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### Viewing cable 05ANKARA1935, MINISTER DECLARES MISSIONARIES "SEPARATIST AND DESTRUCTIVE"

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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
05ANKARA1935 | 2005-04-04 14:02 | 2011-04-12 00:12 | CONFIDENTIAL | Embassy Ankara

`

    This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

` `

    C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 001935

    SIPDIS

    DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE

    E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/04/2015
    TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM TU OSCE
    SUBJECT: MINISTER DECLARES MISSIONARIES "SEPARATIST AND DESTRUCTIVE"

    REF: A. ANKARA 1511
         ¶B. ANKARA 814

    Classified by Polcouns John Kunstadter; reasons 1.4 b and d.

    ¶1. (C) Summary: State Minister Aydin, who oversees the GOT's
    Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), released a
    statement labeling missionary activities in Turkey
    "separatist and destructive" and implying that missionaries
    are part of an organized effort by foreign governments to
    create divisions in the country.  A Protestant pastor told us
    threats against Christians are on the rise, and missionaries
    have decided to halt activities until tensions subside.  Two
    MPs from the ruling AK Party (AKP), both former Diyanet
    presidents, told us they believe some of the language in
    Aydin's statement and in a recent, nationwide anti-missionary
    sermon was inappropriate, and said they would raise their
    concerns with Aydin and others. End Summary.

    -----------------------------------------
    Minister Calls Missionaries "Destructive"
    -----------------------------------------

    ¶2. (U) State Minister Aydin issued a four-page written
    response to a question from an AK MP about the "threat" of
    missionaries in Turkey.  In the paper, publicly released
    March 27, Aydin asserts that missionary activity in Turkey is
    "separatist and destructive" and implies that missionaries
    are part of an organized effort by foreign governments to
    create divisions in the country.  He claims that missionaries
    are concealing their true motives by operating under cover as
    doctors, teachers and other professionals.  Aydin advises
    Turkish citizens to report missionary activity to
    authorities.

    ¶3. (U) Excerpts from Aydin's paper include:

    -- "History as well as contemporary developments have
    demonstrated that missionary activities are not an innocent
    act of communicating one's religion or exercising religious
    freedom, but a highly planned movement with political
    motives."

    -- "The Diyanet believes that missionary activities aim to
    distort historic, religious, national and cultural unity by
    leading to changes in the religious belief that lies at the
    heart of the most fundamental values of our society, whereas
    our people have cohabited peacefully in Anatolian territories
    for centuries by upholding these same values.  We also deem
    it to be a violation of the most intimate freedom, the
    freedom of religion."

    -- "Today, rather than Christian priests, missionary
    activities are conducted by doctors, nurses, engineers, Red
    Cross workers, human rights defenders, volunteers for peace,
    language teachers, computer instructors, sports organizers,
    etc."

    -- "Concealing their true objectives and aiming at weaknesses
    among our citizens, some foreigners coming to Turkey with
    tourist visas conduct missionary propaganda."

    -- "The Diyanet considers these activities as separatist and
    destructive since they may create a basis for a spiritual and
    cultural gap and distort our religious/national integrity in
    the long run, and considers it necessary that our citizens
    notify the Diyanet and all relevant government institutions
    about such activities."

    ¶4. (U) Aydin states that the Diyanet has established a
    "Missionary Monitoring Committee" to follow missionary
    activity in Turkey and has developed an "action plan against
    missionary activities."  He also notes that the Diyanet will
    hold a symposium titled "Missionary Activities in the Turkish
    World" April 15-17 at March 18 University in Canakkale.  He
    further reports that missionaries have converted a total of
    368 Turks, according to information compiled by the Diyanet.

    ¶5. (U) Interior Minister Aksu also issued a paper on
    missionaries, in which he assures Parliament that "missionary
    activities in Turkey are followed up by judicial
    authorities."

    -------------------------------------------
    Pastor: Threats Against Protestants on Rise
    -------------------------------------------

    ¶6. (C) Ihsan Ozbek, pastor of the Kurtulus Church in Ankara
    and general secretary of the Alliance of Turkish Protestant
    Churches, told us the statements by Aydin and Aksu are the
    latest in a series of developments in recent months that have
    increased the pressure on Turkey's tiny Protestant community
    of approximately 3,000.  As reported reftels, bible
    distribution by Protestants last Christmas sparked
    anti-Christian media coverage, and the Diyanet issued an
    anti-missionary sermon delivered in mosques across the
    country March 11.

    ¶7. (C) Ozbek believes the anti-missionary statements reflect
    a new GOT method of opposing Christianity.  In the past, he
    said, police would often detain and beat Protestants
    performing missionary work.  Protestants in those days were
    "like shadows," never mentioned in the media.  Today, by
    contrast, nationalists and Islamists have free rein to bash
    Christians in the press.  It is now political and religious
    extremists, rather than police, who carry out the harassment
    and intimidation, which the authorities rarely prosecute.
    Government leaders, meanwhile, make statements effectively
    pouring gas, not water, on the fire.  "The March 11 sermon
    and the statement by Aydin hurt us a lot," he said. "They
    want to appeal to nationalistic elements."

    ¶8. (C) Ozbek said threats against Protestants have been on
    the rise since December, reaching a peak in February.  Turks
    opposed to Christianity have made telephone calls and sent
    email messages threatening to kill Protestant church members.
     They have smashed church windows with rocks in a number of
    cities.  Ankara police have searched Ozbek's church several
    times recently after receiving bomb threats.  Ozbek said
    missionaries now confront an open hostility from some members
    of the public, a hostility that was largely absent before.
    He said Protestants have stopped distributing religious
    literature and will maintain a low profile for at least a few
    months, in the hope that the tensions will subside.

    --------------------------------------------- -
    AK MPs: Anti-Missionary Rhetoric "Exaggerated"
    --------------------------------------------- -

    ¶9. (U) We discussed the GOT's anti-missionary campaign in
    separate meetings with two AK MPs who are former Diyanet
    presidents -- Tayyar Altikulac and Mustafa Sait Yazicioglu.
    Both MPs claimed they had seen press coverage of the Aydin
    statement and the March 11 sermon (sermon text reported
    reftel A), but had not seen the actual texts.  Altikulac
    defended the right of the Diyanet to promote Islam and advise
    Muslims not to be persuaded by missionaries, as long as it
    avoids provoking conflict, defining missionaries as a
    "threat," or accusing missionaries of having "political
    motives" without evidence.  We replied that, in our view, the
    March 11 sermon and Aydin statement had violated those
    principles.

    ¶10. (C) Altikulac had the Diyanet fax him a copy of the
    sermon.  After a first reading, he told us he saw no problem
    with the text.  But he read it again after we pointed out the
    sermon's indirect reference to the Crusades and the
    implication that missionaries in Turkey are working on behalf
    of foreign governments.  His tone suddenly changed.  "The
    first time, I read it as a Turkish Muslim and saw no
    problem," he said.  "But the second time, I realized how it
    looks from an outsider's perspective.  I didn't like it."
    Altikulac said the Diyanet should not make reference to the
    Crusades in discussing religious issues today -- Turkey needs
    to look to the future, not the past.

    ¶11. (C) We had a similar meeting with Yazicioglu, who also
    defended Aydin and the Diyanet, only to change course after
    we showed him texts of the sermon and statement.  Before
    reading Aydin's statement he told us, "I have known (Aydin)
    for 30 years; I doubt I will disagree with anything he says."
     But he later acknowledged that Aydin "exaggerated" when he
    labeled missionaries a threat to "national unity."

    ¶12. (C) Both MPs claimed they would discuss the matter with
    Aydin and Diyanet President Bardakoglu, warning them to be
    more careful in their statements on Christianity.  They both
    averred that Aydin and Bardakoglu probably approved the
    documents without reading them (Note: This is highly
    unlikely, in part because the Diyanet worked on the March 11
    sermon for several weeks before issuing it. End Note).  They
    insisted the sermon and statement do not accurately reflect
    the views of the AKP leadership, which they asserted is
    committed to religious tolerance.  Yazicioglu argued that the
    anti-missionary statements stem from an unfortunate mixing of
    religion and politics.  He said many pious Turks fear that
    the country's EU drive will erode the influence of Islam in
    Turkey, and elements of the GOT feel the need to address
    those concerns.  The issue is highly sensitive, but in the
    long run the GOT will conform to EU standards regarding
    religious freedom, he said.

    -------
    Comment
    -------

    ¶13. (C) Missionaries in Turkey draw the combined ire of
    Islamists and nationalists; the former view them as a threat
    to Islam, the latter as a threat to national unity.  Most
    missionaries are Protestants, who are few in number and
    lacking in influence, and there are no domestic elements
    willing to take up their cause.  The GOT's anti-missionary
    campaign places Turkey in direct conflict with Western
    concepts of religious freedom.  The GOT, representing a
    country that is officially 99 percent Muslim, is declaring
    religious diversity a security threat at a time when it is
    supposed to be striving to join an EU committed to the
    principle of religious freedom.

    ¶14. (C) Altikulac and Yazicioglu appeared, on reflection, to
    understand our concerns about the anti-missionary rhetoric.
    However, we are not certain they will follow through on their
    commitments to raise the issue with key officials, or how
    they might do so.  The efforts of the Diyanet, an arm of the
    Turkish State, to promote (Sunni) Islam as the only true
    religion and defend it against other religions appears to go
    far beyond the practice of other European countries with
    state religions, and contradicts the GOT's avowed commitment
    to religious tolerance.

    EDELMAN

`