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Today's Zaman, Turkey
May 12 2013
Diyanet supports Christian minorities' efforts to have their places of worship
0
12 May 2013 /
Bilingual Turkish-Armenian newspaper Agos and the Cumhuriyet daily
reported recently that the Ankara Governor's Office had rejected a
request from the Association of Protestant Churches in Turkey to
obtain a piece of land to build a church on but later approved a
request by Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet) to build a
mosque on the same spot.
The reports were false, however. Religious Affairs Directorate head
Mehmet Görmez, who was shocked by these misleading reports when I
talked to him over the phone, said "It is our moral and humanitarian
duty to ensure that non-Muslim minorities in Turkey also enjoy the
same the religious rights and freedoms that the Muslim majority in
Turkey enjoys. I believe that the talks between the association and
Diyanet can accelerate the process and the Association of Protestant
Churches will immediately have a church.'
According to the news reports, a request from the Protestant community
in Ankara for the allocation of a piece of land for the construction
of a church had been refused by Ankara Governor's Office. However,
that was not the end of the story. The governor's office asked the
Religious Affairs Directorate to apply to them to build a mosque on
the same land, and then approved the directorate's request for the
allocation of the same piece of land for the construction of a mosque.
Thus, everybody thought that preventing the building of a place of
worship of any community and applying for the construction of a mosque
on the same spot was great mistake and an injustice to the Protestant
community in Ankara.
When we spoke to the people affected by this debate the most, we were
relieved to find that the problem stemmed from a misunderstanding. The
Association of Protestant Churches in Turkey applied the Çankaya
Municipality in Ankara for the allocation of land for the construction
of a church. The municipality then gave a list of plots allocated for
the construction of places of worship, including information such as
parcel and plot numbers, to the association.
Let us hear the rest of the history from the association's press
spokesperson, Soner Tufan: "We determined a suitable piece of land
from the list and made our request to the municipality for the
allocation of the land. The municipality rejected our request, saying
that according to the zoning plan, that piece of land was not
appropriate for the building of a place of worship. But then we were
hurt and upset to see that the construction of a mosque was under way
on the land that was previously deemed inappropriate for a place of
worship. Thus, our community reacted to this. First, we asked the
state authorities for support in order not to lose the land where we
want to build our church. Our efforts came to nothing since we could
not deal with the bureaucratic difficulties. Then, we informed a media
outlet about the situation. However, we later discovered that we
misread some numbers given by Ankara's Çankaya Municipality, which
resulted in the confusion that the piece of land the organization was
seeking to obtain had been made available for the construction of a
mosque following the association's request. The piece of land where
the mosque construction is under way is not the same piece of land
that we requested from the municipality. We apologize to all Muslims
who were offended by the remarks made by the association."
Admitting the showed a harsh reaction without investigating the issue
properly, the Protestant community noted that their emotional reaction
was a result of the state and public officials' negative attitude
toward Christian minorities.
We may understand their emotional reaction and psychology, but it is
hard to understand the behaviors of the journalist who prepared this
news item without conducting a little investigation. Unfortunately,
ignoring the basic principles of journalism, such as speaking with the
all sides involved in the incident and verifying the source of the
news, is a chronic disease in the Turkish media.
The Association of Protestant Churches in Turkey should immediately
have their place of worship.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-315218-diyanet-supports-christian-minorities-efforts-to-have-their-places-of-worship.html
May 12 2013
Diyanet supports Christian minorities' efforts to have their places of worship
0
12 May 2013 /
Bilingual Turkish-Armenian newspaper Agos and the Cumhuriyet daily
reported recently that the Ankara Governor's Office had rejected a
request from the Association of Protestant Churches in Turkey to
obtain a piece of land to build a church on but later approved a
request by Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet) to build a
mosque on the same spot.
The reports were false, however. Religious Affairs Directorate head
Mehmet Görmez, who was shocked by these misleading reports when I
talked to him over the phone, said "It is our moral and humanitarian
duty to ensure that non-Muslim minorities in Turkey also enjoy the
same the religious rights and freedoms that the Muslim majority in
Turkey enjoys. I believe that the talks between the association and
Diyanet can accelerate the process and the Association of Protestant
Churches will immediately have a church.'
According to the news reports, a request from the Protestant community
in Ankara for the allocation of a piece of land for the construction
of a church had been refused by Ankara Governor's Office. However,
that was not the end of the story. The governor's office asked the
Religious Affairs Directorate to apply to them to build a mosque on
the same land, and then approved the directorate's request for the
allocation of the same piece of land for the construction of a mosque.
Thus, everybody thought that preventing the building of a place of
worship of any community and applying for the construction of a mosque
on the same spot was great mistake and an injustice to the Protestant
community in Ankara.
When we spoke to the people affected by this debate the most, we were
relieved to find that the problem stemmed from a misunderstanding. The
Association of Protestant Churches in Turkey applied the Çankaya
Municipality in Ankara for the allocation of land for the construction
of a church. The municipality then gave a list of plots allocated for
the construction of places of worship, including information such as
parcel and plot numbers, to the association.
Let us hear the rest of the history from the association's press
spokesperson, Soner Tufan: "We determined a suitable piece of land
from the list and made our request to the municipality for the
allocation of the land. The municipality rejected our request, saying
that according to the zoning plan, that piece of land was not
appropriate for the building of a place of worship. But then we were
hurt and upset to see that the construction of a mosque was under way
on the land that was previously deemed inappropriate for a place of
worship. Thus, our community reacted to this. First, we asked the
state authorities for support in order not to lose the land where we
want to build our church. Our efforts came to nothing since we could
not deal with the bureaucratic difficulties. Then, we informed a media
outlet about the situation. However, we later discovered that we
misread some numbers given by Ankara's Çankaya Municipality, which
resulted in the confusion that the piece of land the organization was
seeking to obtain had been made available for the construction of a
mosque following the association's request. The piece of land where
the mosque construction is under way is not the same piece of land
that we requested from the municipality. We apologize to all Muslims
who were offended by the remarks made by the association."
Admitting the showed a harsh reaction without investigating the issue
properly, the Protestant community noted that their emotional reaction
was a result of the state and public officials' negative attitude
toward Christian minorities.
We may understand their emotional reaction and psychology, but it is
hard to understand the behaviors of the journalist who prepared this
news item without conducting a little investigation. Unfortunately,
ignoring the basic principles of journalism, such as speaking with the
all sides involved in the incident and verifying the source of the
news, is a chronic disease in the Turkish media.
The Association of Protestant Churches in Turkey should immediately
have their place of worship.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-315218-diyanet-supports-christian-minorities-efforts-to-have-their-places-of-worship.html