US embassy cable - 04ISTANBUL1819

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ISTANBUL 001819 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, TU, Istanbul 
SUBJECT: ISTANBUL PROTESTANTS CONTINUE TO FACE CHALLENGES 
TO THEIR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM 
 
REF: A. ADANA 149 
 
     B. ADANA 128 
     C. 03 ISTANBUL 149 
 
1. (SBU) Summary: While acknowledging that the environment 
for religious minorities in Turkey has significantly improved 
over the past several years, leaders of several Istanbul 
Protestant churches claim that they continue to face legal 
hurdles and cultural prejudice in their activities.  Because 
their registration applications are routinely denied, delayed 
or ignored, the churches are forced to operate unofficially, 
with no legal guarantee to protect them from arbitrary 
closure.  Some Protestant leaders suspect that the lack of 
formal procedures for  the legal establishment of places of 
worship stems from the Turkish secular establishment's fear 
that this would open the way for the registration of 
thousands of illegal mosques.  End Summary. 
 
2. (SBU) Leaders of ten separate Protestant churches (most in 
Istanbul, but including one each from Izmir and Ankara) 
described their recent experiences to poloffs and conoff on 
December 2.  The Protestants claim that there are about 30 
churches in Istanbul with approximately 40 to 50 members in 
each congregation.  All operate unofficially, with the 
exception of the Istanbul Protestant Church Foundation, which 
successfully registered as a foundation in 1998 (Note: 
Subsequent legal changes requiring that new foundations have 
at least USD 600,000 in capital have effectively eliminated 
this as an option for other churches.  End Note). 
 
3. (SBU) Overall, the Protestant leaders conceded that the 
general atmosphere for their activities had improved over the 
last several years, albeit in "baby steps."  They cited the 
following examples of harassment over the past year alone: 
 
- Although appropriate permits had been obtained from the 
local deputy governor, the Sisli Police obtained higher 
authority to force the River Church to suspend its weekly 
screening of a film about Jesus.  Claiming that they had 
received a bomb threat against the church, police searched 
the premises and suggested that they stop showing the film 
"for their own protection." 
 
- Despite being contacted by Bayrampasa prison officials when 
foreign inmates requested Christian services and provisions, 
the River Church was denied permission to administer the 
services on the grounds that the church pastor is not a 
registered priest.  According to the pastor, however, he is 
an ordained minister and no Turkish authority ever asked to 
check his credentials. 
 
- Although they had obtained prior permission and there were 
no apparent protesters, police forced Alo Dua Church 
Protestants to stop distributing copies of the New Testament 
on Prince's Island, again claiming it was "for their own 
protection." 
 
- In a separate incident, a group of Protestants was harassed 
by hostile bystanders in Taksim while distributing materials 
on New Year's Day.  Although permission had been obtained in 
advance, several police present failed to intervene, except 
to force the Protestants, rather than the hostile bystanders, 
to vacate the premises, again citing their security as the 
reason. 
 
- Church members traveled to a remote area in the Black Sea 
region for the baptism of four new members.  They claim that 
thirty gendarme showed up, made threatening remarks and 
forced them to leave. 
 
- Last month several congregations reported that outsiders 
distributed materials at their services published by an 
organization called Hakikat (reportedly linked with Turkish 
Hizbullah) threatening Turkish converts with violence if they 
don't convert back to Islam. 
 
4. (SBU) The Protestant leaders also shared stories about 
legal roadblocks they have faced over the past year: 
 
- The River Church applied for a permit to hold discussion 
groups about the movie "The Passion."  Despite a 
constitutional right to assemble, the application was denied 
on the grounds that zoning laws in the requested area do not 
allow church discussion groups. 
 
- Church members were occasionally harassed, subjected to 
unreasonable delays, or denied outright when they sought to 
change their religion on their national ID cards.  One 
official simply refused to provide the necessary application 
forms; others were told they could not convert without a 
document from a registered church (Note: The only such 
churches are of other denominations, mostly Greek or Armenian 
Orthodox. End Note). 
- Most complained that their inability to officially register 
means that they cannot obtain Turkish residency or work 
permits.  The Turkish government requires individuals 
applying for residency to have at least USD 30,000 in Turkey, 
but residency permits are required to open bank accounts. 
Without such permits foreigners must leave the country every 
90 days, in order not to overstay their visas. 
 
5. (SBU) Comment: Protestants appear to be free to worship in 
the privacy of their unregistered churches (usually 
residential or commercial office space), but when they seek 
to conduct outreach or other public activities, they 
routinely encounter official harassment and occasionally 
public prejudice.  The lack of established procedures to 
officially register the churches effectively denies the 
Protestant community any legal protection from official 
harassment and arbitrary closure.  Even the Istanbul 
Protestant Church Foundation has so far been unable to obtain 
the necessary zoning permits for its small church (Note: 
Current zoning regulations stipulate that places of worship 
be at least 2,500 square meters in size - a requirement that 
the church (and many mosques) fails to meet).  The reluctance 
of Turkish authorities to facilitate the registration of 
these churches may stem, in part, from the secular 
establishment's concern that such a precedent could lead to 
the legalization of thousands of uncontrolled, unregistered 
mesjits or mosques. 
ARNETT