Uzay
Bulut August 2, 2015 Gatestone
Instiute
"Peaceful
coexistence," it seems, is a concept truly foreign to Islamic
supremacists. Many pious Muslims seem to think that if Islam is the
only true religion, why should one need the immoral, untrue
religions or philosophies that lead people astray.
Turkey also has an Alevi
community, estimated in the tens of millions, but the number is
only approximate. Alevis in Turkey (and Catholics, Protestants and
others) are legally "non-existent." And as you cannot conduct a
census on a group of people who are legally "non-existent," you
just count them as "Sunni Muslims."
"As far as the legislation is
concerned, worshipping in a building that does not have legal
status or calling a building a cem house, church or
similar may lead to prosecution." -- Mine Yildirim.
One hears that
"Islam is a religion of peace." But what many Westerners fail to
understand is that this "peace" takes place only after everyone has converted to Islam. No
other ideology has enjoyed the luxury of being praised as the
"religion of peace" while providing exactly the
opposite.
Once upon a time, Asia Minor, now called Turkey, as well as the
rest of the Middle East, was for centuries a real cradle of
civilization, where many different religions and cultures
flourished. But today these tiny, dwindling communities are not
able to enjoy any freedom of religion or conscience.
"Peaceful coexistence," it seems, is a concept truly foreign to
Islamic supremacists. It is this missing concept that keeps them in
dark ages. They might still go to shopping malls, or use mobile
phones, computers and other technological devices, but their minds
and souls are trapped in dark ages. Ironically, most of the high
technology and science they utilize was invented by the people
whose places of worship they like to destroy.
Why is there not a single Islamic country that operates in
harmonious co-existence with everyone instead of domination of
everyone? And why is it that in most majority-Muslim countries,
non-Muslims suffer from persecution or discrimination? Why are they
not recognized as equal citizens with equal rights?
"The Latin Catholic community is not able to prove its ownership
of churches it has possessed for hundreds of years due to lack of
legal recognition of its existence," according to the scholar Mine
Yildirim. "This results in a continuing loss of property. ... Since
it has no legal personality at all in addition to not being able to
own property, the community cannot go to court when it loses
ownership of property on account of this very lack of a legal
personality."
Yildirim, after including Protestants and Jehovah's Witnesses in
the same problem, notes that, "The Syrian Orthodox community, which
has grown in recent years due to migration from South-East Turkey,
has been waiting for over three years for a decision on its
application to open a second church in Istanbul. ... The importance
of having a legally-recognised place of worship cannot be
underestimated given the widespread intolerance in Turkish society
towards other religions. ... As far as the legislation is
concerned, worshipping in a building that does not have legal
status or calling a building a cem house, church or
similar may lead to prosecution."[1]
Social intolerance and even physical attacks can also cause a
non-Muslim place of worship to be closed down. In the own of
Inegol, for instance, a church and synagogue in a shopping mall
which opened on May 10 were closed down about two weeks later due
to "pressure."
The founding president of the shopping mall, Haluk Ozbek,
stated: "As we feel the well-deserved pride of introducing such a
big project with international identity to our Inegol, we have been
exposed to ugly and meaningless attacks that we do not deserve at
all by some groups, because there were also foreign places of
worship in our shopping mall project as well as a mosque,"
according to the Cihan News Agency.
Ozbek said that since the mall has been exposed to physical
attacks, as well as to attacks in the media, "they have decided to
halt their decision regarding the foreign places of worship for
now."
On June 10, Muhammed S. aged 25, shouting "We have finished with
Christianity and Judaism... Allahu Akbar!," set fire to the
entrance of the largest Greek Orthodox Church on the Asian shore of
Istanbul, the Hagia Triada Church.
"The suspect said that he had seen 'Prophet Jesus' in his
dream," Kostandin Kiracopulos, a representative of the Association
of Greek Foundations, with which the church is affiliated,
told reporters. The government-run Anatolian Agency reported
that the man had been undergoing a treatment at a hospital for
mental disorders.
This church was "lucky" -- it was not razed to the ground. Many
historic churches in Turkey were. One, in Bodrum, the
Hagia Nicholas Church, had been named in honor of Saint
Nicholas, a historic 4th-century Christian saint who was born in
Myra, a town situated in present day Turkey. In 1923, after many
Greeks of Asia Minor were forcibly driven out of their homes during
the forcible population exchange between Turkey and Greece, the
Hagia Nicholas Church no longer had a congregation. So, it began to
be used as a cinema, and then as a sponge storehouse. Then, in
1969, the authorities decided to tear down the church. First, they
tried to destroy it with digging tools, but the building was so
solid it would not fall. So they blew it up it with dynamite.
Other churches in Asia Minor, after the 1915 slaughter of the
Armenians, were also dynamited or bombarded with cannons,
according to the Human Rights Association of Turkey.
In September 1955, the Turkish government orchestrated a
systematic attack that included the destruction
of the majority of the churches, monasteries and cemeteries of
Istanbul's Greek community.
Such attacks have led to the destruction of the Christian
culture in the region. Unfortunately, this seemingly old tradition
in Turkey is still in full swing. In April 2015, in the province of
Mardin, which until the 1914-1925 slaughter of Assyrians had been
an important center for Assyrian Christians, the Association of
Assyrian Unity was abolished because the concept "co-presidency" in
its charter -- a term also used by Kurdish organizations -- as well
as the word "unity" in its name "are against the law." The head of
the Assyrian Association, Yuhanna Aktas,
said that its members will object to the decision, but if
nothing changes, they will take the case to the European Court of
Human Rights.
Now that there is only a tiny Christian community left in
Turkey, its Islamic authorities do not often resort to their usual
aggressive methods. Instead, many of the surviving churches have
been used for various insulting purposes other than as places of
worship, but this practice only makes the persecution of churches
more invisible.
A historic church, for instance, which before 1915 had been in a
majority-Armenian village of Germus, is now used as a stable. The
church had been
restored by Armenians just 11 years ago.
A detailed report in 2014, by
the Association of Protestant Churches in Turkey, revealed hate
crimes and violations of the Christians' right to build and
maintain places of worship, to share their faith, and other forms
of discrimination to which they were exposed. The report is filled
with stories of violence or threats of violence that churches or
church members experienced in Turkey in 2014 alone. In many cities
across Turkey, churches, Christian community leaders or church
members have been continually subjected to threats, harassment or
psychical attacks.
The Protestant church in the province of Antep was sealed
because "it was an illegal workplace." In Mardin, another church
was apparently infiltrated by two police officers for years. The
result was the deportation of some of the church members. In the
Uskudar district of Istanbul, members of the Protestant community
were made to leave their church and told they would be given a new
place of worship. They are still waiting for it. In the
Bahcelievler district in Istanbul, the Presbyterian Grace Church
was threatened on social media with attacks. Police could not find
the source of the threats. In the province of Kayseri, some people
threatened and tried to kidnap a Christian university student. When
he sought help, nothing was done, so he had to drop out of
school.
Turkey also has an Alevi community, estimated in the tens of
millions, but the number is only approximate. Alevis in Turkey are
also legally "non-existent." And as you cannot conduct a census on
a group of people who are legally "non-existent," you just count
them as "Sunni Muslims."
Cem houses, the places of worship of the Alevis in Turkey, are
also victims of Islamist supremacy. They have never been recognized
as places of worship, either during Ottoman rule or under the
Turkish Republic.
According to a parliamentary
report in 2013, there are 82,693 mosques in Turkey, whereas
there are only 937 cem houses. And more than half the provinces in
Turkey do not have a single cem house.
As public policy expert John C. Sawhill is alleged to have said,
"A society is defined not only by what it creates, but also by what
it refuses to destroy."
Sadly, the Islamist supremacists do not seem to be capable of
respecting people of other faiths or with no faith. Many pious
Muslims seem to think that if Islam is the only true religion, why
should one need the immoral, untrue religions or philosophies that
lead people astray?
They also, as one can see, try to invalidate or destroy
religions that came into the world hundreds or thousands of years
before theirs -- even if these religions do not disrespect or try
forcibly to convert anyone. To them, non-Muslims are
kafirs -- what Islamic scriptures call the
unbelievers.
"The language of Islam is dualistic," notes Bill Warner, the
director of the Center for the Study of Political Islam. "Humanity
is not seen as one body, but is divided into whether the person
believes Mohammed is the prophet of Allah or not." And according to
the Quran, a Muslim is not the friend of a kafir
(3:28).
The Koran defines the kafir as: hated (40:35), mocked
(83:34), punished (25:77), beheaded (47:4), confused (6:25),
plotted against (86:15), terrorized ( 8:12), annihilated (6:45),
killed (4:91), crucified (5:33), made war on (9:29), ignorant
(6:111), evil (23:97), disgraced (37:18), unclean (9:28), and
cursed (33:60).
"Only the word 'kafir,'" according to Warner, "shows the common
political treatment of Christian, Jew, Hindu, Buddhist, animist,
atheist and humanist."
As Muslim jihadist armies, as well as many Muslim civilians,
continue to destroy or attack the places of worship and other
cultural or religious values of people of other faiths, they create
their own legacy. With each church, synagogue, cem house, Buddhist
temple or other non-Muslim place of worship they destroy, attack or
ban, they destroy their own identity, value and worth.
Is this the legacy that they wish to be remembered with
throughout generations? Apparently, it is.
At the same time, one hears claims that "Islam is a religion of
peace." But what many Westerners fail to understand is that this
peace takes place only after everyone has converted to
Islam.
When future descendents of today's Muslims understand that, and
look back at what their ancestors have done, they may well not see
a past or heritage to be proud of.
Why is it so dangerous -- all around the world -- to criticize
the Islamic ideology?
No other ideology has enjoyed the luxury of being praised as the
"religion of peace" while providing exactly the opposite.
Uzay Bulut, born and raised a Muslim, is a Turkish
journalist based in Ankara.