Turkey's Catholics 'left in fear' amid new nationwide unrest

Turkey's Catholics 'left in fear' amid new nationwide unrest
By Jonathan Luxmoore , OSV News

(OSV News) -- Turkey's Christian minorities have been left in fear in the wake of nationwide disorders, which erupted following the March 19 arrest of a top opposition leader.

"Our church isn't in anyone's direct sights since it's an insignificant presence here -- but Catholics across the country are now afraid," a church source told OSV News.

"The management of power in Turkey and throughout the Middle East is tied to individuals and groups with no real grasp of democracy. So what's happening now hasn't come as a surprise, at least for anyone who's followed events here over the years."

The source, who asked not to be named for safety reasons, spoke to OSV News as street protests continued over the arrest of Ekrem Imamoglu, the elected mayor of Istanbul and a key presidential candidate, along with dozens of other members of his opposition Republican People's Party.

He said he had not heard of arrests or property damage affecting the country's disparate Catholic communities or of direct threats to the Istanbul-based Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchate and other Christian denominations.

However, he added that all Christian groups had been touched by worsening political tensions and economic hardships in Turkey, most of whose 85 million inhabitants are Sunni Muslims.

Turkey's mass-circulation Hurriyet daily reported March 26 that over 1,400 mostly young protesters had been arrested since Imamoglu's detention, with at least 170 awaiting trial, including several journalists held in dawn raids.

It added that much of Istanbul, a city of 15.7 million, remained in lockdown, with riot police patrolling with teargas, water cannon and rubber bullets, and with internet and transport links partially shut down.

Meanwhile, AsiaNews, an agency of the Vatican's Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions, said Turkish authorities had held back from an outright ban on protests to avoid "provoking excessive popular anger."

The agency added that support remained strong in "scarred and disappointed" Istanbul for Imamoglu, who was a "practicing Muslim yet secular mayor," seeking to revive the secular vision favoured by Turkey's modern founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881-1938).

Addressing members of his governing Justice and Development party, or AKP, March 26, Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, accused opposition politicians of attempting to "cover up their own wrongdoings" by "hiding behind young people," and of sabotaging the economy by urging a boycott of pro-government companies and media outlets.

He added that "lawlessness" would be held accountable, and also accused Western governments of double standards for ignoring "acts of vandalism and insults."

"If by democracy they mean allowing thieves, fraudsters and marginal groups to exploit municipalities and public resources, we reject that understanding of democracy," said Erdogan, who was Turkish prime minister from 2003 to 2014 and gained sweeping powers during three later terms as president, surviving a coup attempt in July 2016 that left over 200 dead.

In recent protests, the use of "unnecessary and indiscriminate force" against protesters was condemned by Amnesty International, which urged the Turkish government to "respect and protect the right to peaceful assembly."

Meanwhile, the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O'Flaherty, said he was also concerned about reports of disproportionate police force and called on Turkish authorities to "uphold their human rights obligations."

The Catholic Church has seven dioceses and apostolic vicariates, with 54 parishes and 13 pastoral centers, in Turkey, a NATO member-state. The church has suffered several outrages, including the 2010 fatal stabbing of its bishops' conference president, Bishop Luigi Padovese, at Iskenderun, and the murder in 2006 of Italian-born Father Andrea Santoro in his church at Trabzon.

Although the country resumed diplomatic ties with the Vatican in 2016, two years after a visit by Pope Francis, the church was denied legal recognition and still seeks to reclaim around 200 properties on a list submitted to a 2012 parliamentary commission.

Other historic Christian churches are also trying to regain lands and properties seized after the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, which established modern Turkey's borders, and face problems recruiting clergy, establishing associations and obtaining building and renovation permits.

Hopes for a new visit by the pope in May to mark the 1,700 anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, in modern-day Iznik, were raised after Erdogan's Dec. 26 meeting with Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople although no plan has been confirmed by the Vatican. Pope Francis expressed his desire to go in November, but whether his health will allow him to remains a question.

The 88-year-old pope was released from Rome's Gemelli hospital March 23 after a 38-day stay for breathing troubles, infections and double pneumonia. His doctors recommended two months of rest.

In his OSV News interview, the church source said "deep divisions" looked set to persist in Turkish society, as Erdogan pursued policies driven by "nationalism and Islam."

"Certainly, much of the population disapproves of his mixing of politics and religion -- but most people also know the negative consequences of speaking out," said the source.

"Even among Western Christians, attitudes remain ambiguous. On the one hand, they organize tearful prayer vigils for Christians in the Middle East. On the other, they give political support to governments which keenly do business with Turkey."

OSV News received no response to requests for comment on the current situation from the Turkish bishops' press office and several prominent Istanbul church communities.

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Jonathan Luxmoore writes for OSV News from Oxford, England.