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ASSAULTS ON ARMENIAN WOMEN IN ISTANBUL UNSETTLE CHRISTIANS, MUSLIMS
http://www.uscatholic.org/news/201301/assaults-armenian-women-istanbul-unsettle-christians-muslims-26838
By James Martone Catholic News Service
ISTANBUL (CNS) -- As a light snow fell, Bahija Geyimli exited
Immaculate Conception Armenian Catholic Church after Mass in the
Samatya neighborhood, the heart of Istanbul's Armenian community. If
recent attacks in the area had scared her, she wasn't showing it.
Wrapping a wool scarf around her head, Geyimli, 71, descended the
church's ancient stone steps.
"There are robberies," she acknowledged Jan. 27 in response to a
question about a series of assaults that have targeted Armenian women
like her.
Geyimli said she thought the women had been attacked because
"Armenians are known for keeping money and other valuables."
"It's for money. ... It's not because they were Christian," she told
Catholic News Service.
She walked through the church courtyard and headed for an empty
Samatya side street, alone, carrying a big black purse.
Four attacks have occurred since December in Samatya, a
once-flourishing Christian Armenian and Greek neighborhood bordering
the Marmara Sea. The area today mostly is inhabited by Muslims who
make up the vast majority of Turkey's population of 75 million.
Turkish media reported that all of the victims -- at least three of
whom were in their 80s -- were Armenian Christians; three were
assaulted in their homes while one was stabbed to death. One woman was
assaulted on her way to church by three men who tried to kidnap her
before they were chased away by passersby, according to the reports.
Valuables were stolen in at least three of the incidents.
An estimated 120,000 Christians of different denominations and about
25,000 Jews live in Turkey. Muslim minority groups live among the
larger Sunni majority.
"Of course we deplore such attacks," said a senior member of Turkey's
35,000-member Catholic community who asked to remain anonymous because
of a growing apprehension in the wake of the crimes. Though the
victims have been Orthodox Christians, he said attacks on any of the
country's religious minorities were worrisome.
He also cautioned against jumping to conclusions about who or what was
behind the assaults.
"That can be counterproductive," he said.
Turkey's relationship with its minorities is a long and sometimes
murky one. The country's present government and those before it
dispute international claims that tens of thousands of Armenians and
other Christians were victims of genocide in 1915 in what was then the
Ottoman Empire.
Circumstances surrounding more recent attacks on Christians remain
controversial. The killings of Father Andrea Sontoro in Trabzon in
2006, the shooting death of Armenian journalist Hrant Dink and the
killing of three Christian missionaries in Malatya in central Turkey
in 2007, and the slaying of Bishop Luigi Padovese of Anatolia in 2010
serve as reminders to members of religious minorities of the
challenges they continue to face.
Turkey's Human Rights Association suggested in a report released Jan.
25 the Samatya attacks were part of an "ethnic cleansing" campaign.
Responding to the report, a prominent Armenian journalist based in
Istanbul said it was too early to say what motivated the assaults on
the women, but bemoaned what he considered an insufficient government
response.
"Now, people are waiting in fear. The Interior Ministry should
establish a commission and should conduct a very thorough
investigation," journalist Robert Koptas told Today's Zaman, an
English-language newspaper in Turkey.
Shortly after Geyimly left Mass, a group of about 500 people gathered
in a main square nearby to protest the attacks. The demonstrators,
including residents, members of local organizations and elected
officials, held signs reading "Don't touch our Armenian neighbors,"
and "I will not let you hurt my brothers and sisters."
"We walked (through) Samatya from side streets and it was lively,
there were many people in their windows applauding the crowd, and old
women were crying," said Oyku Tumer, one of the demonstrators who
called herself "a Turkish citizen ... against hate crimes."
Later, Mustafa Demir, a local politician, visited the victimized women
in their homes and said police were conducting a thorough
investigation in an effort to find the assailants, according to media
reports.
The next day, Cengiz Kahveci, 60, an electrician, sat waiting for
customers in his Samatya spare parts shop. He said the recent attacks
perplexed him, but he refused to believe they were religiously
motivated because Muslims, Christians and Jews have always lived
"happily together."
"Armenian people are good people," Kahveci told CNS, describing
himself as a nonpracticing but "believing Muslim."
"I have maybe 10 friends who are Armenian and (even) they don't
believe (the attacks) are political ... it is for money," he said.
http://www.uscatholic.org/news/201301/assaults-armenian-women-istanbul-unsettle-christians-muslims-26838
By James Martone Catholic News Service
ISTANBUL (CNS) -- As a light snow fell, Bahija Geyimli exited
Immaculate Conception Armenian Catholic Church after Mass in the
Samatya neighborhood, the heart of Istanbul's Armenian community. If
recent attacks in the area had scared her, she wasn't showing it.
Wrapping a wool scarf around her head, Geyimli, 71, descended the
church's ancient stone steps.
"There are robberies," she acknowledged Jan. 27 in response to a
question about a series of assaults that have targeted Armenian women
like her.
Geyimli said she thought the women had been attacked because
"Armenians are known for keeping money and other valuables."
"It's for money. ... It's not because they were Christian," she told
Catholic News Service.
She walked through the church courtyard and headed for an empty
Samatya side street, alone, carrying a big black purse.
Four attacks have occurred since December in Samatya, a
once-flourishing Christian Armenian and Greek neighborhood bordering
the Marmara Sea. The area today mostly is inhabited by Muslims who
make up the vast majority of Turkey's population of 75 million.
Turkish media reported that all of the victims -- at least three of
whom were in their 80s -- were Armenian Christians; three were
assaulted in their homes while one was stabbed to death. One woman was
assaulted on her way to church by three men who tried to kidnap her
before they were chased away by passersby, according to the reports.
Valuables were stolen in at least three of the incidents.
An estimated 120,000 Christians of different denominations and about
25,000 Jews live in Turkey. Muslim minority groups live among the
larger Sunni majority.
"Of course we deplore such attacks," said a senior member of Turkey's
35,000-member Catholic community who asked to remain anonymous because
of a growing apprehension in the wake of the crimes. Though the
victims have been Orthodox Christians, he said attacks on any of the
country's religious minorities were worrisome.
He also cautioned against jumping to conclusions about who or what was
behind the assaults.
"That can be counterproductive," he said.
Turkey's relationship with its minorities is a long and sometimes
murky one. The country's present government and those before it
dispute international claims that tens of thousands of Armenians and
other Christians were victims of genocide in 1915 in what was then the
Ottoman Empire.
Circumstances surrounding more recent attacks on Christians remain
controversial. The killings of Father Andrea Sontoro in Trabzon in
2006, the shooting death of Armenian journalist Hrant Dink and the
killing of three Christian missionaries in Malatya in central Turkey
in 2007, and the slaying of Bishop Luigi Padovese of Anatolia in 2010
serve as reminders to members of religious minorities of the
challenges they continue to face.
Turkey's Human Rights Association suggested in a report released Jan.
25 the Samatya attacks were part of an "ethnic cleansing" campaign.
Responding to the report, a prominent Armenian journalist based in
Istanbul said it was too early to say what motivated the assaults on
the women, but bemoaned what he considered an insufficient government
response.
"Now, people are waiting in fear. The Interior Ministry should
establish a commission and should conduct a very thorough
investigation," journalist Robert Koptas told Today's Zaman, an
English-language newspaper in Turkey.
Shortly after Geyimly left Mass, a group of about 500 people gathered
in a main square nearby to protest the attacks. The demonstrators,
including residents, members of local organizations and elected
officials, held signs reading "Don't touch our Armenian neighbors,"
and "I will not let you hurt my brothers and sisters."
"We walked (through) Samatya from side streets and it was lively,
there were many people in their windows applauding the crowd, and old
women were crying," said Oyku Tumer, one of the demonstrators who
called herself "a Turkish citizen ... against hate crimes."
Later, Mustafa Demir, a local politician, visited the victimized women
in their homes and said police were conducting a thorough
investigation in an effort to find the assailants, according to media
reports.
The next day, Cengiz Kahveci, 60, an electrician, sat waiting for
customers in his Samatya spare parts shop. He said the recent attacks
perplexed him, but he refused to believe they were religiously
motivated because Muslims, Christians and Jews have always lived
"happily together."
"Armenian people are good people," Kahveci told CNS, describing
himself as a nonpracticing but "believing Muslim."
"I have maybe 10 friends who are Armenian and (even) they don't
believe (the attacks) are political ... it is for money," he said.