Posted on 11/02/2010 5:40:40 AM PDT by markomalley
Istanbul (AsiaNews) –On the night between 28 and 29 October the feast day of the Republic founded by Kemal Ataturk, unknown assailants entered, in the cemetery of the island of Panagia Imvros (Goikocea in Turkish) and seriously vandalised 78 graves (see photo). A similar act had been committed in these parts 20 years ago.
The incident, it is rumoured on the island, indicates an attempt to create panic among about 350 Christians left on this island.
The island of Imvros, where the current ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew was born, along with the nearby island of Tenedos, were 99% inhabited by the Christian Orthodox population, but with the Treaty of Lausanne of 1923 granted them to Turkey under the condition that the Ankara government allow their full administrative autonomy.
But neither then nor in the years to follow did the Kemalist regime respect the agreements signed at Lausanne, suspending the autonomous regime provided for in this Treaty and with various methods of coercion such as the forced expropriation of property, school closures and suspension of teaching the Greek language, encouraged the shift of populations from Anatolia - which has altered the demographic structure of the island - and the creation of a prison for convicts with a license to commit acts of violence against the Christian population, this forced their final abandonment of their lands to seek refuge first in Istanbul and then across the five continents.
According to Nikos Maginas, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, on hearing about the serious incident that occurred on his own native land, charged this act of vandalism to the "usual known-unknown suspects". Bartholomew himself in his sermon in the parish of St. Demetrius in Kurtulus Istanbul, referring to the incident said: "Ours is a continuous struggle for our survival and our ancient traditions in these lands. After much difficulty we started to see some glimmer of light, of hope for our long-standing problems. But again unpleasant facts emerge, such as those that occurred in the cemetery of the island of Imvros, where the usual known-unknown suspects were responsible for breaking the crosses on the graves of the cemetery. Our battle will never end .. But always with the grace of our Lord - concluded the Ecumenical Patriarch - with perseverance, with Turkey’s European perspective and the efforts of its leaders, we are confident that those long desired results will one day arrive".
The Interior Ministry condemned the episode and ordered the magistrate of Imvros to carry out prompt investigation for the arrest of those responsible.
Such acts demonstrate that there are still strong pockets of intolerance towards minority groups in Turkey there, which seek to undermine the openings of the government towards them. An executive which, in turn, despite having the wind in its favour, lacks the necessary political will to solve the problems of minorities, preferring to defer them indefinitely.
As noted in Istanbul, Turkey's European perspective should not only consist in claims for rights, but also the immediate application of the Union’s rules.
ping
Matter of time before they start up on the cemeteries for our war dead over in Europe.
Saw some olive oil on sale yesterday at a local store. Reading the contents of the package I noticed it was from Turkey. I happily and immediately put the bottle back and quickly walked away.
1800 years ago Turkey was the most Christian populace on the planet.The seven churches mentioned in the book of Revelation were ALL in Turkey...it was not lack of evangelism that killed those churches off...it was hundreds of years of followers of the crescent moon...
Descecrated Serbian church graveyard in Kosovo
The pattern is the same. Turks, Albanians, Saudis...they all share one thing in common: Islam. And they are all our "allies." This is the company we keep. Shame on us.
Both Greece and Turkey are part of NATO, yet we didn't have any doubt which side to support when Turkey invaded Cyprus. Why Greece remained in NATO after that is beyond me.
And the current Quisling Serbian government is pushing for NATO membership against popular opinion, 10 years after NATO bombed Serbia into submission, so Kosovo Albanians can uninterruptedly burn and urinate on Serbian churches and vandalize Christian graveyards.
Oh, by the way, Turkey is applying for EU membership. We seem to be opposed to Muslims only when it comes to Israel, and with 0bama in the Oval Office, even that went down the drain.
We have made a 180-degree turn 9 years after 911, and now Juan Williams got fired from the communist NPR for saying he was uneasy with people on airplanes dressed in Muslim garbs. Who isn't?! Only America's enemies.
>>We have made a 180-degree turn 9 years after 911,<<
In reference to what?
What do you call 0bama supporting the building of the mosque near the 911 site? Yet the Greek Orthodox church that was destroyed nearby will not be rebuilt. And 0bama certainly said nothing about that. Every public media except Foxnews is cozying up to Muslims, and yet not one of the "moderate" Muslims is willing to come forward and condemn Hamas, or 911. We have not only lost all decency but our attention span has evaporated as well.
Disgusting!
What do I call Bush holding hands with Saudi Prince Abdullah.
Disgusting!
Now do you understand why I asked where the 180-degree turn 9 years after 911 comes from?
We are continuing down the same Surrenderers Only road that we found eight years ago.!
I don't see where the support of Muzlims on US soil is considered intellectual or good business practice or politically correct or whatever. It is something only fools would do! We are sleeping with our enemies. No, our enemies are sleeping with our daughters.
It continued to be that until 1452 when it fell to the MuslimTurks. What followed were 400 years of dhimmitude and stagnation and horrors the likes you would not believe——but the final horrors as the genocide of 3 MILLION Christians - Greek, Armenians, and Assyrians between 1915-1923 - all preventable but for WWI and the West turning a blind eye at the blood and horror and turning toward OIL and the Middle East.
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