DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, April 18 (Reuters) - Attackers slit the throats of three people, including a German, at a Turkish Bible publisher's on Wednesday, officials said, the latest attack on minorities in mainly Muslim Turkey.
The victims were found with their hands and feet bound, said Halil Ibrahim Dasoz, governor of the southeastern province of Malatya where the attack occurred.
Four people were detained in connection with the attack and one person, who fell from the building and was considered a suspect, was taken to hospital with head trauma, he said.
German Ambassador Eckart ****z said a German was among the dead.
The killings come as political tensions rise between the powerful secular elite, including army generals and judges, and the religious-minded AK Party government over next month's presidential elections.
Television pictures showed police wrestling one man to the ground and leading several men -- apparently in their teens -- out of the building.
A wave of nationalism has swept the secular but predominantly Sunni Muslim country over the past year.
This year Armenian-Turkish editor Hrant Dink was shot dead by an ultranationalist youth. Dink was also from Malatya.
A historic visit to Turkey by Pope Benedict last year was prefaced by protests in Istanbul and followed a rise in violence against Christian clergy.
THREATS
For many Turkish nationalists, Christian missionaries are seen as enemies of Turkey working to undermine its political and religious institutions.
The government and other officials in Turkey have criticised Christian missionary work while the European Union, which Turkey hopes to join, has called for more freedom for the tiny Christian minority.
"We would like a government campaign to get rid of the myths, such as that missionaries are trying to divide the country, these are the things which feed such acts," said Carlos Madrigal, an evangelical pastor who knew the victims and said they were also evangelical protestants.
"In some ways the situation has improved because we have got legal rights ... but there are parts of society which have become radicalised," Madrigal, whose Istanbul church has police protection since the Dink murder, told Reuters.
An official from the publishing house told local television that they had received threats over its publications.
"It's too early to say but the attack appears to be the work of Islamists," said Gareth Jenkins, an Istanbul-based expert on Turkish security matters.
"There are generally a lot of threats against Christians in Turkey, primarily against Turkish converts."
He said one of the last serious attack against Turkish Christians was in 1997 when the then-active Islamist Vasat movement bombed a bible book stand in the southeast, killing one child and injuring dozens.
Early last year an Italian priest was shot dead -- also by a youth -- in the Black Sea port of Trabzon which coincided with worldwide protests over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad. (Additional reporting by Daren Butler, Mustafa Yukselbaba, Paul de Bendern, Emma Ross
Every country has its own share of idiots. I know that both as a people and as a nation that Turkey is no more against Christianity than the USA is against Islam. Of course, you will find radicalized people of every stripe around the globe, and whenever people feel marganilized, threatened, or their position co-opted they become more dangerous and more likely to act out. I am sorry to see that there is an increase of these feelings in Turkey, not so much for myself -- a Christian living in the USA-- but for my many dear friends who live there in Turkey. They too are Muslim, and I would not want others to think of them as being at all like those who have acted in this horrible way.
May Allah guide you all to find a way to be at peace again.
Last edited by Grace Seeker; 04-20-2007 at 06:21 PM.
Every country has its own share of idiots. I know that both as a people and as a nation that Turkey is no more against Christianity than the USA is against Islam. Of course, you will find radicalized people of every stripe around the globe, and whenever people feel marganilized, threatened, or their position co-opted they become more dangerous and more likely to act out. I am sorry to see that there is an increase of these feelings in Turkey, not so much for myself -- a Christian living in the USA-- but for my many dear friends who live there. They too are Muslim, and I would not want others to think of them as being at all like those who have acted in this horrible way.
May Allah guide you all to find a way to be at peace again.
murderers are most probably provoked to do this...they think that they killed three for islam but they dont know islam truely...because killing even an ant is a very big sin in islam...everyone has the right to tell his religion ın every country...
may ALLAH PROTECT ALL HUMANİTY FROM THOSE BAD WİLD PEOPLE
Slm,
I'm an english teacher but because our religion teacher went to another city I have given religion lesson to 6th grade students. And I see that families don't give logic religion lessons. I mean that don't give reason why they have to prey or why they musn't sin.
and also I want to tell about an anecdote. Our subjects was holly books. and told students that we should be respectfull to all 4 books, because we believe in 4 of them but we don't read bible because we believe that it has been changed, but there may a word that hasn't been changed. So that word is God's word.
And one of my sts asked ma'm 'is it sin if we tear and jump on a bible'
and I asked ' would you like to see anyone tear and jump on Qur'an?' ' you don't have to believe in other people's holy things but you have to respect them if you want them to respect your holly things.'
he blushed and said he'll never do a such an action again.
slm,
thanks. I think no one has told that boy to do it. but also no one has told him not to do it. You may know they asks lokman hekim or hasan basri I'm not sure " how did u learn morral" he says " from those who are immoral"
a.slm
Slm,
I'm an english teacher but because our religion teacher went to another city I have given religion lesson to 6th grade students. And I see that families don't give logic religion lessons. I mean that don't give reason why they have to prey or why they musn't sin.
and also I want to tell about an anecdote. Our subjects was holly books. and told students that we should be respectfull to all 4 books, because we believe in 4 of them but we don't read bible because we believe that it has been changed, but there may a word that hasn't been changed. So that word is God's word.
And one of my sts asked ma'm 'is it sin if we tear and jump on a bible'
and I asked ' would you like to see anyone tear and jump on Qur'an?' ' you don't have to believe in other people's holy things but you have to respect them if you want them to respect your holly things.'
he blushed and said he'll never do a such an action again.
You are a wise teacher.
Some things that you may or may not be aware of that are purely cultural, and not directly related to Christianity as a religious belief.
Many Christians will treat their Bibles differently than Muslim would treat the Qur'an. Christians will often mark and write in their Bibles. We do this not out of disrespect, but out of love for it. Much like a student with a text book, a Christian who studies his Bible often will have all sorts of notes written in the margin to remind him of how he sees certain verses applying to his own life. So, if you see a Christian doing that with a Qur'an, just be aware that it isn't out of disrepsect, but because they are studying it seriously and may not be aware of how doing so would come across to a Muslim.
And then there are what I call Christian fruitcakes. I once actually saw a Christian woman jumping up and down on her Bible in the middle of a college campus. I asked her what she was doing and why, and she told me that she wanted the whole world to know where she stood and she was standing on the word of God. (A colloquialism, not usually meant to be taken literally.) After doing so for some time, she said that she felt so overpowered by the Holy Spirit that she just had to jump for Jesus, and that is what I caught her in the midst of doing. Strange world we live in. It takes all kinds to make it go round.
Hey there! Looks like you're enjoying the discussion, but you're not signed up for an account.
When you create an account, we remember exactly what you've read, so you always come right back where you left off. You also get notifications, here and via email, whenever new posts are made. And you can like posts and share your thoughts. Sign Up
Array
Any1 Turkish (OP)
Hide
Looks like you're enjoying the discussion, but you're not signed up for an account.
Posting Permissions
Quote
Bookmarks