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Agos Weekly, Istanbul
Dec 21 2009
Church threatened: `Demolish the bell tower'
Translated by Bahar Mucuk DemirtaÅ?
Three people who threatened the priest demanded the demolition of the
bell tower of the Assyrian church by the weekend.
Father Yusuf Akbulut, priest of the Assyrian Church of the Virgin Mary
in Diyarbakır, reported that three people who were angry at the
banning of minarets in Switzerland threatened him by demanding the
demolition of the bell tower of the church. According to Father
Akbulut, the three people, who were in their forties, visited the
church last Friday and asked him who was in charge of the church. He
added that as soon as he told them that he was in charge, they asked
him if there were any bell towers. Akbulut stated that the three,
having learned that the church had a bell tower, then said:
`Switzerland has banned minarets, therefore you will demolish this
bell tower by next Friday, otherwise you will see what will happen. Go
and complain to whomever you want.'
`What does the minaret ban in Switzerland have to do with us?' he asked them.
Father Akbulut then went to the Ã?arÅ?ı Police Station in the Sur
District and filed a complaint, mentioning that he had been
threatened. He said: `We have been living in our own country
peacefully together with the other people here. We are natives here.
We don't have a problem with Switzerland. Nobody can hold us
accountable for the minaret ban in Switzerland. We did not immigrate
from Europe; we belong here and we maintain good relations with all
the other communities here. Everyone has the right to worship freely
everywhere. We are not afraid. but we are expecting the authorities to
take precautions.'
http://www.agos.com.tr/eng/index.ph p?module=news&news_id=1361&cat_id=1
Dec 21 2009
Church threatened: `Demolish the bell tower'
Translated by Bahar Mucuk DemirtaÅ?
Three people who threatened the priest demanded the demolition of the
bell tower of the Assyrian church by the weekend.
Father Yusuf Akbulut, priest of the Assyrian Church of the Virgin Mary
in Diyarbakır, reported that three people who were angry at the
banning of minarets in Switzerland threatened him by demanding the
demolition of the bell tower of the church. According to Father
Akbulut, the three people, who were in their forties, visited the
church last Friday and asked him who was in charge of the church. He
added that as soon as he told them that he was in charge, they asked
him if there were any bell towers. Akbulut stated that the three,
having learned that the church had a bell tower, then said:
`Switzerland has banned minarets, therefore you will demolish this
bell tower by next Friday, otherwise you will see what will happen. Go
and complain to whomever you want.'
`What does the minaret ban in Switzerland have to do with us?' he asked them.
Father Akbulut then went to the Ã?arÅ?ı Police Station in the Sur
District and filed a complaint, mentioning that he had been
threatened. He said: `We have been living in our own country
peacefully together with the other people here. We are natives here.
We don't have a problem with Switzerland. Nobody can hold us
accountable for the minaret ban in Switzerland. We did not immigrate
from Europe; we belong here and we maintain good relations with all
the other communities here. Everyone has the right to worship freely
everywhere. We are not afraid. but we are expecting the authorities to
take precautions.'
http://www.agos.com.tr/eng/index.ph p?module=news&news_id=1361&cat_id=1