Four Evangelists Arrested in Turkey

I can see that Turkish officials have really learned their lesson from the murder of three Christians last week. Already, they are back in business, arresting Christians for sharing their faith and declaring that missionaries are more dangerous that terrorist organizations.

Last Wednesday, in Istanbul's Taksim district, Turkish police jailed four Christian street evangelists for "missionary activity" (which is not even illegal in Turkey). At the same time, government officials such as by Religious Affairs Director Ali Bardakoglu are openly defending the right of all religious groups to carry out evangelistic work in Turkey. Not all of Turkey's politicians seem to share that sentiment, however. Winning the prize for most insensitive political leader is the Ministry of Justice Laws director-general Niyazi Guney who was quoted by the Turkish daily Milliyet a day after the killings in Malatya as saying that missionaries were more dangerous than terror organizations. Guess that justifies the violence, eh?

I can understand why Turkish Christians are nervous.