot). Really? Is your memory so poor as to be unable to stretch back less than a month? |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2004-08-27 10:46:58 AM |
| #8 Clue #Frank Gabble, I am the one and only. Comparing this with Iraq needs some irony (a lot). Trailing Wife, tanks for the grammar course, next time I read my hastily typed comments.:) |
| Posted by: Murat 2004-08-27 10:22:05 AM |
| #7 Mary, I have friends from Eritrea who are Catholic, thanks to the Italian invasion, but who can remember being forced at swordpoint to convert from Judaism by Constantine. So what? History happened a long time ago. If we hold on to such long-ago grudges, the whole world would turn into Yugoslavia! |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2004-08-27 10:20:48 AM |
| #6 I'll believe "Murat" on this when he applies the same ire to terrorism in Iraq. For some reason, he celebrates it, even when the targets are similar. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2004-08-27 10:12:51 AM |
| #5 arshole? Clue #46 this isn't the same MuRAT |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-08-27 10:09:28 AM |
| #4 Murat, I would have said, "Many should drown the fanatic...." (and "catch" is an irregular verb, so the the past tense is "caught" -- today seems to be Good Grammar Day here at R.U.), but otherwise I, too, agree completely. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2004-08-27 9:59:30 AM |
| #3 So Murat, how does it feel to know that you and all your family were once Greek, forced to change your language and religion by the invading Turks? |
| Posted by: mary 2004-08-27 9:59:28 AM |
| #2 For once I agree with Murat. Shock. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2004-08-27 9:54:54 AM |
| #1 One should drown the fanatic arshole who did that in the Mediteranean sea, I hope he'll be catched. |
| Posted by: Murat 2004-08-27 9:36:39 AM |