In a letter to the Permanent Mission of Turkey to the United Nations Office at Geneva, Switzerland, seen by BosNewsLife, WCC General Secretary Samuel Kobia said there are reports "of plots against the lives of the heads of two WCC member churches in Turkey," identified as Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, and Armenian Patriarch Mesrob II. He did not elaborate, apparently for security reasons pending an investigation.
Kobia suggested the death threats followed the April 18 killings of German Tilman Ekkehart Geske and Turkish Christians Necati Aydin and Ugur Yuksel at a Christian publishing house in the town of Malatya, which he described as "the latest tragedy" inflicted on religious minorities by apparently Muslim militants.
The official said the WCC, which represents 560 million Christians in over 110 countries, has noted a series of "killings and other threats directed at members and leaders of religious minorities" in Turkey which he stressed are of "serious concern" and cause "deep revulsion" and "dismay."
He added that churches and citizens are therefore "watching the authorities in the case [of the three murdered Christians] to see that justice is done and that further crimes are prevented".
"REGRETTABLE LIST"
Besides the latest murders and death threats, his letter also contained a "regrettable list" of crimes that "appear to be motivated by hatred for whole groups of people," including the earlier killings of Armenian writer Hrant Dink and of the Catholic priest Fr Andrea Santano.
Kobia said the attacks were part of "a series of incidents entailing threats and violence against members of religious minorities." He said the "appropriate governmental authorities" should "ensure the respect for human rights and for the rule of law which safeguards all citizens, including these whose cases we raise here".
The WCC leader added that his grouping wants "to see respect for human dignity – socially, politically and religiously – reflected in the treatment of churches and other religious minorities". His letter came at a time of political tensions over the role of Islam in Turkey.
On Wednesday, April 3, the European Union and the United States warned Turkey’s military to stay out of the country’s political showdown between the Islamic-rooted government and those in the opposition who fear the country will shift toward Islamic rule. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has found himself besieged ever since his party’s decision to nominate one of his closest allies, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, as president.
"ALARMING SYMBOL"
Gul, whose wife covers her hair with an Islamic-style head scarf that secularists view as an "alarming symbol" of the primacy of religion over state, has said he will not withdraw his candidacy. It was not immediately clear how the dispute would impact Christians.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday, May 3, she agreed with the European Union that the Turkish military, which considers itself the guardian of a secular state, must stay out of the political debate. The military has overthrown governments in the past and Rice made it clear that "the election, the electoral system and the results of the electoral system and the results of the constitutional process have to be upheld.”
European Union Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn told reporters that Turkey must abide by the rule of law and civilian control over the military, warning that if the government in Ankara wanted to join the EU "it needs to respect these principles."
The chief of Turkey’s electoral board has reportedly proposed July 22 as the date for early general elections – a month later than Prime Minister Erdogan had wanted. (With BosNewsLife’s Stefan J. Bos, BosNewsLife reporting and BosNewslife Research).
