Tag: Istanbul

‘No Christmas or carol singing’ orders in Santa Claus’ homeland Turkey

December 20, 2016 Turkey Christmas, Coup, Istanbul, Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Istanbul Erkek Lisesi, also known as Istanbul High School, Istanbul 2011© Guillaume Piolle / CC “No more Christmas celebration and/or lessons on Christmas including carol singing is permitted, effective immediately”. An email on 13 December sent to about 35 German-funded teachers at Istanbul Erkek Lisesi (also known as Istanbul High . . . Read More

Unprecedented Muslim prayer call at Haghia Sophia

July 5, 2016 Turkey Haghia Sophia, Islamic extremism, Istanbul, Turkey

In what called an “international incident,” a Turkish muezzin has for the first time in 85 years sounded the morning Muslim call to prayer from inside Istanbul’s historic Haghia Sophia. It was the first official Islamic use of the former cathedral and mosque since the ancient building was designated a . . . Read More

Istanbul Patriarch deplores ethnic tensions

September 11, 2015 Turkey Greek Orthodox, Istanbul, Kurds, Patriarch Bartholomew I, Turkey

As deadly violence and hate speech spiralled in Turkey this week between Turkish nationalists and its minority Kurdish community, Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I has urged the nation to learn from its past ethnic tensions. “How can one part of society look at another part of society with so much . . . Read More

Death threats target Turkey’s Protestants

September 4, 2015 Turkey Islamic State, Istanbul, Protestants

Fifteen Turkish Protestant congregations and their leaders have been targeted since 27 Aug. by a strident campaign of death threats sent to their Facebook, email, websites and mobile telephones. The threats followed the style and jargon typically used by the so-called Islamic State (IS), vowing to kill, massacre and behead . . . Read More

Turkey moves Malatya murder trial court

March 11, 2015 Turkey Ankara, Diyarbakir, Istanbul, Malatya, Turkey

In still another delay in a years-long trial over the 2007 murders of three Christians in southeast Turkey, the Zirve Publishing House trial is to be moved away from the place where the murders happened, Malatya, to another province. The pending court transfer stems from a legislative amendment which has . . . Read More

Turkey ‘promises’ first new church in 90 years

January 20, 2015 Turkey Armenian Genocide, Greek Orthodox, Istanbul, Midyat, Mor Gabriel Monastery, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Syria, Syriacs

The Turkish government allowed the first Syriac pre-school to open in Istanbul in September 2014.Mor Efrem Syriac Preschool’s Facebook photo The Turkish government has renewed its promise to allow the construction of a new church in Istanbul, a promise first made by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) . . . Read More

Turkey allows first church to be built since 1923

January 8, 2015 Turkey Churches, Greek Orthodox, Istanbul, Turkey

According to Hurriyet Daily News, “the Council of Europe has hailed Turkey’s decision to allow the building of a new church for the Syriac community in Istanbul, which will be the first new church to be built in the country in nearly a century.” “It is the first [new church] . . . Read More

Second Turkish trial implicates authorities in planned attack on church leaders

November 4, 2014 Turkey Istanbul, Izmit, Malatya, Turkey

Pastor Emre Karaali of the Izmit Protestant Church on the steps of the Courthouse in Izmit with his lawyer after the 3rd hearing on Oct. 21, 2014World Watch Monitor In a surprise October decision, a Turkish judge has filed a criminal complaint against a police chief and an army . . . Read More

Finally, Istanbul gives Syriac Christians a place to build: a cemetery

December 18, 2012 Turkey Burial, Churches, Istanbul, Mardin, Midyat, Mor Gabriel Monastery, Turkey

Three years after a Syrian Orthodox foundation applied to build a church in Istanbul, the Greater Istanbul Municipality has granted them a large plot of land and a building permit. Banner headlines in the Turkish media praised the early-December decision as “a first in the history of the Republic,” declaring . . . Read More

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