24 July 2024

Protestantism and the Judiciary in Türkiye

https://www.asianews.it/news-en/Turkey,-Constitutional-Court:-Expulsion-of-Protestant-leaders-does-not-violate-freedom-of-faith-60914.html

Ankara fears these Western-connected congregations are a Fifth Column, a means of cycling subversion into Turkish society, laundering money, and the like. While mostly exaggeration or simply untrue, I don't doubt there are some instances where this is the case. It may even be that some church leaders don't quite understand who they're affiliating with and where their money is coming from.

Also, Turkish society is presently under great stress. When Erdogan first came on the scene he attempted to make peace with the Kurds on the basis of Islamism. Rather than focus on Turkish identity (as with Kemalism) which alienated the Kurds and others, he instead embraced them as fellow Muslims.

However this fell apart when Bush invaded Iraq and ripped apart the fragile geopolitical balancing act taking place in the region. The liberal reforms in Damascus also would come to an end and eventually the US would back PKK-affiliates just across Türkiye's rather porous southeastern border. At this point in time Ankara's relationship with the Kurds is poor and while the extreme violence of the 1980's and 1990's hasn't returned, it's not hard to imagine it being rekindled.

Erdogan is trying to unify the country and he views these Western missionary works as subversive. As a Christian I believe in missionaries but they need to be careful in how they go about their work in these countries. In other cases the churches are mainly Turkish and yet they are affiliated with Western denominations and para-church groups. Money is exchanged and their leaders frequently visit the West, attend school there and so forth.

The elephant in the room is Andrew Brunson, the missionary imprisoned by Erdogan under accusation of espionage. Whatever Brunson's status in Türkiye, the fact that the Trump administration imposed sanctions on Ankara in order to secure his release put a bad taste in Erdogan's mouth with regard to Western Evangelicals. It seems plain to him (and with good reason I am sorry to say) that they are but an arm of the American Right and its geopolitics. Brunson didn't help when upon returning to the states he ran to Trump and paid homage to him. Since then he's fallen down the Right's rabbit hole of often deranged and conspiratorial narratives and while he professes to rejoice in suffering for Christ - he's clearly not adverse to 'cashing in' on it as well. It's also clear that his understanding of Christianity is wed to the whole Christian-America narrative. That being the case, I am genuinely and truly glad that he is no longer on the mission field. Such people have no place there.

On the other hand and in contrast to Western-connected Protestant Evangelicalism, the Greek Orthodox Church is not viewed as a threat. At one time it might have been but in modern Türkiye it's not much of a force. Washington has worked with the Patriarch especially with regard to the politics of Ukraine and there are connections to Halki and its status.

There is a historical enmity with regard to the Greeks and their church but it's not as 'political' as say the Western Evangelical groups with connections to the EU and especially the United States. It must be remembered that while Türkiye hosts American bases and is part of NATO, at the same time Erdogan very plausibly believes the US was involved in the 2016 attempt to assassinate him and overthrow his government - as well as other conspiracies. The US harbours Erdogan's enemies such as Fethullah Gülen and has worked to drive a wedge between Ankara and its closely ally in Baku.

See also:

https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2015/02/halki-seminary-and-us-objectives-in-old.html

https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2021/06/gulen-kenya-and-turkeys-mit.html

https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2018/07/ukrainian-orthodoxy-and-threat-of.html

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