Christian leaders in Turkey are concerned that recent attacks over Christmas and the New Year could be a sign of more severe persecution.
The Middle East-focused digital publication Al-Monitor reports that during this period many posters were displayed in neighborhoods in Istanbul with slogans “No to New Years and Christmas Celebrations.”
The campaign was led by the Anatolian Youth Association (AYA), a branch of an Islamic group.
The AYA also held a demonstration on the 26th of December in a downtown square in Istanbul, violently chanting and stabbing an inflatable Santa Claus. The historic St. Nicholas was bishop of Myra, a town now in modern day Turkey.
Bishop Sahag Masalyan of the Armenian Orthodox Church is expressing concern that the violent demonstration was “like a rehearsal for attacks on real people.” He says only a handful of Christians are left in the country. He says the murders of other Christians happened after similar hate campaigns.
Barnabas Fund quotes Christian leaders in the country as saying the small number of Christians in the country feel threatened by the Turkish government program to force Islam on the nation.
Al-Monitor reports that during 2006 and 2007, a Christian church leader and three Christians working in a publishing house were violently murdered by radical Islamic activists.
World Watch Monitor reports a foreign Christian was forced to leave Turkey after the National Ministry of the Interior denied him a residence permit, several times, with no explanation.
David Byle, the Chairman of the Bible Correspondence Course (BCC), says in the last three years, he has been arrested, taken to court, and has also spent time in prison. He has lived in Turkey since 1999.
Byle thinks he is facing this difficulty because he does Christian evangelism in Istanbul. He and other team members share Bible verses with crowds on the streets.
Byle says he is opening a court case against Turkey’s minister of the interior.
The CIA World Factbook reveals that Muslims make up 99.8 of the near 80 million population, while Christians and Jews account for only 0.2 percent.
Turkey has officially been a secular nation since the reforms of the 1920s. Voice of the Martyrs says while the Turkish constitution includes freedom of religion, but worship services are only permitted in buildings “created for this purpose.” Voice of the Martyrs reports Turkish government officials have restricted the construction of buildings for minority religions.
Responsibility for Equality and Liberty (R.E.A.L.) reports 59 percent of those who responded to a survey in 2009 stated that members of non-Muslim faiths should not even be allowed to hold meetings or publish literature.
Barnabas Fund quotes Christian leaders in the country as saying there is increasing concern about the Turkish governments programs to promote Islam.
Many former churches of the Byzantine-era were turned into mosques and later into museums at the conclusion of Ottoman rule. Some of these buildings are now being turned back into mosques.
Christians in Turkey are especially concerned about a structure in Istanbul known as the Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom).
The building is over 1,400 years old. It was originally a church of the Byzantine era and is now a museum.
Turkey’s deputy prime-minister attended an event at the museum in November. He stated:
“We currently stand next to the Hagia Sophia mosque. We are looking at a sad Hagia Sophia but hopefully we will see it smiling again soon.”
During the first-century after the death and resurrection of Christ the area now known as Turkey saw Christianity spread rapidly. The seven churches of Revelation are located in this area. The city of Istanbul used to be Constantinople, which was the capital of the Christian Byzantine Empire.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), named Turkey as one of the world’s worst violators of religious freedom, for the first time, in March 2012. The USCIRF says attacks on Christian individuals and communities are becoming more common.
Open Doors USA has ranked Turkey as #31 on its list of 50 countries where persecution of Christians is more severe.
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