February 2017 Persecution Magazine (4 of 4)

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FEBRUARY 2017
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COOKED!
Turkey’s Islamist President
Puts the Final Nail in
the Coffin of 100 Years of
Democracy
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INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN CONCERN

The
Perfect
Excuse:
A Coup Attempt and an
Islamist President Send
Turkey Spiraling Towards
Radical Islam
Since the attempted coup in Turkey on July 15, 2016,
the people of Turkey are uneasy, stressed, confused,
mistrusting, and see little hope for their country in the
near future.
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Hagia Sophia
Meaning “Holy Wisdom”
in Latin, Hagia Sophia
was built near the center
of Istanbul in 537 AD
originally as a church,
then converted to a
mosque, and is now a
museum. Flickr Creative
Commons image by user
Pedro Szekely.
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3

Feature Article
On July 15, 2016,
Turkey reported
that factions
within its military
had attempted and
failed to overthrow
the increasingly
Islamist government
of President
Erdogan.
Many long-term Turkey watchers had serious
doubts as to whether it was a real coup. It
was seen by many as a classic false flag operation
(a covert government-initiated operation
to create public pressure or justification for a
desired military response) that was designed
by Erdogan to defang the only Turkish institution
capable of opposing him.
The failed coup allowed Erdogan to declare
Turkey to be in a state of emergency in order
to completely purge every possible opponent
of his rule, real or imagined. The military
and nearly every aspect of Turkish society
has been affected. Thousands of teachers,
judges, lawyers, police, military personnel,
journalists, academics, and others have been
suspended or arrested.
It was the perfect justification for Erdogan
to assume the role of dictator, placing the
nail in the coffin of almost 100 years of
secular government in Turkey and putting this
80-million strong Muslim nation on the fast
track toward radical Islam.
This has had a huge impact on Turkey’s
small number of Christians. On July 20, only
five days after the coup attempt, ICC spoke
with a missionary from Istanbul who accurately
predicted the downfall we’ve witnessed
in the country to date.
“Honestly, this is probably the worst case
scenario for Christians living in Turkey,”
the missionary explained to ICC at the time.
“Christians will probably be among those targeted
because their lack of adherence to Islam
could be seen as a threat to the government.”
Christians in Turkey now find themselves
in a country where the government
has indefinitely suspended the concept of
democracy in the name of national security.
It is in this Turkey that ICC is seeing an
“The mosques are our barracks,
the domes our helmets, the minarets
our bayonets and the faithful
our soldiers. . . “
Poem recited by Turkey’s Chief Islamist and
President Erdogan
“Christians will probably be among those targeted
because their lack of adherence to Islam could be seen
as a threat to the government.”
– A TURKISH MISSIONARY INTERVIEWED BY ICC
increased crackdown against Christians, especially
affecting those from outside Turkey.
Andrew and Norine Brunson
On October 7, 2016, Andrew and Norine
Brunson were detained by the Turkish government.
The Christian couple has lived in
Turkey for more than 23 years, running a
church under the full knowledge of local
authorities. It was a huge surprise when the
couple was summoned to the police department
and taken into custody.
The Brunsons’ phones were confiscated
and they were denied legal counsel. No family
or friends, lawyers or even the US State
Department were allowed contact with them.
Twelve days after their arrest, Norine was
released. However Andrew was held for
over two months and, at time of writing, had
been transferred to a formal prison facility
and accused of membership in an armed terrorist
organization.
“This is disconcerting to Americans living
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here,” said Mark* (name changed for security),
a missionary in Turkey, “as it seems that now
if anyone is detained, it will be indefinitely and
that America will or cannot do anything.”
Ryan Keating
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Top Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, the
president of Turkey,
assumed the office
on August 28, 2014.
Wikimedia image.
Bottom Left Anticoup
protesters after
the July 15, 2016
Turkish coup d’état
attempt in Bağcılar,
Istanbul, Turkey.
Wikipedia image.
Bottom Right
General Erdal
Öztürk (left) was
arrested over alleged
involvement
in the coup attempt.
Wikipedia image.
In October 2016, Ryan Keating’s residency
visa was revoked. Turkey banned him for
life after 10 years of living and studying incountry.
Keating, 39, was refused reentry to
Turkey after being in London for 10 days.
“It was [a] shock to be taken into custody, and
to hear that I was being given a lifetime ban,”
Keating told World Watch Monitor. “No explanation
was given, even when I asked about it.”
Keating was forced to sign a coded document
that clarified that he was being banned
due to “national security” issues. This is one
of the many ways in which the government is
targeting Christians in Turkey.
Shortly after Keating’s deportation, the
Turkish government passed an emergency
order that allows the Ministry of Interior to
rid the country of anyone it deems a threat
without judicial order or review.
“There is a growing expectation among
many in the missionary community that ‘they
will be next’ concerning deportation or detainment,”
Mark explained.
Spiritual Oppression
It’s believed that the Christian population
of Turkey, once two million strong, now
stands at just 120,000, less even than in ultrarepressive
Iran.
Since Erdogan’s party took power in 2002,
the education system has been gradually transformed
into a pro-Islamic training ground,
with Erdogan himself urging the creation of a
“devout generation” of Muslim Turks. With
the firing of thousands of teachers, judges,
and government employees after the coup,
many believe that graduates of far more radical
Islamic schools will now be chosen to fill
the vacant positions.
In 2007, three Christians were tortured and
murdered by Islamic radicals who, despite being
known by local authorities, have largely remained
free to live and travel for the past eight years.
Several leaders of the Turkish Church are
laying low and advising their congregations to
do the same. This may be precisely why we are
seeing a greater attack against Western churches
as opposed to grassroots congregations.
Additionally, expressions of Islamic devotion
have grown rapidly since July, with many
Turkish Muslims adhering to more traditional
Islamic customs.
During the night of the coup attempt, calls from
the loudspeakers of the country’s 85,000 mosques
urged faithful Muslims to resist the uprising.
Many thousands responded. In two cities, church
windows were smashed by angry mobs.
On October 20, 2016, in one of the most
ominous symbolic moves yet, the Turkish
Religious Affairs Directorate appointed a permanent
imam to lead prayers in the famous
Hagia Sophia for the first time in 80 years.
One of the most widely recognized buildings
in the world, the Hagia Sophia was built and
used as a church for nine centuries before
Muslim invaders conquered Constantinople
in 1453 and converted it into a mosque. The
appointment of an imam at such a major landmark
is a clear signal of the direction Erdogan
is taking Turkey.
“The spirit of Islam is rising throughout
the country,” Mark told ICC, “But at the
same time, there is dissatisfaction with Islam
among many youth…this has caused them to
question Islam and has kept us busy.”
Please pray for foreign Christians who are at
risk of losing everything if dubbed a “national
security threat.” With no evidence or forewarning,
families may lose their visas, their
ministries, and their homes. Pray also for local
Christians to have strength as they enter into
what may prove to be a very dark time for the
Church in Turkey.
5

A Letter to the President
St. Mark Church in
Cairo, Egypt at sunset.
Flickr Creative
Commons image by user
Andrew A. Shenouda.
A letter from a persecuted
Christian in Egypt to
President Trump.
Dear President Trump,
First, I congratulate
you on your
victory in the US
presidential election.
I send my best
wishes to both you
and the administration
you will lead.
I also pray that the
Lord would enlighten and sustain you in your
service to both the United States and to the rest
of the world.
As an Egyptian Christian, I hope that you
will continue to forge strategic relations
between Egypt and the United States. I am
confident that you and President Sisi will
continue to strengthen the unique alliance
between the United States and Egypt and
bring it to even greater heights.
With that said, I would like to now draw
your attention to the lack of religious freedom
in the Middle East. Today, religious freedom
for minorities in the Middle East is under
siege and, in some places, even threatened
with complete annihilation.
In Saudi Arabia, a country that controls
two of the most holy cities of Islam, Mecca
and Medina, building a church is forbidden.
Foreign nationals who are not Muslims cannot
become citizens and are prohibited from
entering Mecca.
In Libya, although the interim constitution
protects religious freedom, the government continues
to prohibit proselytizing to Muslims. Also,
attacks on Christians and their properties continue
to go uninvestigated. Like Saudi Arabia,
there are no churches in Libya, but Christians
are allowed to worship in their homes.
Extremist groups have carried out numerous
attacks against Christians in Libya. As
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The Pyramids of Giza. Flickr Creative Commons image by user Charles Sharp.
Cave church at The Monastery of St. Simon the Tanner.
I am sure you are aware, Islamic State militants
filmed the beheading of 21 Egyptian
Christians and later an additional 31 Ethiopian
and Eritrean Christians in two separate attacks
in 2015. A grisly reminder of how dangerous
it is for religious minorities when groups
who do not believe in religious freedom are
allowed to rule.
In Tunisia, although it is not illegal to convert
from Islam to another religion, converts
from Islam face extreme pressure from their
families and former religious communities.
Some Tunisian Christians have even reported
receiving violent threats. Islamic religious
education is also mandatory in Tunisia’s public
schools and the government continues to
imprison people for speech deemed blasphemous
or offensive to Islam.
In Morocco, conversion from Islam is not
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illegal, but converts can be prosecuted for
“shaking the beliefs” of other Muslims and
sentenced to prison for up to three years.
Those found guilty of proselytism or converting
others also face criminal punishment or
expulsion from the country.
In Syria and Iraq, religious minorities continue
to be targeted by Islamic State militants.
Homes, places of worship, and entire Christian
communities have been overrun and occupied
by a terrorist organization that stands in
complete opposition to religious freedom. The
attacks on religious minorities in these countries
have gotten so bad that your government
has termed the situation a genocide.
Even in my home country, Egypt, full religious
freedom is not a reality. Coptic Christians,
who are the indigenous population of Egypt,
continue to make up 10 percent of the country’s
population despite the discrimination and, at
times, outright persecution we endure.
In recent years, attacks by Muslim radicals
against the Christian community of Egypt
have increased. For example, on November
25, 2016, Muslim radicals in El-Naghamish
village, located in the Sohag governorate,
attacked a Coptic Christian community
because a rumor spread that Christians were
building a church.
Fanatics carrying gas canisters, rocks, and
other weapons carried out a vicious assault
following Friday prayers, resulting in four
Christians being injured, a Christian guesthouse
being destroyed, nine Christian homes
being burned, and four Christian businesses
being looted. Unfortunately, this was not the
first time this has happened in 2016. In
fact, three other Christian communities across
Egypt suffered similar assaults after rumors of
a church being constructed were spread.
In many ways, our government has failed
to protect us and, at times, are amongst those
denying us full religious freedom. Repressive
laws and discriminatory policies are often
used to restrict Christians from freely practicing
their faith. This has left many Christians
feeling that they are not equal to their Muslim
counterparts as Egyptian citizens.
Truly, we Egyptian Christians often feel
oppressed and marginalized by the laws and
actions, or in some cases inaction, of our
own country.
As a member of one of these threatened
minority communities, it is my hope and
prayer that you and the United States will
remain a strong leader in the Middle East and
will continue to champion the universal right to
religious freedom for all, Muslims, Christians,
Jews, and Yazidis, in the Middle East.
For generations, the world has looked to
the United States as a stalwart advocate for
the right to religious freedom. As you take
the office of President of the United States,
I urge you to continue this noble tradition so
that someday, a religious minority like me
could truly experience what it feels like to
practice his or her faith freely.
Sincerely,
An Egyptian Christian
7

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Black scorch marks
cover a door of what
was once a church
in Qeraqosh, Iraq
that ISIS burned as
they were forced out.
Keep Iraqi Christians
in prayer during and
after the battle for
Mosul, Iraq.
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