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ATTACKERS CRITICALLY INJURE CHRISTIAN
Compass Direct ^ | Turkey - Friday November 14, 2003

Posted on 11/28/2003 11:29:26 PM PST by miltonim

A Turkish convert to Christianity was severely beaten for distributing New Testaments in his hometown of Orhangazi in northwestern Turkey. He later slipped into a coma and remains in critical condition. Yakup Cindilli, 32, was hospitalized on October 23 after a savage attack by three individuals who inflicted heavy blows on his head and face. Both Cindilli and a colleague identified as Tufan Orhan were reportedly distributing New Testaments at the time of the attack. According to an October 26 account in the national Milliyet newspaper, Cindilli and Orhan were beaten for “doing missionary propaganda.” Local police have identified and apprehended three suspects in the crime, all jailed by order of the public prosecutor reviewing the case. One of the suspects, Metin Yildiran, is president of the local chapter of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). A far-right political party accused of “neo-fascist” activities during Turkey’s violent 1970s, the MHP has historically linked its platform with an Islamic-tinged version of nationalism.


Yakup Cindilli


TOPICS: Current Events; Islam; Ministry/Outreach; Religion & Culture
KEYWORDS: mohammedans; persecution

1 posted on 11/28/2003 11:29:26 PM PST by miltonim
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To: miltonim; billbears; 4ConservativeJustices; stainlessbanner
bump for our brother
2 posted on 11/29/2003 5:26:37 AM PST by Ff--150 (The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich)
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To: Ff--150
More info, via Google news: http://www.mcjonline.com/news/03a/20031117c.shtml

Turkish Evangelists Beaten As Islam Rises

( ANS) -- On October 23, Yakup Cindilli (32), a Turkish convert to Christianity, was savagely beaten for distributing New Testaments in his hometown of Orhangazi in northwestern Turkey.

Cindilli was hospitalized but has since slipped into a coma and is in a critical condition. The coma resulted from a blood clot that formed in his brain as a result of his injuries.

Cindilli’s companion, Tufan Orhan, was also savagely beaten. Turkish media reported the incident as “Two Youths Beaten for Doing Missionary Work” or “missionary propaganda”. Local police have identified and apprehended three suspects in the crime, but as yet no date has been set for a hearing.

Compass Direct reports, “Yakup Cindilli first expressed interest in Christianity about two years ago when he made a telephone call to ‘Alo Dua’, a prayer hotline ministry begun by local Protestant Christians after Turkey’s devastating 1999 earthquake.

After reading the New Testament and coming to faith in Christ, Cindilli began writing poems and songs. He occasionally traveled to Bursa, about 30 miles from Orhangazi, to visit the Protestant fellowship there. His family was opposed to his new faith, throwing out all his Christian books and warning him that he must give up his new beliefs.”

Turkey, as a bridge between Europe and the Muslim world, is a very strategic nation, yet it is also the largest unreached nation in the world. Turkey was once a bastion of Christianity, then a bastion of expanding Islam. Today Turkey is torn between secular Europe and the Islamic world.

To be Muslim (no matter how nominal) is an essential part of Turkish identity, hence Christians have always been subject to a degree of social hostility and contempt. A legalistic drive for secularization, that has included the banning of headscarves, actually backlashes and causes more contempt of non-Muslims. This problem is escalating as Islamist sentiment and identification rises in response to the “War on Terror” and war in Iraq.

The rise in Islamist sentiment and identification was clearly demonstrated by the November 2002 landslide election win to the Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP) which has its roots in a banned Islamist movement.

The AKP won over the ruling, staunchly secular, Republican People's Party (CHP). AKP leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan (48), had been banned from holding the position of Prime Minister due to a 1998 conviction for ‘Islamist sedition’, for publicly reciting a poem that the courts concluded incited religious hatred.

Political maneuvering after the AKP election victory enabled the constitutional changes necessary for Erdogan to become Prime Minister in March 2003.

There is much debate about the directions and intentions of the AKP. Two things, however, are certain; the war on terror and war in Iraq have caused Islamist sentiment to rise in Turkey; and there is also a great hunger for the gospel as many are searching for spiritual truth.

© 2003 Assist News Service
© 2003 Maranatha Christian News Service

3 posted on 11/29/2003 6:29:07 AM PST by Eala (Sacrificing tagline fame for... TRAD ANGLICAN RESOURCE PAGE: http://eala.freeservers.com/anglican)
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To: miltonim
Calling CAIR....

True persecution and torture here.

4 posted on 11/29/2003 6:48:14 AM PST by OpusatFR (If you don't like our laws, live in accordance with our laws, and believe in our way of life: leave)
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To: OpusatFR
I pray for his health, may Jesus be with him and lead him to a place to worship and love his saviour freely.
God Bless the Chrisitians in Turkey. Let G-d be there strength and courage. Maybe we could all donate 10.00 or 20.00 and buy him a plane ticket to our great land?
5 posted on 11/29/2003 7:09:37 AM PST by missyme
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To: Ff--150
Prayers for Cindilli and Orhan.

Remember, Islam is the religion of peace. </sarcasm>

6 posted on 11/29/2003 4:05:13 PM PST by 4CJ ('Scots vie 4 tavern juices' - anagram by paulklenk, 22 Nov 2003)
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To: 4ConservativeJustices
A religion whose paradise is essentially a brothel for those whose biggest kick is deflowering fearful virgins.
7 posted on 11/29/2003 7:35:41 PM PST by dsc
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To: OpusatFR
True persecution and torture here.

Indeed, and sadly there will be no outcry from the "world community" against this obvious genocide the Islamic fanatics are so intent upon doing all over the world.

8 posted on 11/29/2003 8:28:12 PM PST by ladyinred (The Left have blood on their hands!)
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To: Destro; FormerLib
"Civilized" Turks ping.
9 posted on 11/30/2003 5:07:25 AM PST by Hermann the Cherusker
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To: Hermann the Cherusker
Their civilization is of the thinnest veneer.
10 posted on 11/30/2003 12:01:09 PM PST by FormerLib
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To: FormerLib
Agreed

And Turkey is the model Islamic state? No matter what you call it, or how you spin it Islam and western principles are incompatible. Veneer is the correct term.

This is a very brave young man who no doubt knew what type of chance he was taking in distributing NT's. His fate is typical of those who take a stand against the Islamic political/religious system in an area where the Muzzles have gained a foothold.
11 posted on 12/30/2003 9:17:55 AM PST by bereanway
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Muhammad's Koran-inspired persecution of Christians, Jews and all non-Muslims continues...
12 posted on 12/17/2004 2:36:27 AM PST by miltonim (Fight those who do not believe in Allah. - Koran, Surah IX: 29)
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