Syriac Christians from Turkey and Syria attend a mass at the Mort Shmuni Syriac Orthodox Church in the town of Midyat, in Mardin province of southeast Turkey in this February 2, 2014 file photo. (REUTERS/UMIT BEKTAS)
ishtartv.com - christiantimes.com
Chiqui
Guyjoco22 July, 2016
Christian
churches in the predominantly Sunni Muslim country with a long history of
Christian persecution became targets of violence as army coup threatened Turkey
on July 15.
The
Christian rights advocates group based in the Middle East, Middle
East Concern (MEC), reported at least two cases of violence targeting
Christian churches during Friday's failed military coup. Each targeted church
also brought back memories of past violence against Christians.
One
of the attacks happened in Trabzon. A group of 10 people attacked Santa Maria
Church with paving stones and hammers to smash the windows and attempted to
break in until Muslims in the neighborhood stopped them and drove them away.
This
church at Black Sea town also witnessed a decade ago how an ultra-nationalist
teenager shot Fr. Andrea Santoro at the back of the head as the Catholic priest
prayed.
The
Malatya province also witnessed the brutal murder of three Christian workers
nine years ago. This time, the Malatya Protestant Church became the target as
attackers shattered the church windows and managed to break in. The church's
pastor, Tim Stone, said the suspect might have only been one person acting on
vengeance against the church.
Canon
Ian Sherwood of The Crimea Memorial Church in Istanbul said many Christians are
fleeing the country for safety.
"I'm
not optimistic about the plight of Christians in Turkey," he told The
Spectator. "Bear in mind we've had a Roman Catholic Bishop murdered,
we've had clergy threatened, we've had one priest murdered 10 years ago. Any
Christian leader, if they're being honest, would say that some of what's going
on is quite alarming."
The
British chaplain expressed his hope that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
also champions the rights of Christians in a country where 99 percent of its
people identify as Sunni Muslim.
"We
wish Turkey peace and tolerance – the same tolerance that most societies west
of Turkey enjoy," he said.
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