3rd May, 2007

DAVID ADAMS

It made headlines around the world, not just for the fact that it took place but for the barbarous way in which it occurred.

When three men - German missionary Tilmann Geske, 46, and Muslim converts Necati Aydin, 36, and Ugur Yuksel, 32 - working at a Bible publisher in the town of Malayta, central in Turkey, were brutally killed on April 18 at the hands of five Muslim nationalist youths, the details of how they died - repeatedly stabbed and tortured before their throats were cut - shocked people across the globe.

But are they part of a wider anti-Christian sentiment in the country?

Elizabeth Kendal, principal researcher and writer for the World Evangelical Alliance’s Religious Liberty Commission, condemns the most recent killings as a “barbaric act” and notes that they came “hot on the heels” of the murder of a foreign Roman Catholic priest, Andrea Santano - shot in the back as he knelt praying in his church in Trabzon in February last year - and an Armenian Orthodox journalist, Hrant Dink - charged with "insulting Turkishness", he was shot outside his office in Istanbul in January.

But the Australian doesn’t believe that the killings are representative of a wider trend in Turkey.

“Turkish authorities have been working quite hard to meet the requirements for EU accession, and one of those requirements is greater religious liberty,” she says.

“The killings were not part of a wider trend so much as they were an Islamist nationalists’ spasm. The main escalating trend has been in anti-Christian rhetoric. The religious situation is now quite tense, and this tension could escalate, but it does't have to. The important thing will be for Turkey's secular, pro-West forces (and there are many) to come out, raise their voices and take a stand against intolerance and religious hatred...

“Much of the intolerance and hatred has been whipped up by negative (including foreign) forces that can only hurt Turkey in the long term. Now that the results of hatred are becoming apparent, Turkey's tolerant, secular, 'moderate', pro-Western elements must come out and make sure people understand how ugly religious hatred really is.”

Noting that this is a “strategic moment” for Turkey, Kendal says that some of the more ‘moderate’ voices are already being heard and mentions in particular the forgiveness shown by the widows of those men recently killed - Tilman’s widow, Suzanne, made the front page of Turkish newspapers where she quoted a verse from Luke, “God forgive them for they know not what they do”.

“The incredible grace being shown by the Christians, especially the widows of the martyrs, is having a powerful effect in Turkey. One person writing to me from Turkey described it as ‘a spiritual earthquake’...

“There is both the sense that something very dangerous is in the air, and the sense that something very positive may come of the recent tragedy. For this reason, WEA RLC would encourage Christians around the world to do what Christians in Turkey have been doing for generations: pray for Turkey! Pray for Turkey's leaders, that God will guide, use and bless them that they may be a blessing to the nation. Pray for the church in Turkey, that God will likewise guide, use and bless her and enable the church to be a blessing to the nation.”

It’s estimated that there are about 100,000 Christians living in Turkey out of a population of 74 million. While Kendal says they do ostensibly have freedom to practice their faith, “some Muslims will always object strongly to Christian evangelistic witness and to Muslims converting to Christianity, and radicalised Muslims are always more violent in their objections”.

“Radicalisation needs to be tackled, and other Muslims just need leadership, encouragement and education not to fear Christianity, and to respect a person's religious liberty.”

Kendal says the Religious Liberty Commission would like to see Turkish authorities being pro-active in combating anti-Christian rhetoric and in speaking out to promote tolerance, religious liberty, security and peace.

“They need to proactively promote, through media, education, speeches and comments, the goal of a prosperous, progressive Turkey - something that is only attainable through religious liberty and peace,” she says.

“They need to refute the lies and expose the ugliness of religious hatred, and lead the people with courage and conviction to better days. This will take time, maybe decades, but ‘today’ is a good time to start.”

It’s a sentiment similar to those expressed by the World Council of Churches general secretary, Rev Dr Samuel Kobia, in a letter he has written to the Permanent Mission of Turkey to the United Nations in Geneva.

In it, Rev Dr Kobia registered the ”serious concern” of the council at the “savage” murders which he said were the latest tragedy in a series of “killings and other threats directed at members and leaders of religious minorities”.

He said there had also been new reports of plot against the lives of two Turkish Christian leaders, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, and Armenian Patriarch, Mesrob II.

Rev Dr Kobia says that churches are watching the most recent case “to see that justice is done and that further crimes are prevented” and says “we look to see respect for human dignity - socially, politically and religiously - reflected in the treatment of churches and other religious minorities”.

“We look to the appropriate governmental authorities to ensure the respect for human rights and for the rule of law which safeguards all citizens...” he writes

Kendal notes that many Turks, Muslims and secular, have been “shocked, saddened and disgusted” by the recent attacks and adds that the Christian church in Turkey has also been “very courageous...and very gracious, full of forgiveness”, expressing a determination not to go underground.

“Pray for God to use this to bring healing - for the sake of the church, the nation and the glory of God.”

~ www.worldevangelicalalliance.com

~ www.wcc-coe.org