Posted on 11/27/2006 4:09:51 AM PST by theothercheek
In a case reminiscent of the consequences of Afghanistani Abdul Rahman's conversion to Christianity, two Turkish men who became Christians are being tried on criminal charges of insulting "Turkishness."
Hakan Tastan, 37, and Turan Topal, 46, are also accused of inciting religious hatred against Islam for allegedly trying to convert other Turks to Christianity. The men were charged under Turkey's Article 301, which has been used to bring charges against dozens of intellectuals - including prominent Armenian journalist Hrant Dink and Nobel prize-winning Turkish author Orhan Pamuk. The European Union has demanded that Turkey scrap this free-speech limiting law if it wants to be admitted as a member nation.
The trial, which began on the eve of Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the Muslim nation, undermines the pontiff’s agenda to press Muslim countries to safeguard the lives, houses of worship and religious rights of Christian minorities living in Turkey and throughout the Middle East.
Notwithstanding US foreign policy dogma that Turkey is a secular democracy, the country is nominally secular and is not particularly democratic (as evidenced by Articles 301 and 305 of the penal code). And there is growing antipathy towards Christians:
† In Turkey, workers at Turkey's Directorate General for Religious Affairs (known as "Diyanet") demanded that the Justice Ministry arrest the pope during his late November visit, and prosecute him for insulting Islam in the lecture he gave in Germany in September. Nationalists and pro-Islamists have been holding protest rallies denouncing the pontiff for the past several days.
† The Ministry of Education is "converting" 100 classic novels and fairytales into Islam for use in Turkish schools. In one of the fractured fairytales, Pinocchio asks Geppetto to "Give me some bread, for Allah's sake."
† A growing number of Turks see the alms distributed by Catholic missionaries as "paying for converts." A French Roman Catholic priest was stabbed in the Black Sea port of Samsun in July, the third such attack against a Catholic cleric in Turkey. In February, an Italian priest was killed while kneeling in prayer in his church in the nearby city of Trabzon, and before that, a Slovenian priest, was grabbed by the throat, thrown into a garden and threatened with death in the Aegean port city of Izmir. Also, a man upset by the newspaper caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad admitted to throwing a fire bomb on the roof of another church in Izmir.
The Associated Press reports that, "Turkish officials hope to use the visit to promote their ambitions of becoming the first Muslim nation in the European Union and showcase their secular political system. But pro-Islamic groups - which have been gaining strength for years - perceive Benedict as a symbol of Western intolerance and injustices against Muslims."
So here’s how Turkey’s PR campaign is unfolding so far:
† This latest Article 301 trial of the two Christian converts is proving that the so-called "secular democracy" is as intolerant and unjust as any other fundamentalist Muslim nation.
† Nationalists and pro-Islamists are rolling out the red carpet for the pontiff with massive protest rallies (video) denouncing him.
† As a "sign of respect" to Islam, the pope plans to visit Istanbul’s renowned Blue Mosque. In return, as a sign of profound disrespect to Catholicism, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan plans to absent himself during the pope’s visit – attending a NATO summit in Latvia – but indicates that the two "may meet briefly at the airport if their arrival and departure times coincide," according to The Associated Press (emphasis, The Stiletto’s).
Pope Benedict is known to oppose Turkey’s admittance to the EU and this increasingly pointless trip is not likely to persuade him - or other European leaders - that Turkey is democratic enough, secular enough, Westernized enough or civilized enough to co-exist harmoniously with the other member nations. Considering that a Turk tried to assassinate his predecessor - and without the provocation of having given a lecture that "insulted Islam" - Pope Benedict XVI might well be risking his life for nothing.
NOTE: Original source includes links to relevant articles.
Wow...I'd like to see them actually do it just just to see the reaction of Catholics worldwide, especially in Europe. It might finally wake up a lot of "head-in-the-sand" folks to the exact nature of the threat that we are facing from the Islamo-crazies.
Is this the same purportedly "secular" Turkey we always hear about? Sounds like just another bunch of jihadist Muslims to me. Keep them out of the EU.
My feelings, exactly.
Me, too. But the Bush administration is relentlessly pro-Turkish, despite that country complicating our war against Saddam by not letting our air force use their airstrips, and despite Turkey's continued denial of the Armenian Genocide (this is a departure from previous administrations, including Bush 41 and even Clinton). So if the Pope gets arrested, I wonder whether the US would do anything other than issue "condemnations" and "entreaties."
"Considering that a Turk tried to assassinate his predecessor - and without the provocation of having given a lecture that "insulted Islam" - Pope Benedict XVI might well be risking his life for nothing."
I think he ought to cancel the trip rather than risk (imprudent) martyrdom.
Rather than undermining the visit, I would suggest that it underscores the importance of it.
Well, Turkey being a "secular democracy" would have been the most receptive to this message. But between this trial and the demonstrations, it's clearly futile to discuss religious tolerance with Moslems.
Amen. I am not Catholic, but I will pray for his safety. I hope others do, too.
It may seem so, but we should not underestimate the power of gestures offered in faith.
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