Tag: Turkey

‘Turkey failed’ 100+ Christians abducted by IS

February 26, 2015 Syria Damascus, Hasakah, Islamic State, Kurds, Syria, Turkey

The Syrian Catholic Archbishop of Hassaka-Nisibi has accused Turkey of preventing Christians from fleeing Syria to safety across the Turkish border, two days after Islamic State militants abducted at least 96 people. They lived in a cluster of villages in northeast Syria which had been under the control of Syrian . . . Read More

Turkey allows first church to be built since 1923

January 8, 2015 Turkey Churches, Greek Orthodox, Istanbul, Turkey

According to Hurriyet Daily News, “the Council of Europe has hailed Turkey’s decision to allow the building of a new church for the Syriac community in Istanbul, which will be the first new church to be built in the country in nearly a century.” “It is the first [new church] . . . Read More

Turkey plans new global Islamic university

November 25, 2014 Turkey Education, Greek Orthodox, Halki Seminary, Islamic extremism, Protestants, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey

In an aggressive move to position itself as the intellectual center of the Muslim world, Turkey has announced plans to open an Islamic university similar to Egypt’s Al-Azhar, the oldest and most respected center of Islamic learning. Ankara’s announcement comes amid years of legal stonewalling for Turkey’s Christian minorities to . . . Read More

Second Turkish trial implicates authorities in planned attack on church leaders

November 4, 2014 Turkey Istanbul, Izmit, Malatya, Turkey

Pastor Emre Karaali of the Izmit Protestant Church on the steps of the Courthouse in Izmit with his lawyer after the 3rd hearing on Oct. 21, 2014World Watch Monitor In a surprise October decision, a Turkish judge has filed a criminal complaint against a police chief and an army . . . Read More

Turkish public education system to offer class in Christianity for first time

October 30, 2014 Turkey Armenians, Children, Education, Europe, Islamic extremism, Shia, Sunni, Turkey

The Turkish education system’s mandatory religion classes are not fair to students who do not follow the country’s majority Sunni Islam and must amend its policies, according to a recent verdict of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). As Turkey is a signatory of the European Convention on Human . . . Read More

Malatya murders fault of Turkish ultranationalists

August 20, 2014 Turkey Malatya, Terrorism, Turkey

Defendants at the 95th hearing over the murder of three Christians in Malatya, eastern Turkey told the Malatya High Criminal Court on 18 Aug. that a “parallel structure”, an ultranationalist cabal of retired generals, politicians, journalists and mafia members were responsible for the deaths. Prosecution lawyer Erdal Dogan said the . . . Read More

Documents indicate Turkey connection to bishops’ kidnappers

May 19, 2014 Syria Al-Nusra Front, Boulos Yazigi, Greek Orthodox, Syria, Turkey, Yohanna Ibrahim

When police arrested Magomed Abdurrahmanov in Turkey about a year ago, word spread quickly that the suspected kidnapper of two prominent Syrian bishops had been caught. The Turkish government, however, said the man they had arrested, and his companions, were nothing to worry about. Officials said they were foreigners with . . . Read More

Malatya murder trial postponed again

April 11, 2014 Turkey Churches, Malatya, Protestants, Turkey

Seven years after three Christians were tortured and killed in southeast Turkey, the Malatya trial’s 93rd hearing has been postponed for another 10 weeks, until June 23. Under judicial changes enacted last month, the murder trial set to resume on April 10 has been transferred to Malatya’s First High Criminal . . . Read More

3000 Syrian Christians flee Armenian village as Islamist rebels take control

March 27, 2014 Armenian Genocide, Armenians, Human rights, Islamic extremism, Syria, Turkey

An Armenian* Syrian pastor, whose family is from Kessab, close to Syria’s northern border with Turkey, has reported that they have fled the village after Syrian rebel jihadists took control of the area. The fighting in the predominantly Armenian Christian town started Friday March 21st. World Watch Monitor has seen . . . Read More

Sara got married

March 26, 2014 Turkey Assyrians, Islamic extremism, Kidnapping, Kurds, Malatya, Mardin, Marriage, Midyat, Mor Gabriel Monastery, Syriacs, Turkey, Women

On March 8, International Women’s Day, many of the people in southeastern Turkey only want to discuss one thing. She is Sara, an 18-year-old Assyrian/Syriac woman, who was allegedly kidnapped by sympathizers of Huda-Part, Allah’s party, the Kurdish equivalent to Hezbollah. Others say she merely followed her heart and converted . . . Read More

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