Thomson Reuters
Wed Jan 21, 2009 7:46pm EST
Christians in Turkey
(Reuters) – Turkey is overwhelmingly Muslim but hosts several ancient
Christian communities — dwindling remnants of sizeable populations that
prospered for centuries in the Muslim-led but multi-ethnic, multi-faith
Ottoman Empire.
They include Syriac Christians, Greek Orthodox, Armenians and Catholics.
Modern Turkey was founded as a secular republic by Kemal Mustafa Ataturk on
the empire’s ashes in 1923.
Here are some details about Christians in Turkey:
* SOME HISTORY:
— At the beginning of World War One, Christians still made up 20 percent of
the population. However in May 1915, Ottoman commanders began mass
deportation of Armenians from eastern Turkey thinking they might assist
Russian invaders.
— Thousands were marched from the Anatolian borders toward Syria and
Mesopotamia (now Iraq) and Armenians say some 1.5 million died either in
massacres or from starvation or deprivation as they were marched through the
desert. There are some 70,000 Armenians left in Turkey. Turkey says large
numbers of both Christian Armenians and Muslim Turks were killed during the
violent and chaotic break-up of the Ottoman Empire. The number of Christians
has now fallen to around 100,000 in a total population of more than 70
million.
OTHER POPULATIONS:
— Syriacs number 20,000, the majority living in Istanbul. Syriacs migrated
throughout the 20th century to Europe, fleeing first from persecution by the
new secular republic, and later, from violence between Kurdish separatists
rebels and the Turkish military in the southeast. Syriac Christians speak a
form of Aramaic, the language of Jesus. They are not an officially
designated minority in Turkey like the Greeks or Armenians, so have no
special protection for rights such as private education under the 1923
Treaty of Lausanne’s provisions for non-Muslim minorities.
— Istanbul is the ancient seat of Orthodox Christianity but Greek Orthodox,
who make up 20,000 of the population, often complain of discrimination and
prejudice. Istanbul, the former Constantinople, was capital of the
Greek-speaking Orthodox Christian Byzantine Empire for centuries until it
fell to Muslim Ottoman Turks in 1453.
— Turkey’s 30,000 Catholics hope the government will return the St. Paul
church, which was confiscated by the state in 1943, to Christian
worshippers. It is used now as a museum.
— St. Paul, the great evangelizer of the early Christian Church, was born
in Tarsus in modern-day Turkey and Pope Benedict proclaimed 12 months of
events to honor him in June 2008.
— Pope Benedict made a sensitive, fence-mending visit to Turkey in November
2006 after he had sparked protests from the Muslim world with a speech that
Muslims said portrayed Islam as a religion tainted by violence and
irrationality.
— He was praised for visiting Istanbul’s famed Blue Mosque and praying
there facing toward Mecca "like Muslims."
PROPERTY AND THEOLOGICAL DISPUTES
— Under a reform long sought by the European Union that Ankara hopes to
join, Turkey’s parliament approved last year a law aimed at boosting the
property rights of non-Muslim minorities. Turkish authorities have
expropriated millions of dollars worth of property belonging to Christians
or their churches, especially the Greek Orthodox, over the decades. The law
would allow foundations to re-acquire some confiscated properties but not
those sold on to third parties — something that is unlikely to satisfy
Christian communities. The EU has urged Turkey to create a comprehensive
legal framework that allows all religious groups unrestricted freedom to
operate. By law, Syriacs must attend state schools where teaching is in
Turkish, but they can be taught about their own language and religion
outside school hours. Brussels has raised concerns over restrictions on the
training of Christian clergy in Turkey.
ATTACKS ON CHRISTIANS:
— Turkey’s Christian community has been targeted in a spate of attacks over
several years, prompting concern among human rights groups and the European
Union.
— The stabbing of an Italian Catholic priest in 2007 highlighted the
attacks. Also in 2007, three Christians were killed at a Bible-publishing
house at the Zirve publishing house in Malatya, a city in the country’s
southeast region.
— Andrea Santoro, another Italian Catholic priest, was shot dead in the
Turkish Black Sea city of Trabzon in 2006.
— Prominent Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was killed in January
2007 in Istanbul by a young nationalist gunman. A prosecutor last month
indicted a colonel for failing to provide protection for Dink, who had
received death threats.