No official comment has been made by the Turkish Bishops’ Conference on the terrorist attack in Ankara that cost the lives of six people. “We are close to the families of the victims, and to the injured (over 50) – said the spokesman of the bishops, Mons. Georges Marovitch, in a briefing to SIR -; we are praying for them but also for Turkey as a whole, that it may remain united in the face of these attacks, especially now that general elections have been announced for 22 July”. It’s the first time the terrorists have attacked the Turkish capital Ankara. In November 2003 al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist attacks struck Istanbul, causing over 60 dead, while Kurdish rebels have carried out attacks on big cities and small tourist resorts. Both the European Commission and the Council of Europe have condemned the attacks. The life of the local Church meanwhile continues: “Forthcoming events are the solemnity of Corpus Christi on 10 June, to be celebrated in the Polish quarter of Istanbul, and the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul on 29 June in Antioch, where a delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople is also awaited. Patriarch Bartholomew, in turn, will pay a visit to Benedict XVI in Rome, as is now the tradition, on the feast of the patron saints of the city, following the Pope’s visit to Turkey last November”.
