Turkey: fear is growing” “” “

After the tragic terrorist attacks of 11 September and the subsequent retaliation of the United States in Afghanistan fears of a reaction of public opinion within countries with an Islamic majority and the spread of conflicts between believers of different religions seem to be growing. SIR has listened to what the spokesman of the Episcopal Conference of Turkey, Msgr. Georges Marovitch , speaking from his base in Istanbul, has to say on the matter. Msgr. Marovitch, how is Turkey reacting to the present Afghan crisis? “All the papers have taken a stance against terrorism, except for one that supports Osama Bin Laden. For the overwhelming majority of Turks, the Islam that defiles itself with terrorist actions is not the true Islam. The situation in Turkey is quite calm at the moment”. What is most worrying public opinion? “The greatest worry for Turkey is that the war might spread, especially to Iraq. For Turkey, this would be a serious risk also for the economy, in view of trade relations with Iraq, based on large part on petroleum. The papers report the news of kilometres of oil-tankers blocked at the frontier, which has been closed. The whole of the south-east region is already lamenting a slowdown of the economy which would only deteriorate further with any enlargement of the conflict. Turkey is not in favour of any attack on Iraq”. Are tensions being registered between the believers of different religions? “At the moment no tensions are being registered between the members of the various religions present in Turkey, where the overwhelming majority is Islamic. In contrast is what is happening in other countries, such as Nigeria, the faithful of other religions have suffered neither threats nor retaliation”. What’s being done to reinforce religious dialogue and to prevent tensions? “In recent days various interreligious meetings have been organized to foster reciprocal understanding and dialogue. The aim is to get to know each other better, to respect each other, to wish each other well, and so allay fears of a war of religion. At a recent book fair in Turkey Jews, Moslems and Christians drew up a joint declaration in which they dissociated themselves from these terrorist acts that are the result of a distorted reading of the Koran”. Fact File Turkey is a parliamentary Republic with over 64 million inhabitants. There are some 150,000 Christians. According to the Church’s Statistical Year-Book (1999), Catholics total approximately 32,000, subdivided into 7 ecclesiastical provinces, 52 parishes and 6 other centres. Eight parishes are cared for by diocesan priests, 26 by men religious, 7 by vicars, 1 by women religious, 1 by laypeople, while 9 are currently vacant. There are 6 bishops, 15 diocesan priests, 47 priests from religious orders, 3 permanent deacons, 10 non professed religious, 116 women religious and 18 catechists. Catholics in Turkey run 4 hospitals, 5 day-clinics, 5 centres for the elderly and the disabled, and 1 all-purpose centre. Turkey, the one country with an Islamic majority to form part of the Atlantic Alliance, maintains close relations with the European Union. The history of the relations between Turkey and the EU goes back to the Accord of association signed in 1963. In December 1999, the European Council recognized Turkey’s status as an “eligible” country for membership of the European Union. The prospect of EU membership has increased the political importance of Turkey on the world stage. For this reason, the contacts with the various offices of the EU and with the governments of the Fifteen have been stepped up, also thanks to numerous visits of EU representatives to Turkey. d.r.