This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 001935 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/04/2015 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM TU OSCE
SUBJECT: MINISTER DECLARES MISSIONARIES "SEPARATIST AND DESTRUCTIVE" 
 
REF: A. ANKARA 1511 
     ¶B. ANKARA 814 
 
Classified by Polcouns John Kunstadter; reasons 1.4 b and d. 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: State Minister Aydin, who oversees the GOT's 
Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), released a 
statement labeling missionary activities in Turkey 
"separatist and destructive" and implying that missionaries 
are part of an organized effort by foreign governments to 
create divisions in the country.  A Protestant pastor told us 
threats against Christians are on the rise, and missionaries 
have decided to halt activities until tensions subside.  Two 
MPs from the ruling AK Party (AKP), both former Diyanet 
presidents, told us they believe some of the language in 
Aydin's statement and in a recent, nationwide anti-missionary 
sermon was inappropriate, and said they would raise their 
concerns with Aydin and others. End Summary. 
 
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Minister Calls Missionaries "Destructive" 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) State Minister Aydin issued a four-page written 
response to a question from an AK MP about the "threat" of 
missionaries in Turkey.  In the paper, publicly released 
March 27, Aydin asserts that missionary activity in Turkey is 
"separatist and destructive" and implies that missionaries 
are part of an organized effort by foreign governments to 
create divisions in the country.  He claims that missionaries 
are concealing their true motives by operating under cover as 
doctors, teachers and other professionals.  Aydin advises 
Turkish citizens to report missionary activity to 
authorities. 
 
¶3. (U) Excerpts from Aydin's paper include: 
 
-- "History as well as contemporary developments have 
demonstrated that missionary activities are not an innocent 
act of communicating one's religion or exercising religious 
freedom, but a highly planned movement with political 
motives." 
 
-- "The Diyanet believes that missionary activities aim to 
distort historic, religious, national and cultural unity by 
leading to changes in the religious belief that lies at the 
heart of the most fundamental values of our society, whereas 
our people have cohabited peacefully in Anatolian territories 
for centuries by upholding these same values.  We also deem 
it to be a violation of the most intimate freedom, the 
freedom of religion." 
 
-- "Today, rather than Christian priests, missionary 
activities are conducted by doctors, nurses, engineers, Red 
Cross workers, human rights defenders, volunteers for peace, 
language teachers, computer instructors, sports organizers, 
etc." 
 
-- "Concealing their true objectives and aiming at weaknesses 
among our citizens, some foreigners coming to Turkey with 
tourist visas conduct missionary propaganda." 
 
-- "The Diyanet considers these activities as separatist and 
destructive since they may create a basis for a spiritual and 
cultural gap and distort our religious/national integrity in 
the long run, and considers it necessary that our citizens 
notify the Diyanet and all relevant government institutions 
about such activities." 
 
¶4. (U) Aydin states that the Diyanet has established a 
"Missionary Monitoring Committee" to follow missionary 
activity in Turkey and has developed an "action plan against 
missionary activities."  He also notes that the Diyanet will 
hold a symposium titled "Missionary Activities in the Turkish 
World" April 15-17 at March 18 University in Canakkale.  He 
further reports that missionaries have converted a total of 
368 Turks, according to information compiled by the Diyanet. 
 
¶5. (U) Interior Minister Aksu also issued a paper on 
missionaries, in which he assures Parliament that "missionary 
activities in Turkey are followed up by judicial 
authorities." 
 
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Pastor: Threats Against Protestants on Rise 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (C) Ihsan Ozbek, pastor of the Kurtulus Church in Ankara 
and general secretary of the Alliance of Turkish Protestant 
Churches, told us the statements by Aydin and Aksu are the 
latest in a series of developments in recent months that have 
increased the pressure on Turkey's tiny Protestant community 
of approximately 3,000.  As reported reftels, bible 
distribution by Protestants last Christmas sparked 
anti-Christian media coverage, and the Diyanet issued an 
anti-missionary sermon delivered in mosques across the 
country March 11. 
 
¶7. (C) Ozbek believes the anti-missionary statements reflect 
a new GOT method of opposing Christianity.  In the past, he 
said, police would often detain and beat Protestants 
performing missionary work.  Protestants in those days were 
"like shadows," never mentioned in the media.  Today, by 
contrast, nationalists and Islamists have free rein to bash 
Christians in the press.  It is now political and religious 
extremists, rather than police, who carry out the harassment 
and intimidation, which the authorities rarely prosecute. 
Government leaders, meanwhile, make statements effectively 
pouring gas, not water, on the fire.  "The March 11 sermon 
and the statement by Aydin hurt us a lot," he said. "They 
want to appeal to nationalistic elements." 
 
¶8. (C) Ozbek said threats against Protestants have been on 
the rise since December, reaching a peak in February.  Turks 
opposed to Christianity have made telephone calls and sent 
email messages threatening to kill Protestant church members. 
 They have smashed church windows with rocks in a number of 
cities.  Ankara police have searched Ozbek's church several 
times recently after receiving bomb threats.  Ozbek said 
missionaries now confront an open hostility from some members 
of the public, a hostility that was largely absent before. 
He said Protestants have stopped distributing religious 
literature and will maintain a low profile for at least a few 
months, in the hope that the tensions will subside. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
AK MPs: Anti-Missionary Rhetoric "Exaggerated" 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶9. (U) We discussed the GOT's anti-missionary campaign in 
separate meetings with two AK MPs who are former Diyanet 
presidents -- Tayyar Altikulac and Mustafa Sait Yazicioglu. 
Both MPs claimed they had seen press coverage of the Aydin 
statement and the March 11 sermon (sermon text reported 
reftel A), but had not seen the actual texts.  Altikulac 
defended the right of the Diyanet to promote Islam and advise 
Muslims not to be persuaded by missionaries, as long as it 
avoids provoking conflict, defining missionaries as a 
"threat," or accusing missionaries of having "political 
motives" without evidence.  We replied that, in our view, the 
March 11 sermon and Aydin statement had violated those 
principles. 
 
¶10. (C) Altikulac had the Diyanet fax him a copy of the 
sermon.  After a first reading, he told us he saw no problem 
with the text.  But he read it again after we pointed out the 
sermon's indirect reference to the Crusades and the 
implication that missionaries in Turkey are working on behalf 
of foreign governments.  His tone suddenly changed.  "The 
first time, I read it as a Turkish Muslim and saw no 
problem," he said.  "But the second time, I realized how it 
looks from an outsider's perspective.  I didn't like it." 
Altikulac said the Diyanet should not make reference to the 
Crusades in discussing religious issues today -- Turkey needs 
to look to the future, not the past. 
 
¶11. (C) We had a similar meeting with Yazicioglu, who also 
defended Aydin and the Diyanet, only to change course after 
we showed him texts of the sermon and statement.  Before 
reading Aydin's statement he told us, "I have known (Aydin) 
for 30 years; I doubt I will disagree with anything he says." 
 But he later acknowledged that Aydin "exaggerated" when he 
labeled missionaries a threat to "national unity." 
 
¶12. (C) Both MPs claimed they would discuss the matter with 
Aydin and Diyanet President Bardakoglu, warning them to be 
more careful in their statements on Christianity.  They both 
averred that Aydin and Bardakoglu probably approved the 
documents without reading them (Note: This is highly 
unlikely, in part because the Diyanet worked on the March 11 
sermon for several weeks before issuing it. End Note).  They 
insisted the sermon and statement do not accurately reflect 
the views of the AKP leadership, which they asserted is 
committed to religious tolerance.  Yazicioglu argued that the 
anti-missionary statements stem from an unfortunate mixing of 
religion and politics.  He said many pious Turks fear that 
the country's EU drive will erode the influence of Islam in 
Turkey, and elements of the GOT feel the need to address 
those concerns.  The issue is highly sensitive, but in the 
long run the GOT will conform to EU standards regarding 
religious freedom, he said. 
 
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Comment 
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¶13. (C) Missionaries in Turkey draw the combined ire of 
Islamists and nationalists; the former view them as a threat 
to Islam, the latter as a threat to national unity.  Most 
missionaries are Protestants, who are few in number and 
lacking in influence, and there are no domestic elements 
willing to take up their cause.  The GOT's anti-missionary 
campaign places Turkey in direct conflict with Western 
concepts of religious freedom.  The GOT, representing a 
country that is officially 99 percent Muslim, is declaring 
religious diversity a security threat at a time when it is 
supposed to be striving to join an EU committed to the 
principle of religious freedom. 
 
¶14. (C) Altikulac and Yazicioglu appeared, on reflection, to 
understand our concerns about the anti-missionary rhetoric. 
However, we are not certain they will follow through on their 
commitments to raise the issue with key officials, or how 
they might do so.  The efforts of the Diyanet, an arm of the 
Turkish State, to promote (Sunni) Islam as the only true 
religion and defend it against other religions appears to go 
far beyond the practice of other European countries with 
state religions, and contradicts the GOT's avowed commitment 
to religious tolerance. 
 
 
EDELMAN