Who Threatens Turkey's Christians?
Mustafa Akyol writes that the "Islamic-oriented" AKP government has been friendlier to Turkey's Christian communities that its secular and more nationalistic predecessors.
If you are mindful of the fact that Turkey is the only "secular republic" in the whole Muslim world, then you might presume that it must have the most hospitable attitude towards its non-Muslim minorities.
Moreover, if you are familiar with the narrative that Turkey has become "less secular" and "more Islamic" in the past decade — under the Justice and Development Party (AKP) — you might also suspect that the life of Turkey's non-Muslims must have become harder.
Both of these presumptions, however, would be wrong. First, Turkey's secular republic has never been congenial to its non-Muslim minorities, especially the Christians. Secondly, things have gotten a bit better only in the past "more Islamic" decade.
A report which would testify to this claim came just a few days ago from the Association of Protestant Churches in Turkey. Titled "Human Rights Violations Report 2012," the nine-page document mostly mentions the hate crimes, threats or discriminations that Turkey's tiny Protestant community has faced in the past year. But it also notes and appreciates the progress on the govermental side, stating:
