“Fear will not control us”, say Turkish Christians after death threats

How have Christians in Turkey reacted to the death threats campaign suffered by at least fifteen churches and Christians organizations?

“We will continue what we have been doing and we are trying to find new opportunities”, explained Ihsan Özbek, an evangelical pastor who leads the Association of Protestant Christians in Turkey.

Two weeks ago, dozens of jihadist messages were sent to Protestant evangelical Christians in Turkey via email, Facebook, mobile phone. They accused churches and Christian organisations of “choosing the path that denies Allah”. Christian leaders were threatened with being beheaded: “as heretics, you have increased your numbers with ignorant believers”, some messages said.

“Last week there were no new threats”, Ishan Ozbek told Evangelical Focus. “Several newspapers wrote about the threating messages. The main opposition party (CHP) parliamentarians organised a press conference at the Parliament, with Protestant leaders. One opposition party (HDP) parliamentarian asked an official question to the Prime Minister at the Parliament. But because of the other problems (the Kurdish issue and the upcoming elections) our situation is not receiving enough attention”.

“HATRED” AGAINST CHRISTIANS STILL A REALITY

Ozbek thinks that there is still a problem of “hatred against the Christian population in Turkey”.

“It is very common for us to receive negative reactions from individuals, political parties and other groups”. Most citizens especially react with anger to the fact that there are national Turkish people who convert to Christianity.

There are “lots of prejudices”. And some international affairs also help to grow the distrust: “Sometimes problems happening outside have a negative effect on the situation: the Gulf Crisis, Racism in Europe, etc)”, the pastor says.

CHRISTIANS DON’T HIDE, BUT THERE IS A COST

Stereotypes are the “ongoing problem”. “Turkish people don’t know Christianity and Christians but they have lots of ideas. Fighting against prejudices is a difficult and tiring task”. 

But most Christians are public about their faith. “Hiding the belief is not very common… but there may be a cost like being hit, hearing cursing words, etc. Most of the churches are still inviting non-believers to their churches. In our church we have outreach every Tuesday, and this week we had a bigger crowd than other weeks in this year”.

The truth is that the public expressions of the Christian faith have grown very much in the last years. And threats and aggressions will not stop it. “We will continue what we have been doing and we are trying to find new opportunities”.

The refugee crisis, for instance, “created an opportunity to serve nationwide”. It helped evangelical Christians in Turkey “to be known by new groups of people, we are partnering with some NGOs for this ministry and now they are familiar with who we are.”

SERVING THE REFUGEES IN TURKEY

The country has been receiving tens of thousands of refugees coming from Syrian.  How has the society reacted to the crisis?

“It is a two sided situation”, expresses Özbek. “Some people don’t like refugees because they a providing cheap labor. They are different, and Turks have a superior feeling towards Arabs, generally. In small cities there is a clash.” 

“Large cities are different, foreign beggars are everywhere. Poverty, helplessness can easily be seen. The hearts of many Turkish people are broken when they see this situation. (…) The photo with Little Aylan’s body on the beach was a major turning point.”

Turkish Protestant Christians should get involved, the evangelical leader argues. “It is an opportunity for us to share what we have. Food, money, human power. The Turkish Evangelical Alliance (TEA) started a Relief Group when the crises started. We have been helping at the border zone with Syria and Iraq.”

“Local and foreign churches have been collecting money and our teams are helping in the area. At the beginning we have erected the tents and now we are supplying food and other necessary items.”

“Our church has been working in the Yazidi camp in the Sirnak province. But unfortunately the clash between Turkish Army and the Kurdish guerillas affects our activities negatively. It is very dangerous to go there now”, regrets Özbek.

THE CONTINOUS THREAT OF JIHADISM

Meanwhile, Islamic Jihadism is keeps growing inside the country. It is an uneasy situation for the Christian communities. “Jihadists are not only in Syria, they are in Turkey as well. You can see cars with IS flags, jihadist stickers on the bumpers”.

“It is creating fear among the new believers but we already are a martyr giving church. We know the price. We may have fear sometimes but fear will not control us.”

“But we are trying to be peacemakers”, concludes Özbek. “We have been preaching the Prince of Peace. The church in Turkey is very small but I think we are doing what we can do.”

Read more about the threats many Turkish Protestant Christians received in August.