ERDOGAN CANNOT IGNORE THE RISKS FACED BY CHRISTIANS
Commentary by Antonio Ferrari
Corriere della Sera website, Italy
Dec 17 2007
The stabbing of a 65-year old Franciscan monk, Adriano Franchini, who
originally comes from Levizzano Rangone, in the province of Modena,
and who was knifed in the abdomen at the end of Mass in a church in
Smirne, is not just the latest serious episode of intolerance towards
Christian minorities in Turkey. It is all the more serious insofar
as those same minorities (Catholic, Protestant, Greek Orthodox, and
Armenian) have been devout supporters of Erdogan’s own moderate Islamic
party, which won hands down in the last election. They did so in the
hope of being protected, and of seeing recognition of their rights,
which the extremism of the secular right wing had not guaranteed.
It needs to be said straightaway that the life of the Catholic
clergyman is apparently not in danger, and we use the word "apparently"
only because the prognosis will be confirmed today.
Also, his attacker, 19-year old Ramazan Bay, has handed himself in
to the authorities, and the attack cannot be hastily ascribed to
an Islamic fanatic. On the contrary, for three years Bay had been
asking to be able to become a convert to Catholicism, and had been
complaining over the delays in the procedure, and above all over
the legitimate reservations of the priest from Modena. The Church
suggests great caution over conversions, precisely to avoid that
charge of proselytism which is levelled against it every so often.
Proselytism was the accusation made against Father Andrea Santoro,
who was killed in February 2006 in Trabzon. Proselytism was also the
charge made against the three Protestant members of clergy, who were
tied up by their hands and feet, and who were killed in Malatya in
April this year.
"Now they will say, once again, that yesterday’s stabbing is the
handiwork of a madman. But in that case we will have to admit that
there is a big increase in actions by madmen, and, as chance would
have it, against foreign members of the clergy," was the pointed
comment made by the bishop of Smirne, Ruggero Franceschini.
Smirne, a secular and cosmopolitan city, which is vying with Milan
to stage Expo 2015, has a reputation for being an example of tolerance.
And Prime Minister Erdogan prides himself on tolerance. In Istanbul,
on Friday evening, Erdogan met with Italian businessmen and journalists
who had gathered for a Forum with the emblematic title: "Understanding
Turkey." As everyone knows, political relations between Rome and Ankara
are excellent. They were excellent under the government of Berlusconi,
a personal friend of the prime minister, and they are excellent under
the Prodi government; the figures for trade are highly flattering;
supplies in the defence sector see our country with a clear lead over
the competition, as shown by the accord for Agusta helicopters. But
Erdogan, who certainly does not have the gift of diplomatic caution,
attacked none other than the Italian mass media, which – he claimed –
were guilty of scant objectivity: of not always calling the Kurdish
rebels in the PKK "terrorists," and of accentuating the negative
aspects of his country, underestimating its positive aspects.
What is certain is that Turkey, which has begun its long march towards
the European Union, boasts remarkable successes in the fields of
political stability, the reforms which have already been brought in,
and the economy, offering figures (for growth, investments, and the
reduction of the public debt) which, in some instances, can put more
than one EU country to shame, including Italy. But that’s very far
from saying that everything is fine. Protection of minorities, as has
been denounced by international bodies on several occasions, and as
is also shown by yesterday’s attack, is decidedly scant. Erdogan is
too intelligent and shrewd not to realize this.