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| Europe |
| Turkish Moslems Debate With Turkish Christians About Religion |
| 2005-09-01 |
| From Compass Direct Bektas Erdogan never expected his Christian faith of 11 years to jeopardize his career as a fashion designer in Turkey. Hired five months ago by a designer jeans company in the Beyazit district of Istanbul, Erdogan was assured by his Muslim boss that he would be evaluated on the basis of his work, not his religion. After his first collection sold successfully in Russia, Erdogan thought the phone call he received earlier this month from his employer -- asking him to come to work on a Sunday afternoon .... that evening at the shop, his supervisor angrily accused him of âmissionary workâ and âbrainwashing.â With the help of two employees and a relative, he beat Erdogan for two hours. The men repeatedly struck the designerâs head and face with their fists and the butt of a pistol. Three times Erdoganâs boss attempted to shoot him, but the gun failed to fire. .... Erdogan did not report the August 7 incident to the police, fearing that his bossâ ties with local officials might make him the target of further aggression. He also felt that once the authorities learned he was a Christian, they would be unwilling to help. He believes that his employerâs anger stemmed from shop employeesâ interest in Christianity. During his last three months at the job, Erdogan said, âAlmost every meal [at work] became a question-and-answer session about my religion.â On the same day ... Istanbul police beat two Protestant converts in their early twenties and told them they could not be both Turks and Christians. Umit and Murat-Can, who asked to have their last names withheld, were on their way to one of Istanbulâs 25 Turkish-speaking Protestant churches on August 7 when they saw American David Byle and his 3-year-old daughter surrounded by a small crowd of police and civilians. Byle had been exercising the legal right to distribute Christian tracts on Istiklal Caddesi, one of Istanbulâs main pedestrian thoroughfares, when two plainclothes policemen accosted him. One of them grabbed his chin and shouted at him for distributing literature, quickly drawing a crowd of police and passersby. When the two Christians tried to intervene on behalf of Byle ... about 15 policemen forced Umit to the ground, where they kicked and hit him before handcuffing him and carrying him inside a nearby building. .... The policemen continued to beat Umit .... After finding 100 Christian tracts in Murat-Canâs backpack, police accused the youths of being âmissionariesâ who were bent on âdividing Turkey.â .... In another incident last month in Eskisehir three strangers ... assaulted Protestant Salih Kurtbas. They attacked him from behind at 6 p.m. as he waited for an anonymous caller who had asked to meet and discuss Christianity. Shortly after arriving home with a bloody nose, split lip, black eyes and a swollen ear, he received an irate phone call from his attackers. They accused him of missionary activity and threatened to kill anyone associated with a local U.S. businessman whom they claimed was spreading Christian propaganda. .... Kurtbas didnât even think of going to the police, explaining, âIf they found out that I was a Christian, nothing good would have come of it.â .... The emerging community of an estimated 3,500 Turkish Protestants challenges the centuries-old perception that to be a Turk is to be a Muslim. Over the last 10 months, violence against Protestant Christians in Turkey has become publicly visible .... |
| Posted by:Mike Sylwester |
| #2 Is subduing the Christian population a fast-track to EU membership? |
| Posted by: eLarson 2005-09-01 18:12 |
| #1 Turkish Moslems Debate With Turkish Christians About Religion That's cold Mike. |
| Posted by: Secret Master 2005-09-01 14:14 |