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 002313 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/22/2015 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM TU OSCE
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR DISCUSSES GOT ANTI-MISSIONARY CAMPAIGN WITH A FILIBUSTERING MINISTER AYDIN 
 
REF: A. ANKARA 1511 
     ¶B. ANKARA 1935 
 
(U) Classified by Ambassador Eric S. Edelman; reasons 1.4 b 
and d. 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: The Ambassador has emphasized to State 
Minister Aydin serious U.S. concerns about the GOT's 
anti-Christian missionary campaign, including a written 
statement by Aydin defining missionaries as a threat to the 
State and maligning Christianity.  The U.S. has long urged 
the EU to support Turkey's candidacy, but it will be 
difficult to do so while the GOT is campaigning against 
Christianity.  The Ambassador warned that anti-Christian 
rhetoric could lead to violence, and urged Aydin to speak in 
support of the rights of Christians in Turkey.  In response, 
Aydin accused missionaries in Turkey of using anti-Islamic 
rhetoric, and complained that the U.S. media have said "awful 
things" about Turkey.  After the meeting, we learned that a 
Protestant church building had been attacked in Ankara.  End 
Summary. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
Congress Concerned About Anti-Christian Rhetoric 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶2. (U) Calling on Aydin April 21, the Ambassador noted that 
the U.S., in its support for Turkey's EU candidacy, has long 
maintained that the EU should not be a Christian club. 
President Bush and the U.S. Congress have frequently 
emphasized their commitment to religious freedom and 
tolerance among faiths.  Now, however, members of Congress 
are highly concerned about the GOT's campaign against 
Christian missionaries.  The anti-missionary sermon drafted 
by the GOT's Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) and 
delivered by imams across the country March 11 (reftel A), as 
well as Aydin's own written response to a question from an MP 
on the "threat" of missionaries (reftel B), depict missionary 
activity in Turkey as political rather than religious.  Both 
documents imply that missionaries are a threat to the State. 
 
¶3. (C) The GOT's actions, the Ambassador continued, give the 
impression that Turkey, whose population is officially 99 
percent Muslim, has no room for Christians.  The USG's 2005 
International Religious Freedom Report (IRF), to be released 
in September, will reflect these negative developments.  If 
these problems are not addressed, the report will be quite 
critical.  Moreover, these developments threaten Turkey's EU 
candidacy. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
Aydin: Missionaries Use "Non-Theological" Approach 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶4. (U) In a long, filibustering answer, Aydin defensively 
acknowledged that he signed the statement on missionaries, 
but said the text was prepared by others, as is the practice. 
 Although Aydin oversees the Diyanet, he claimed he has no 
direct authority over its sermons.  However, he went on to 
defend indirectly the contents of the sermon and statement. 
Aydin asserted that missionaries in Turkey are "cheating" by 
using "non-theological arguments" in attempts to convert 
Muslims.  These arguments often associate Islam with 
terrorism.  For example, missionaries claim that unless "the 
light of Jesus" is spread throughout the Islamic world, 
Muslim terrorists will kill everyone.  If missionaries were 
using theological arguments, he asserted, he would "defend 
them to the end." 
 
¶5. (C) Aydin mused that if he were a "powerful Christian," he 
would focus his missionary activities in a Western city like 
London, where church attendance is down.  Or maybe in the 
U.S., where, he said, an 11-year-old boy recently shot his 
parents.  But not in a poor, Muslim country like Turkey 
(Note: Diyanet officials have accused missionaries of 
improperly "taking advantage" of poverty in Turkey as a lever 
for converting Muslims.  At the same time core institutions 
of the Turkish State -- including CHOD Ozkok in his landmark 
April 20 speech -- accuse Islamist groups of exploiting poor 
people to undermine the authority of the secular system.  End 
Note). 
 
¶6. (U) Aydin opined that the 2005 IRF will be positive, 
because there are no problems (sic) with the "authentic" 
religious minorities in Turkey -- the Greek Orthodox, 
Armenian Orthodox, and Jews.  The controversy only involves 
others who have come to Turkey recently to convert Muslims. 
 
--------------------------------- 
U.S. Respects Freedom For Muslims 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (C) The Ambassador said it is not up to the GOT, or any 
other government, to determine which arguments are 
"theological" and which are not.  There are many mosques in 
the U.S., where many imams who are not U.S. citizens preach. 
The USG does not restrict their activities or control the 
content of their sermons.  In fact, many preach beliefs that 
are inimical to the U.S., as demonstrated by a recent Freedom 
House study on Saudi hate propaganda in U.S. mosques.  Yet 
the GOT sees fit to combat the "threat" of a tiny Protestant 
community whose missionaries, according to Aydin's own 
statement, have converted 368 Turks in 12 years. 
 
¶8. (U) Charging that Muslims are no longer given free rein in 
the U.S., Aydin accused U.S. authorities of now closely 
monitoring mosque activities for security reasons.  When the 
Ambassador denied this, Aydin said the USG might not monitor 
mosques, but private groups do (Note: He was apparently 
referring to the Freedom House study.  End Note). 
 
¶9. (C) The Ambassador reiterated that the GOT's actions have 
raised serious concerns in Congress, at a time when lawmakers 
are preparing to review a resolution on the Armenian 
"genocide."  Both the sermon and Aydin's statement imply that 
missionaries in Turkey today are equivalent to the soldiers 
of the Crusades.  They also imply that Christianity is a 
polytheistic religion, the same argument used by Muslim 
extremists such as terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. 
When Aydin denied the GOT made such an implication, the 
Ambassador quoted from the sermon, which states that the 
Crusades failed because Islam "contains values such as 
monotheism, justice, fear of God, self confidence, and 
opposition to oppression, polytheism, blasphemy and 
injustice."  Aydin replied that the sermon made a "general 
comparison" between the two religions. 
 
¶10. (U) Aydin asserted that the U.S. media have said "awful 
things" about Turkey, and the USG claims it can take no 
action because it respects freedom of speech.  The GOT, in 
similar fashion, has to respect the rights of the Diyanet to 
express itself.  The Ambassador replied that the Diyanet is a 
state institution, whose sermons are delivered by imams 
across the country.  Aydin blandly asserted that the Diyanet 
is "as independent as any Catholic institution," and claimed 
he has only "friendly influence" over it. 
 
------------------------------- 
Rhetoric Could Lead to Violence 
------------------------------- 
 
¶11. (C) The Ambassador urged Aydin to use his influence to 
promote tolerance toward religious minorities.  Leaders of 
Turkey's tiny Protestant community, numbering approximately 
3,000, have been receiving increasing telephone and email 
threats as anti-missionary rhetoric from the government and 
media has emerged in recent months.  The GOT's 
anti-missionary campaign could lead to violence, especially 
given the rise of nationalism in Turkey these days.  Aydin 
said he does not expect violence, and averred that he, like 
most Turks, would feel "awful" if Muslims attacked 
Christians.  The Ambassador said Aydin and other GOT leaders 
could help lower tensions by publicly stating that Christians 
are welcome in Turkey and that missionary activity is 
accepted.  Aydin claimed he has made such statements in the 
past. 
 
¶12. (U) Shortly after the meeting, a contact informed us that 
two people threw Molotov cocktails into the International 
Protestant Church of Ankara in the early morning hours of 
April 21.  The building was empty at the time.  We will 
report in more detail septel. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶13. (C) Aydin spent the meeting scrambling and rambling to 
avoid responsibility for his comments about Christianity. 
First he asserted he only "signed" the statement and has only 
"influence" over the Diyanet, then he tried repeatedly to 
change the subject.  When pinned down, he could only defend 
his statements with wild, unsubstantiated allegations that 
missionaries in Turkey (across the board, apparently) use 
anti-Islamic arguments.  Frankly, we expected a bit more from 
a scholar of theology. 
 
¶14. (C) Aydin started the meeting by criticizing incoming 
Pope Benedict XVI for comments he made as a cardinal stating 
that Turkey, as a Muslim country, should not be accepted in 
the EU.  Now that he is Pope, Aydin averred, Benedict should 
promote dialogue and understanding among religions, building 
on the efforts of Pope John Paul II.  We can only hope that 
Aydin, whose surname means "enlightened," learns to heed his 
own advice. 
EDELMAN