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### Viewing cable 05ANKARA2313, AMBASSADOR DISCUSSES GOT ANTI-MISSIONARY CAMPAIGN WITH A FILIBUSTERING MINISTER AYDIN

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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
05ANKARA2313 | 2005-04-22 13:01 | 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 002313

    SIPDIS

    DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE

    E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/22/2015
    TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM TU OSCE
    SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR DISCUSSES GOT ANTI-MISSIONARY CAMPAIGN WITH A FILIBUSTERING MINISTER AYDIN

    REF: A. ANKARA 1511
         ¶B. ANKARA 1935

    (U) Classified by Ambassador Eric S. Edelman; reasons 1.4 b
    and d.

    ¶1. (C) Summary: The Ambassador has emphasized to State
    Minister Aydin serious U.S. concerns about the GOT's
    anti-Christian missionary campaign, including a written
    statement by Aydin defining missionaries as a threat to the
    State and maligning Christianity.  The U.S. has long urged
    the EU to support Turkey's candidacy, but it will be
    difficult to do so while the GOT is campaigning against
    Christianity.  The Ambassador warned that anti-Christian
    rhetoric could lead to violence, and urged Aydin to speak in
    support of the rights of Christians in Turkey.  In response,
    Aydin accused missionaries in Turkey of using anti-Islamic
    rhetoric, and complained that the U.S. media have said "awful
    things" about Turkey.  After the meeting, we learned that a
    Protestant church building had been attacked in Ankara.  End
    Summary.

    --------------------------------------------- ---
    Congress Concerned About Anti-Christian Rhetoric
    --------------------------------------------- ---

    ¶2. (U) Calling on Aydin April 21, the Ambassador noted that
    the U.S., in its support for Turkey's EU candidacy, has long
    maintained that the EU should not be a Christian club.
    President Bush and the U.S. Congress have frequently
    emphasized their commitment to religious freedom and
    tolerance among faiths.  Now, however, members of Congress
    are highly concerned about the GOT's campaign against
    Christian missionaries.  The anti-missionary sermon drafted
    by the GOT's Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) and
    delivered by imams across the country March 11 (reftel A), as
    well as Aydin's own written response to a question from an MP
    on the "threat" of missionaries (reftel B), depict missionary
    activity in Turkey as political rather than religious.  Both
    documents imply that missionaries are a threat to the State.

    ¶3. (C) The GOT's actions, the Ambassador continued, give the
    impression that Turkey, whose population is officially 99
    percent Muslim, has no room for Christians.  The USG's 2005
    International Religious Freedom Report (IRF), to be released
    in September, will reflect these negative developments.  If
    these problems are not addressed, the report will be quite
    critical.  Moreover, these developments threaten Turkey's EU
    candidacy.

    --------------------------------------------- -----
    Aydin: Missionaries Use "Non-Theological" Approach
    --------------------------------------------- -----

    ¶4. (U) In a long, filibustering answer, Aydin defensively
    acknowledged that he signed the statement on missionaries,
    but said the text was prepared by others, as is the practice.
     Although Aydin oversees the Diyanet, he claimed he has no
    direct authority over its sermons.  However, he went on to
    defend indirectly the contents of the sermon and statement.
    Aydin asserted that missionaries in Turkey are "cheating" by
    using "non-theological arguments" in attempts to convert
    Muslims.  These arguments often associate Islam with
    terrorism.  For example, missionaries claim that unless "the
    light of Jesus" is spread throughout the Islamic world,
    Muslim terrorists will kill everyone.  If missionaries were
    using theological arguments, he asserted, he would "defend
    them to the end."

    ¶5. (C) Aydin mused that if he were a "powerful Christian," he
    would focus his missionary activities in a Western city like
    London, where church attendance is down.  Or maybe in the
    U.S., where, he said, an 11-year-old boy recently shot his
    parents.  But not in a poor, Muslim country like Turkey
    (Note: Diyanet officials have accused missionaries of
    improperly "taking advantage" of poverty in Turkey as a lever
    for converting Muslims.  At the same time core institutions
    of the Turkish State -- including CHOD Ozkok in his landmark
    April 20 speech -- accuse Islamist groups of exploiting poor
    people to undermine the authority of the secular system.  End
    Note).

    ¶6. (U) Aydin opined that the 2005 IRF will be positive,
    because there are no problems (sic) with the "authentic"
    religious minorities in Turkey -- the Greek Orthodox,
    Armenian Orthodox, and Jews.  The controversy only involves
    others who have come to Turkey recently to convert Muslims.

    ---------------------------------
    U.S. Respects Freedom For Muslims
    ---------------------------------

    ¶7. (C) The Ambassador said it is not up to the GOT, or any
    other government, to determine which arguments are
    "theological" and which are not.  There are many mosques in
    the U.S., where many imams who are not U.S. citizens preach.
    The USG does not restrict their activities or control the
    content of their sermons.  In fact, many preach beliefs that
    are inimical to the U.S., as demonstrated by a recent Freedom
    House study on Saudi hate propaganda in U.S. mosques.  Yet
    the GOT sees fit to combat the "threat" of a tiny Protestant
    community whose missionaries, according to Aydin's own
    statement, have converted 368 Turks in 12 years.

    ¶8. (U) Charging that Muslims are no longer given free rein in
    the U.S., Aydin accused U.S. authorities of now closely
    monitoring mosque activities for security reasons.  When the
    Ambassador denied this, Aydin said the USG might not monitor
    mosques, but private groups do (Note: He was apparently
    referring to the Freedom House study.  End Note).

    ¶9. (C) The Ambassador reiterated that the GOT's actions have
    raised serious concerns in Congress, at a time when lawmakers
    are preparing to review a resolution on the Armenian
    "genocide."  Both the sermon and Aydin's statement imply that
    missionaries in Turkey today are equivalent to the soldiers
    of the Crusades.  They also imply that Christianity is a
    polytheistic religion, the same argument used by Muslim
    extremists such as terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
    When Aydin denied the GOT made such an implication, the
    Ambassador quoted from the sermon, which states that the
    Crusades failed because Islam "contains values such as
    monotheism, justice, fear of God, self confidence, and
    opposition to oppression, polytheism, blasphemy and
    injustice."  Aydin replied that the sermon made a "general
    comparison" between the two religions.

    ¶10. (U) Aydin asserted that the U.S. media have said "awful
    things" about Turkey, and the USG claims it can take no
    action because it respects freedom of speech.  The GOT, in
    similar fashion, has to respect the rights of the Diyanet to
    express itself.  The Ambassador replied that the Diyanet is a
    state institution, whose sermons are delivered by imams
    across the country.  Aydin blandly asserted that the Diyanet
    is "as independent as any Catholic institution," and claimed
    he has only "friendly influence" over it.

    -------------------------------
    Rhetoric Could Lead to Violence
    -------------------------------

    ¶11. (C) The Ambassador urged Aydin to use his influence to
    promote tolerance toward religious minorities.  Leaders of
    Turkey's tiny Protestant community, numbering approximately
    3,000, have been receiving increasing telephone and email
    threats as anti-missionary rhetoric from the government and
    media has emerged in recent months.  The GOT's
    anti-missionary campaign could lead to violence, especially
    given the rise of nationalism in Turkey these days.  Aydin
    said he does not expect violence, and averred that he, like
    most Turks, would feel "awful" if Muslims attacked
    Christians.  The Ambassador said Aydin and other GOT leaders
    could help lower tensions by publicly stating that Christians
    are welcome in Turkey and that missionary activity is
    accepted.  Aydin claimed he has made such statements in the
    past.

    ¶12. (U) Shortly after the meeting, a contact informed us that
    two people threw Molotov cocktails into the International
    Protestant Church of Ankara in the early morning hours of
    April 21.  The building was empty at the time.  We will
    report in more detail septel.

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

    ¶13. (C) Aydin spent the meeting scrambling and rambling to
    avoid responsibility for his comments about Christianity.
    First he asserted he only "signed" the statement and has only
    "influence" over the Diyanet, then he tried repeatedly to
    change the subject.  When pinned down, he could only defend
    his statements with wild, unsubstantiated allegations that
    missionaries in Turkey (across the board, apparently) use
    anti-Islamic arguments.  Frankly, we expected a bit more from
    a scholar of theology.

    ¶14. (C) Aydin started the meeting by criticizing incoming
    Pope Benedict XVI for comments he made as a cardinal stating
    that Turkey, as a Muslim country, should not be accepted in
    the EU.  Now that he is Pope, Aydin averred, Benedict should
    promote dialogue and understanding among religions, building
    on the efforts of Pope John Paul II.  We can only hope that
    Aydin, whose surname means "enlightened," learns to heed his
    own advice.
    EDELMAN

`