ARMENPRESS
WELL-TO-DO ARMENIANS SEEKING SAFE HAVEN OUTSIDE TURKEY
ISTANBUL, DECEMBER 25, ARMENPRESS: A lawyer for
Turkish Armenians, Diran Bakar, said the departure of
Hrant Dink’s children from Turkey after their father’s
assassination has prompted many other well-to-do
Armenian families to seek safer havens abroad.
In an interview with Turkish ANKA news agency Diran
Bakar said the latest attack on a Catholic priest
Adriano Franchini in Izmir added to local Armenians’
concerns about whether the predominantly Muslim
country – which is bidding for European Union
membership – can protect its Christian community.
In February 2006 a 16-year-old boy fatally shot a
Catholic priest as he knelt in prayer inside his
church in the Black Sea city of Trabzon.
Following that killing, a Catholic priest was
attacked and threatened in Izmir, and another was
stabbed in the Black Sea port of Samsun. In November
this year, an Assyrian cleric was abducted in
southeast Turkey and rescued by security forces. In
April, three Christians were killed at a publishing
house that produces Bibles.
Diran Bakar said the idea of leaving the country is
getting especially stronger among young Armenians.