February 2017 Persecution Magazine (4 of 4)
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WWW.PERSECUTION.ORG<br />
FEBRUARY <strong>2017</strong><br />
PERSECU ION<br />
COOKED!<br />
Turkey’s Islamist President<br />
Puts the Final Nail in<br />
the C<strong>of</strong>fin <strong>of</strong> 100 Years <strong>of</strong><br />
Democracy<br />
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INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN CONCERN
The<br />
Perfect<br />
Excuse:<br />
A Coup Attempt and an<br />
Islamist President Send<br />
Turkey Spiraling Towards<br />
Radical Islam<br />
Since the attempted coup in Turkey on July 15, 2016,<br />
the people <strong>of</strong> Turkey are uneasy, stressed, confused,<br />
mistrusting, and see little hope for their country in the<br />
near future.<br />
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Hagia Sophia<br />
Meaning “Holy Wisdom”<br />
in Latin, Hagia Sophia<br />
was built near the center<br />
<strong>of</strong> Istanbul in 537 AD<br />
originally as a church,<br />
then converted to a<br />
mosque, and is now a<br />
museum. Flickr Creative<br />
Commons image by user<br />
Pedro Szekely.<br />
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3
Feature Article<br />
On July 15, 2016,<br />
Turkey reported<br />
that factions<br />
within its military<br />
had attempted and<br />
failed to overthrow<br />
the increasingly<br />
Islamist government<br />
<strong>of</strong> President<br />
Erdogan.<br />
Many long-term Turkey watchers had serious<br />
doubts as to whether it was a real coup. It<br />
was seen by many as a classic false flag operation<br />
(a covert government-initiated operation<br />
to create public pressure or justification for a<br />
desired military response) that was designed<br />
by Erdogan to defang the only Turkish institution<br />
capable <strong>of</strong> opposing him.<br />
The failed coup allowed Erdogan to declare<br />
Turkey to be in a state <strong>of</strong> emergency in order<br />
to completely purge every possible opponent<br />
<strong>of</strong> his rule, real or imagined. The military<br />
and nearly every aspect <strong>of</strong> Turkish society<br />
has been affected. Thousands <strong>of</strong> teachers,<br />
judges, lawyers, police, military personnel,<br />
journalists, academics, and others have been<br />
suspended or arrested.<br />
It was the perfect justification for Erdogan<br />
to assume the role <strong>of</strong> dictator, placing the<br />
nail in the c<strong>of</strong>fin <strong>of</strong> almost 100 years <strong>of</strong><br />
secular government in Turkey and putting this<br />
80-million strong Muslim nation on the fast<br />
track toward radical Islam.<br />
This has had a huge impact on Turkey’s<br />
small number <strong>of</strong> Christians. On July 20, only<br />
five days after the coup attempt, ICC spoke<br />
with a missionary from Istanbul who accurately<br />
predicted the downfall we’ve witnessed<br />
in the country to date.<br />
“Honestly, this is probably the worst case<br />
scenario for Christians living in Turkey,”<br />
the missionary explained to ICC at the time.<br />
“Christians will probably be among those targeted<br />
because their lack <strong>of</strong> adherence to Islam<br />
could be seen as a threat to the government.”<br />
Christians in Turkey now find themselves<br />
in a country where the government<br />
has indefinitely suspended the concept <strong>of</strong><br />
democracy in the name <strong>of</strong> national security.<br />
It is in this Turkey that ICC is seeing an<br />
“The mosques are our barracks,<br />
the domes our helmets, the minarets<br />
our bayonets and the faithful<br />
our soldiers. . . “<br />
Poem recited by Turkey’s Chief Islamist and<br />
President Erdogan<br />
“Christians will probably be among those targeted<br />
because their lack <strong>of</strong> adherence to Islam could be seen<br />
as a threat to the government.”<br />
– A TURKISH MISSIONARY INTERVIEWED BY ICC<br />
increased crackdown against Christians, especially<br />
affecting those from outside Turkey.<br />
Andrew and Norine Brunson<br />
On October 7, 2016, Andrew and Norine<br />
Brunson were detained by the Turkish government.<br />
The Christian couple has lived in<br />
Turkey for more than 23 years, running a<br />
church under the full knowledge <strong>of</strong> local<br />
authorities. It was a huge surprise when the<br />
couple was summoned to the police department<br />
and taken into custody.<br />
The Brunsons’ phones were confiscated<br />
and they were denied legal counsel. No family<br />
or friends, lawyers or even the US State<br />
Department were allowed contact with them.<br />
Twelve days after their arrest, Norine was<br />
released. However Andrew was held for<br />
over two months and, at time <strong>of</strong> writing, had<br />
been transferred to a formal prison facility<br />
and accused <strong>of</strong> membership in an armed terrorist<br />
organization.<br />
“This is disconcerting to Americans living<br />
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here,” said Mark* (name changed for security),<br />
a missionary in Turkey, “as it seems that now<br />
if anyone is detained, it will be indefinitely and<br />
that America will or cannot do anything.”<br />
Ryan Keating<br />
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Top Recep Tayyip<br />
Erdogan, the<br />
president <strong>of</strong> Turkey,<br />
assumed the <strong>of</strong>fice<br />
on August 28, 2014.<br />
Wikimedia image.<br />
Bottom Left Anticoup<br />
protesters after<br />
the July 15, 2016<br />
Turkish coup d’état<br />
attempt in Bağcılar,<br />
Istanbul, Turkey.<br />
Wikipedia image.<br />
Bottom Right<br />
General Erdal<br />
Öztürk (left) was<br />
arrested over alleged<br />
involvement<br />
in the coup attempt.<br />
Wikipedia image.<br />
In October 2016, Ryan Keating’s residency<br />
visa was revoked. Turkey banned him for<br />
life after 10 years <strong>of</strong> living and studying incountry.<br />
Keating, 39, was refused reentry to<br />
Turkey after being in London for 10 days.<br />
“It was [a] shock to be taken into custody, and<br />
to hear that I was being given a lifetime ban,”<br />
Keating told World Watch Monitor. “No explanation<br />
was given, even when I asked about it.”<br />
Keating was forced to sign a coded document<br />
that clarified that he was being banned<br />
due to “national security” issues. This is one<br />
<strong>of</strong> the many ways in which the government is<br />
targeting Christians in Turkey.<br />
Shortly after Keating’s deportation, the<br />
Turkish government passed an emergency<br />
order that allows the Ministry <strong>of</strong> Interior to<br />
rid the country <strong>of</strong> anyone it deems a threat<br />
without judicial order or review.<br />
“There is a growing expectation among<br />
many in the missionary community that ‘they<br />
will be next’ concerning deportation or detainment,”<br />
Mark explained.<br />
Spiritual Oppression<br />
It’s believed that the Christian population<br />
<strong>of</strong> Turkey, once two million strong, now<br />
stands at just 120,000, less even than in ultrarepressive<br />
Iran.<br />
Since Erdogan’s party took power in 2002,<br />
the education system has been gradually transformed<br />
into a pro-Islamic training ground,<br />
with Erdogan himself urging the creation <strong>of</strong> a<br />
“devout generation” <strong>of</strong> Muslim Turks. With<br />
the firing <strong>of</strong> thousands <strong>of</strong> teachers, judges,<br />
and government employees after the coup,<br />
many believe that graduates <strong>of</strong> far more radical<br />
Islamic schools will now be chosen to fill<br />
the vacant positions.<br />
In 2007, three Christians were tortured and<br />
murdered by Islamic radicals who, despite being<br />
known by local authorities, have largely remained<br />
free to live and travel for the past eight years.<br />
Several leaders <strong>of</strong> the Turkish Church are<br />
laying low and advising their congregations to<br />
do the same. This may be precisely why we are<br />
seeing a greater attack against Western churches<br />
as opposed to grassroots congregations.<br />
Additionally, expressions <strong>of</strong> Islamic devotion<br />
have grown rapidly since July, with many<br />
Turkish Muslims adhering to more traditional<br />
Islamic customs.<br />
During the night <strong>of</strong> the coup attempt, calls from<br />
the loudspeakers <strong>of</strong> the country’s 85,000 mosques<br />
urged faithful Muslims to resist the uprising.<br />
Many thousands responded. In two cities, church<br />
windows were smashed by angry mobs.<br />
On October 20, 2016, in one <strong>of</strong> the most<br />
ominous symbolic moves yet, the Turkish<br />
Religious Affairs Directorate appointed a permanent<br />
imam to lead prayers in the famous<br />
Hagia Sophia for the first time in 80 years.<br />
One <strong>of</strong> the most widely recognized buildings<br />
in the world, the Hagia Sophia was built and<br />
used as a church for nine centuries before<br />
Muslim invaders conquered Constantinople<br />
in 1453 and converted it into a mosque. The<br />
appointment <strong>of</strong> an imam at such a major landmark<br />
is a clear signal <strong>of</strong> the direction Erdogan<br />
is taking Turkey.<br />
“The spirit <strong>of</strong> Islam is rising throughout<br />
the country,” Mark told ICC, “But at the<br />
same time, there is dissatisfaction with Islam<br />
among many youth…this has caused them to<br />
question Islam and has kept us busy.”<br />
Please pray for foreign Christians who are at<br />
risk <strong>of</strong> losing everything if dubbed a “national<br />
security threat.” With no evidence or forewarning,<br />
families may lose their visas, their<br />
ministries, and their homes. Pray also for local<br />
Christians to have strength as they enter into<br />
what may prove to be a very dark time for the<br />
Church in Turkey.<br />
5
A Letter to the President<br />
St. Mark Church in<br />
Cairo, Egypt at sunset.<br />
Flickr Creative<br />
Commons image by user<br />
Andrew A. Shenouda.<br />
A letter from a persecuted<br />
Christian in Egypt to<br />
President Trump.<br />
Dear President Trump,<br />
First, I congratulate<br />
you on your<br />
victory in the US<br />
presidential election.<br />
I send my best<br />
wishes to both you<br />
and the administration<br />
you will lead.<br />
I also pray that the<br />
Lord would enlighten and sustain you in your<br />
service to both the United States and to the rest<br />
<strong>of</strong> the world.<br />
As an Egyptian Christian, I hope that you<br />
will continue to forge strategic relations<br />
between Egypt and the United States. I am<br />
confident that you and President Sisi will<br />
continue to strengthen the unique alliance<br />
between the United States and Egypt and<br />
bring it to even greater heights.<br />
With that said, I would like to now draw<br />
your attention to the lack <strong>of</strong> religious freedom<br />
in the Middle East. Today, religious freedom<br />
for minorities in the Middle East is under<br />
siege and, in some places, even threatened<br />
with complete annihilation.<br />
In Saudi Arabia, a country that controls<br />
two <strong>of</strong> the most holy cities <strong>of</strong> Islam, Mecca<br />
and Medina, building a church is forbidden.<br />
Foreign nationals who are not Muslims cannot<br />
become citizens and are prohibited from<br />
entering Mecca.<br />
In Libya, although the interim constitution<br />
protects religious freedom, the government continues<br />
to prohibit proselytizing to Muslims. Also,<br />
attacks on Christians and their properties continue<br />
to go uninvestigated. Like Saudi Arabia,<br />
there are no churches in Libya, but Christians<br />
are allowed to worship in their homes.<br />
Extremist groups have carried out numerous<br />
attacks against Christians in Libya. As<br />
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The Pyramids <strong>of</strong> Giza. Flickr Creative Commons image by user Charles Sharp.<br />
Cave church at The Monastery <strong>of</strong> St. Simon the Tanner.<br />
I am sure you are aware, Islamic State militants<br />
filmed the beheading <strong>of</strong> 21 Egyptian<br />
Christians and later an additional 31 Ethiopian<br />
and Eritrean Christians in two separate attacks<br />
in 2015. A grisly reminder <strong>of</strong> how dangerous<br />
it is for religious minorities when groups<br />
who do not believe in religious freedom are<br />
allowed to rule.<br />
In Tunisia, although it is not illegal to convert<br />
from Islam to another religion, converts<br />
from Islam face extreme pressure from their<br />
families and former religious communities.<br />
Some Tunisian Christians have even reported<br />
receiving violent threats. Islamic religious<br />
education is also mandatory in Tunisia’s public<br />
schools and the government continues to<br />
imprison people for speech deemed blasphemous<br />
or <strong>of</strong>fensive to Islam.<br />
In Morocco, conversion from Islam is not<br />
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illegal, but converts can be prosecuted for<br />
“shaking the beliefs” <strong>of</strong> other Muslims and<br />
sentenced to prison for up to three years.<br />
Those found guilty <strong>of</strong> proselytism or converting<br />
others also face criminal punishment or<br />
expulsion from the country.<br />
In Syria and Iraq, religious minorities continue<br />
to be targeted by Islamic State militants.<br />
Homes, places <strong>of</strong> worship, and entire Christian<br />
communities have been overrun and occupied<br />
by a terrorist organization that stands in<br />
complete opposition to religious freedom. The<br />
attacks on religious minorities in these countries<br />
have gotten so bad that your government<br />
has termed the situation a genocide.<br />
Even in my home country, Egypt, full religious<br />
freedom is not a reality. Coptic Christians,<br />
who are the indigenous population <strong>of</strong> Egypt,<br />
continue to make up 10 percent <strong>of</strong> the country’s<br />
population despite the discrimination and, at<br />
times, outright persecution we endure.<br />
In recent years, attacks by Muslim radicals<br />
against the Christian community <strong>of</strong> Egypt<br />
have increased. For example, on November<br />
25, 2016, Muslim radicals in El-Naghamish<br />
village, located in the Sohag governorate,<br />
attacked a Coptic Christian community<br />
because a rumor spread that Christians were<br />
building a church.<br />
Fanatics carrying gas canisters, rocks, and<br />
other weapons carried out a vicious assault<br />
following Friday prayers, resulting in four<br />
Christians being injured, a Christian guesthouse<br />
being destroyed, nine Christian homes<br />
being burned, and four Christian businesses<br />
being looted. Unfortunately, this was not the<br />
first time this has happened in 2016. In<br />
fact, three other Christian communities across<br />
Egypt suffered similar assaults after rumors <strong>of</strong><br />
a church being constructed were spread.<br />
In many ways, our government has failed<br />
to protect us and, at times, are amongst those<br />
denying us full religious freedom. Repressive<br />
laws and discriminatory policies are <strong>of</strong>ten<br />
used to restrict Christians from freely practicing<br />
their faith. This has left many Christians<br />
feeling that they are not equal to their Muslim<br />
counterparts as Egyptian citizens.<br />
Truly, we Egyptian Christians <strong>of</strong>ten feel<br />
oppressed and marginalized by the laws and<br />
actions, or in some cases inaction, <strong>of</strong> our<br />
own country.<br />
As a member <strong>of</strong> one <strong>of</strong> these threatened<br />
minority communities, it is my hope and<br />
prayer that you and the United States will<br />
remain a strong leader in the Middle East and<br />
will continue to champion the universal right to<br />
religious freedom for all, Muslims, Christians,<br />
Jews, and Yazidis, in the Middle East.<br />
For generations, the world has looked to<br />
the United States as a stalwart advocate for<br />
the right to religious freedom. As you take<br />
the <strong>of</strong>fice <strong>of</strong> President <strong>of</strong> the United States,<br />
I urge you to continue this noble tradition so<br />
that someday, a religious minority like me<br />
could truly experience what it feels like to<br />
practice his or her faith freely.<br />
Sincerely,<br />
An Egyptian Christian<br />
7
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Black scorch marks<br />
cover a door <strong>of</strong> what<br />
was once a church<br />
in Qeraqosh, Iraq<br />
that ISIS burned as<br />
they were forced out.<br />
Keep Iraqi Christians<br />
in prayer during and<br />
after the battle for<br />
Mosul, Iraq.<br />
© Copyright <strong>2017</strong> ICC, Washington, D.C., USA.<br />
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