Turkey’s Christians Emboldened after Martyrdom

ICC Note:

Three years after the brutal murders of three Christians in Malatya, the church in Turkey presses onward in perseverance, risking their lives for their faith.

By Gary Lane

4/26/2010 Turkey (CBN) – Three years ago, a brutal slaying of three Christians in Malatya, Turkey, shook believers there.

Many believed the murders would stop the gospel in the Muslim nation. But a small, vibrant Christian community has worked to ensure that doesn’t happen.

The Malatya incident was perhaps the most tragic and brutal murder of Christians in modern-day Turkey.

On April 18, 2007, German Christian Tilman Geske and Turkish Christians Necati Aydin and Ugur Yuksel were bound to their chairs, tortured, and stabbed at a Bible print shop in Malatya. The throats of the three house church leaders were slit. Five suspects were put on trial.

Murders Leave Their Mark

The horrifying attack has left its mark on the evangelical community.

Pastor Carlos Madrigal says many Turkish believers have received threats over the years, but they never expected to see such an act of violence against fellow believers.

Now, they’re much more aware of the risks of being Christian in a Muslim-dominated society.

“For years, we have seen people coming to the church sometimes asking for financial help thinking that if they become Christians, they will get a passport, or best job, or things like that,” Madrigal said.

“But now, after the Malatya murders, we saw that people coming are taking seriously, or considering seriously, what it means to become a Christian and it helps at some level to purify the church in Turkey.”

Risking Lives for Faith

Originally from Spain, Madrigal fought with the Turkish government for years to win recognition for his evangelical church.

In June 2001, the Evangelical Protestant Foundation of Istanbul was finally granted registration. It was the first time the Turkish government allowed a foundation to provide legal covering for churches.

Most people who come to Madrigal’s church, Vakfi Protestant of Istanbul, are former Muslims. He asks Christians around the world to pray for Turkey’s small body of believers. They number only about 5,000 in a nation of 70 million people.

Aydin almost died while meeting with a young Muslim soldier named Yasin Karasu. Karasu said he wanted to know more about Jesus. When they met at a church to study the Bible last August, Karasu put a knife to Aydin’s throat. He dragged him into the street, placed a Turkish flag on his head and threatened to kill him.

“He was saying ‘This man is a traitor. He’s a missionary dog and we’re not going to allow him to do this stuff and we’re going to stop him,'” Aydin recalled.

Turkish ‘Identity’ Conflict

Even though Turkey was home to the early Christian church, many Turks like Karasu believe Christianity is a Western religion. They believe Turks must be Muslim.

Seeds of the Martyrs

Ali and his family have received many other threats over the years, but he insists he won’t stop. He said he’s unafraid each time he leaves his home or church office because he knows where he’s going.

“I am sure I am going to Jesus and to the presence of God,” he said.