CAMPAIGN AGAINST CHURCHES CONTINUES IN TURKEY As a campaign by police to shut down 18 churches in Turkey continues, Christians are being forced to endure aggressive anti-Christian demonstrations held by Muslim conservatives outside of their churches every Sunday. The Barnabas Fund News Service reports that demonstrators carry placards with slogans such as “Every missionary is a spy” and accuse Christians of sinister involvement in violence against Muslim Palestinians in Israel. As the campaign continues, local authorities have levied fines against the churches and filed claims against their leaders. In Izmit, police are maintaining a vigilant presence at every service at one local church and have even followed members of the congregation home in order to threaten and intimidate them. In Ankara and Istanbul, Christian schools have been shut down. In recent years Christians in Turkey were free to meet and worship without fear of harassment or intimidation. Then in November and December 2001, several television programs and newspaper articles attacking Christianity created a stir among the majority-Muslim population. This may have prompted the crackdown by Turkish authorities that many believe is being driven by certain Islamic and nationalist elements. (Religion Today)

May 20 2002