Tag: Turkey

Andrew Brunson, still in prison after one year, thanks people for praying for him

October 9, 2017 Turkey Andrew Brunson, Coup, Fethullah Gülen, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey, USA

Andrew Brunson in a photo provided by his family.

American pastor Andrew Brunson has served one year as a prisoner in Turkey. Charges against him are unclear and recently Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan confirmed publicly that Brunson is being held as a political hostage. Brunson is one of an estimated 50,000 “suspected” public servants, academics, journalists and rights . . . Read More

More than 80 countries ‘favour’ one religion over others – Pew Research Center

October 5, 2017 Global News -- No Particular Country Apostasy, Armenians, Assyrians, Azerbaijan, Bhutan, Cambodia, Central Asia, China, Comoros, Converts, Cuba, India, Iran, Islamic extremism, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Maldives, Mauritania, Middle East, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, North Africa, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Soviet Union, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam

Over 80 countries favour a specific religion, either officially as a state religion or tacitly through special treatment, according to a new report by the US-based Pew Research Center. Islam is the most common state religion – 27 countries have it as their official religion, including 16 of the 20 . . . Read More

Turkish president admits US pastor is political hostage

September 29, 2017 Turkey Binali Yildirim, Coup, Donald Trump, Fethullah Gülen, Izmir, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey, USA

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has for the first time confirmed publicly that a US pastor jailed in Turkey for the past 12 months is being held by his government as a political hostage. In a speech at his presidential palace yesterday (28 September), Erdoğan openly called on the United . . . Read More

Historic Armenian Cathedral desecrated in southeast Turkey

September 15, 2017 Turkey Diyarbakir, Kurds, Middle East, PKK, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Surp Giragos, Turkey

Eighteen months after the Turkish government seized control of the largest Armenian cathedral in the Middle East, secretly taken photographs inside Diyarbakir’s Surp Giragos Armenian Apostolic Church reveal considerable damage to the sanctuary and walls of the now desecrated church in southeast Turkey. Published by The Armenian Weekly, the exclusive . . . Read More

Turkey charges US pastor as ‘spy’; conviction would mean life in prison

August 29, 2017 Turkey Andrew Brunson, Coup, Fethullah Gülen, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey

Almost a year after arresting him, Turkey piled on new charges of “spying” and “insurgency” against American pastor Andrew Brunson on 24 August, demanding four consecutive life sentences in prison against the 23-year resident of Turkey. Jailed since his surprise detention without charges last October, Brunson was eventually accused of . . . Read More

Iran: wife of jailed pastor next in court, then their son

August 18, 2017 Iran Iran, Maryam Naghash Zargaran, Ramil Bet-Tamraz, Shamiram Isavi Khabizeh, Tehran, Turkey, Victor Bet-Tamraz

The wife of an Iranian pastor sentenced to 10 years in jail is due to appear before an Islamic Revolutionary Court on 21 August, where she will face charges of “participating in foreign Christian seminars” and “acting against Iranian national security”. Shamiram Isavi Khabizeh, the wife of Victor Bet-Tamraz, was . . . Read More

IS guilty of genocide, says US Secretary of State

August 17, 2017 Global News -- No Particular Country Afghanistan, Al-Shabaab, Andrew Brunson, Blasphemy, Donald Trump, Genocide, Iran, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Lord Alton, NATO, Pakistan, Qatar, Rex Tillerson, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Taliban, Turkey, USA, Wahhabism, Yemen

The US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has stressed that the actions of the Islamic State (IS) group against Christians, Yazidis and Shia Muslims constitute genocide, and also criticised America’s ally, Saudi Arabia, for religious freedom violations. Tillerson made his “genocide” comments in the preface to the State Department’s annual . . . Read More

Turkey: Malatya murderers’ 39-year prison sentences upheld

July 25, 2017 Turkey Gaziantep, Islamic extremism, Malatya, Turkey

Six months after five Turkish men were convicted of the grisly murders of three Christians in southeast Turkey ten years ago, an appeals court has upheld their three consecutive life sentences in prison. The regional Gaziantep 3rd Criminal Court of Appeals decision on 18 July confirmed the incarceration of Emre . . . Read More

Legal limbo of Turkey’s Syriac Christian properties still unresolved

July 18, 2017 Turkey Mardin, Mor Gabriel Monastery, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Syria, Syriacs, Turkey

Over the past five years, legal ownership of at least 100 ancient Syriac Christian properties in Turkey’s southeast has been seized and transferred to the Turkish state treasury, where the title deeds still remain. The government-confiscated properties include two functioning monasteries, including adjacent lands to the 4th century Mor Gabriel . . . Read More

G20 ‘missed opportunity’ to tackle major global issue: religious freedom

July 14, 2017 Global News -- No Particular Country Angela Merkel, China, Eritrea, G20, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Mexico, Migrants, Refugees, Religious freedom, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey

By not discussing international religious freedom at the G20 summit in Germany last weekend, world leaders failed to address the root cause of major global issues like the migrant crisis, says David Curry, CEO of Open Doors USA. As a result, “we can expect more violence from religious intolerance, a . . . Read More

Catching Our Eye