US embassy cable - 05ANKARA2206

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 002206 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/19/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PHUM, TU, OSCE 
SUBJECT: MFA BLOCKING PURCHASE OF ABANDONED CHURCH 
 
REF: A. ANKARA 2097 
     B. ANKARA 2061 
 
Classified by Polcouns John Kunstadter; reasons 1.4 b and d. 
 
1. (U) Summary: An American pastor and his wife operate a 
Protestant "cultural center" in the Mediterranean tourist 
city of Antalya.  Although their work is primarily religious, 
they hold work permits as owners of the company that runs the 
center, which includes a cafe and a room where community 
activities are held.  They face less difficulty than 
Protestants in larger cities like Istanbul and Ankara, but 
the MFA has been blocking their efforts to purchase an 
abandoned Greek Orthodox church for the past four years.  End 
Summary. 
 
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AMCITs Come to Turkey to Preach 
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2. (U) James and Renata Bultema came to Turkey in 1990, 
attracted by the opportunity to live overseas and serve a 
minority Christian community in a Muslim country.  James, who 
studied theology in Denver, started as a pastor at Union 
Church in Istanbul.  At first, the Bultemas viewed their time 
in Turkey as a temporary, short-term mission, after which 
they would return to the U.S.  But when they stumbled across 
an opportunity to open their own church in the Mediterranean 
city of Antalya, they jumped at it. 
 
3. (U) The Bultemas have been relatively successful in 
negotiating the bureaucratic obstacles faced by religious 
minorities seeking to worship in Turkey.  They have 
established a private company that enables them to reside 
permanently in Turkey, and have formed a church 
"association."  But for the past four years authorities have 
blocked their efforts to purchase an abandoned Greek Orthodox 
church. 
 
4. (U) Each church in Turkey has a different story.  Turkish 
laws and regulations provide no clear avenue for religious 
denominations that want to open places of worship.  National 
and local authorities can be relatively flexible or rigid, 
depending on factors such as the location of the church, its 
religious denomination, the number of Turkish converts 
attending the church, and whether church members perform 
missionary work.  Each church in operation today has its own, 
unique strategy for dealing with the GOT.  The Bultemas' 
story provides one example; reftel A provides another, very 
different example. 
 
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Couple Opens Center in Antalya 
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5. (U) The Bultemas, who met with us April 13 in Ankara, said 
they had just about grown tired of Istanbul life when in 1996 
they noticed an ad by the International Women's Association 
of Antalya.  According to the ad, the international community 
in Antalya wanted to establish a church and needed a pastor. 
The Bultemas replied immediately.  They began work in Antalya 
by holding congregations in hotels.  They informed the 
Governor's office in advance of each meeting, and 
plainclothes police would attend the sessions.  In 1997, the 
police informed them they needed to find a permanent location. 
 
6. (U) They purchased land next to a small, abandoned Greek 
Orthodox church.  In November 1999 they opened the St. Paul 
Cultural Center at the site.  The Center features a cafe and 
a 100-capacity multi-purpose room used for a range of 
activities including dance and aerobics classes, English 
conversation clubs, concerts and seminars, and playgroups for 
toddlers.  On Sundays, the Bultemas hold an English-language 
service and a group of Turkish Protestants rents the facility 
for a Turkish-language service.  A group of German 
expatriates also used to rent the facility before opening 
their own center nearby.  Officially, the Bultemas are 
businesspeople operating the company that runs the Center. 
They hold work permits as owners of the company. 
 
7. (U) James said operating as a businessman has been awkward 
and sometimes frustrating.  He is thinking about applying for 
a work permit as a pastor, although he is not optimistic that 
the government would approve such an application.  Still, the 
Bultemas realize that by moving to the international tourist 
town of Antalya they have avoided the kind of intimidation 
and harassment often experienced by Protestants in cities 
like Istanbul and Ankara.  There have been no protests in 
front of their Center, no broken windows, and only a few 
slanderous press stories. 
 
8. (U) The only problem with local authorities came in April 
2002, when police advised the Bultemas to take down their 
signs because the Center is not zoned as a place of worship. 
Parliament had recently adopted legislation designed to make 
it possible for Christians and other religious minorities to 
acquire zoning approval to build places of worship.  However, 
local authorities in many areas instead used the legislation 
as a means to challenge the legality of existing churches. 
The Bultemas sensed that the police, who have generally been 
supportive, were not serious.  They ignored them, and the 
issue was never revisited. 
 
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MFA Blocking Purchase of Church 
------------------------------- 
 
9. (U) The Bultemas' biggest frustration has been their 
inability to buy the Greek Orthodox church, a goal they have 
pursued since purchasing the adjacent property.  The Turkish 
owner has been anxious to sell since the beginning -- back in 
2001 he and the Bultemas agreed on a price of USD 70,000. 
Then, on the day they were to close the deal, the local 
director of the titles and deeds department said the purchase 
required approval from Ankara.  Now, more than four years 
later, the Bultemas are still waiting for that approval. 
 
10. (U) Under pressure from German Government lobbying in 
support of German expatriates, the GOT sent a group of 
high-level bureaucrats to Antalya in 2003 to meet with 
Protestants.  The bureaucrats advised the Protestants to take 
advantage of recent amendments to the Associations Law and 
form church associations.  They told the Bultemas that 
association status would facilitate their purchase of the 
church.  They took the advice, and even won a battle to keep 
the word "church" in their association title.  But the 
purchase remains blocked.  The latest news came on April 12, 
when an official from the MFA Real Estate Department told 
James the MFA is still gathering information needed to make a 
decision. 
 
11. (U) GOT officials have told the Bultemas' attorney they 
are investigating how the church came into private ownership, 
and whether the transfer was legal.  The church passed into 
Turkish ownership in 1954, during a period of conflict 
between Muslims and Greek Orthodox; the Bultemas note that 
the Greek Orthodox owner most likely fled the country.  The 
original Turkish owner has died, and the property now belongs 
to his daughters and son in law.  The Bultemas say their 
attorney has confirmed the authenticity of the deed. 
 
12. (U) While the MFA reviews the purchase application, the 
church falls into greater disrepair year by year.  "The 
building is collapsing.  It will eventually fall down," James 
said. 
 
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Comment 
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13. (C) The Bultemas are the type of Christians the GOT finds 
easiest to tolerate.  They are foreigners catering primarily 
to other foreigners, rather than Turkish converts to 
Christianity.  They do not organize bible distributions or 
other missionary activities.  They are located in a 
cosmopolitan tourist city. 
 
14. (C) However, GOT authorities are clearly wary of their 
plans to buy and restore the Greek Orthodox church.  Allowing 
the Bultemas to conduct services in a traditional church 
building, it seems, would raise the profile of the church too 
high in the eyes of the authorities.  GOT leaders often boast 
of Turkey's historic religious tolerance and diversity.  As 
reported reftel B, FM Gul recently denied the existence of 
religious prejudice in Turkey by asserting that, "Turkey is a 
place where churches and synagogues are built near mosques." 
Unfortunately, however, the Bultemas' experience is not 
unique -- Christians and other religious minorities routinely 
face bureaucratic obstructionism when they seek to build or 
restore places of worship.  The Turks, it appears, prefer 
their churches in ruins, rather than restored and filled with 
congregants. 
EDELMAN