anger and reports that several converts have been detained, BosNewsLife monitored Wednesday, November 1.
Muslim anger in Turkey and around the world boiled over after the pope questioned the concept of ‘holy war’ in the Islamic religion during a speech in Germany.
Now a Turkish novelist claims worse is in store for the head of the Catholic Church — an assassination attempt.
Yucel Kaya’s book, “Plot Against the Pope,” comes amid the uproar Benedict XVI triggered with his recent controversial remarks coupled with several attacks in Turkey targeting priests, have raised concern.
CONSPIRACY NOVEL
The novel is about a conspiracy to kill the pope involving the ultra-conservative Roman Catholic society Opus Dei, the notorious P-2 Masonic lodge and US intelligence services to prepare the ground for a U.S. attack on Iran, the French News Agency AFP reported.
The cover of the book, sub-titled "Who will kill the pope in Istanbul?" features Benedict XVI in front of a cross engulfed in flames, with a bearded gunman aiming at the pontiff.
Adding to the tensions are reports that a Turkish prosecutor slapped criminal charges against two converts to Christianity earlier this month, accusing them of “insulting Turkishness,” inciting hatred against Islam and secretly compiling data on private citizens for a local Bible correspondence course.
MANY DETAINED
Hakan Tastan, 37, and Turan Topal, 46, joined the ranks of 97 other Turkish citizens hauled into court in the last 16 months over alleged violations of the country’s controversial Article 301 restricting freedom of speech, said Compass Direct News agency, a Christian news service.
If convicted, the accused men could be sentenced from six months up to three years in prison. "It’s all lies," Topal told Compass Direct News. “Someone is trying to make us look like a Christian ‘tarikat’," a banned religious sect.
It is unclear whether the pontiff will raise the reports of religious rights abuses in Turkey, which seeks membership of the European Union and has been under international pressure to improve its human rights record. (With reports from Turkey and BosNewsLife Research).
