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

UNCLAS ADANA 000027 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM ASEC
SUBJECT: CHRISTIANS  FACE STRONG INTOLERANCE IN ADANA 
 
REF: A) 2004 ADANA 149  B) ADANA 500 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Adana Christians are disturbed by the recent 
beating of a local Christian man, but do not consider the 
incident  out of the ordinary for Christians in the Turkey's 
eastern Mediterranean (Adana, Mersin, Gaziantep) region.  Police 
behavior toward Christians in Adana has improved in recent 
years, though Christians in neighboring areas are still being 
harassed by local authorities.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) In a February 2 meeting at the SOZ Bookstore in Adana, 
the leader of the Adana Kurtulus Christian Church Vedat Ozal 
told us that Christians in Adana were disturbed by the January 8 
beating of a local Turkish Christian, but generally still feel 
safe.  Ozal contrasted the anti-Christian activities of local 
authorities in the past, when local Christians were harassed and 
constantly watched by authorities, with the situation today, 
where local law enforcement authorities leave Christians alone 
and even provide assistance when asked.  He attributed the 
improved behavior of police towards local Christians to Turkey's 
recent efforts in pursuit of EU membership.  Ozal said that the 
three Christian groups in Adana have requested police protection 
since the beating incident.  In response, over the past few 
weeks, police have patrolled neighborhoods with Christian 
churches and have sent officers to attend Christian services to 
act as a deterrent to further incidents. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Ozal warned that the Adana situation is not necessarily 
replicated for Christians in the nearby cities of Mersin, 
Gaziantep or Adiyaman.  He explained that local authorities 
there had locked Christians out of their own churches without 
providing an explanation.  He said that one such incident 
happened recently in Mersin. 
 
¶4. (SBU) While the behavior of local law enforcement authorities 
may have improved in Adana, anti-Christian sentiment in the 
local society has not improved.  Ozal explained that an 
ultra-nationalist group visited his bookshop in the past year 
and "pressured" him by questioning his belief in Jesus Christ 
and asking why he did not believe in the Prophet Muhammed.  He 
said that the group threatened to return to his shop to "bother" 
him further, but they had not returned to date.  Ozal further 
explained that his bookshop is often vandalized with 
anti-Christian graffiti on the windows, and passersby often spit 
on the windows.  Ozal told us that he and other Christians in 
Adana do not feel overly threatened by such behavior, and prefer 
to demonstrate a Christian, "turn-the-other-cheek" attitude 
toward those who demonstrate intolerance and hatred toward 
Christians. 
 
¶5. (SBU) In a February 5 discussion with an Adana area part-time 
pastor, we heard similar positive assessments of police conduct 
in the last year, but also concern about ingrained societal 
prejudice.  The AMCIT pastor related how in the last three weeks 
his dog had been killed at his house and a "mysterious, 
unexplained" fire had destroyed all the air conditioning and 
satellite television equipment for his home.  "Someone trying to 
send us a message has identified our home and is trying to 
communicate something to us which I can only conclude is 
hostile," he says.  "I am not the only person (in Adana) 
experiencing these coincidences either," he added.  (reftels) 
 
Comment 
 
¶6. (SBU) Turkey's EU accession process may have caused some 
improvement in the behavior of authorities toward Christians in 
the Adana region.  Meanwhile, intolerance towards Christians and 
other non-Sunni Muslims, such as Alevis, remains strong within 
private society.  This change for the better in official 
attitudes here is not reflected in all nearby provinces. 
 
REID