Protestant Proselytizers Eye 10% of Turks

CAIRO, December 31 (IslamOnline.net) - Protestant missionaries are planning to proselytize some 10 per cent of Turkey's 70 million population by 2020, the Turkish army warned in a report published Friday, December 31.

Up to one million gospels are planned to be distributed among the Turkish people during this period, Turkish daily Zaman reported Friday, citing the “Proselytizing Activities in Turkey and the World” report.

The missionaries are trying to fill the “spiritual void” left by the youths' ignorance about the basic tenets and rituals of Islam, according to the report.

The proselytizers are playing on pitting the Sunnis and the `Alawiyyin against one another to preach about the Christian faith, the report added.

“`Alawiyyin are originally a sect of the Shi`ah called ‘Nusayriyyah’. The Nusayriyyah is a movement that emerged in the third century after Hijrah. They claim that `Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) is God-incarnated.

The Turkish army report further said that the Protestant missionaries intend to establish a religious institute to prepare a generation of theologians in Turkey.

It put at 69 the number of unofficial churches and places of worship related to other communities, including 47 churches for the Protestants, nine for the Baha'is and 13 for Jehovah's Witnesses sect.

The Baha’iyyah is also a Shiite sect that was named after one of its leaders, Husayn Nuri. This faith emerged as a Shiite sect that was led by some Shiites who totally deviated from Islam.

The Jehovah's Witnesses (JW) are members of a worldwide Christian religion who actively share with others their beliefs about God and faith.

They use the Hebrew name of God, commonly rendered Jehovah in English, and embark on visible proselytizing, including personal visits to neighbors, and conducting free home Bible study courses, according to the Wikipedia encyclopedia.

Thousands Proselytized

The report further said that 15,000 Turks have been converted to Christianity, and other sects like Baha’iyyah over the past few years.

Of the converters, 185 Muslims have officially changed their religion to Christianity over the past three years and only one to Judaism, the report added.

No law explicitly prohibits proselytizing or religious conversions in Turkey. Many prosecutors and police, however, regard proselytizing and religious activism with suspicion, especially when such activities are deemed to have political overtones, according to the daily.

Approximately 99 percent of Turkey's population are Muslim, the majority of whom are Sunni.

In addition to the country's Sunni Muslim majority, there are an estimated 5 to 12 million `Alawiyyin, according to the US State Department.

There are several other religious groups, mostly concentrated in Istanbul and other large cities.

While exact membership figures are not available, these include an estimated 65,000 Armenian Orthodox Christians, 25,000 Jews, and 3,000 to 5,000 Greek Orthodox Christians.

These three groups have special legal minority status under the 1923 Lausanne Treaty. There also are approximately 10,000 Baha'is, an estimated 15,000 Syrian Orthodox (Syriac) Christians, 3,000 Protestants, and small, undetermined numbers of Bulgarian, Chaldean, Nestorian, Georgian, Roman Catholic, and Maronite Christians.

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