The Universe, UK –
Jan 24 2007
Shooting risks Turkish faith relations progress
Posted on January 24, 2007
The murder of a journalist in Turkey for allegedly insulting
‘Turkishness’ could undo some of the benefits the country received
following the visit of the Pope, according to Turkey’s apostolic
nuncio.
Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, 52, who was a figurehead of the
Armenian community, was shot dead in Istanbul on Friday as he left
work.
The Pope’s visit to Turkey in November has been credited with
bettering interfaith relations between Christians and the Muslim
majority, but it is feared a backlash fom the Armenian community
could threaten this.
The Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano reported that Dink had
been accused last year of insulting Turkish identity, in breach of a
controversial law that the European Union has asked the government to
change.
"It is a low blow for all Turkey," Nuncio Archbishop Antonio
Lucibello said.
"Not just one body has been hit, but the entire fabric of Turkish
society, at a point of time when it is consolidating democracy and
searching for a common course for the various components that make up
the country.
"During the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity we cannot but unite
ourselves to the sorrow of our brothers, showing them our solidarity
and closeness.
"We hope in the depth of our hearts that this will not alter the
peaceful climate that was created by the Pope’s visit, between the
faithful and the leaders of the different religions and Christian
confessions present on Turkish soil."