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Persecution Watch: Prayer for Turkey
(Voice of the Persecuted) You are invited to join us on Saturday June 17, 2023, in a prayer conference call for the persecuted church hosted by Persecution Watch.
Turkey is a transcontinental country located mainly in Western Asia, with a small portion in Southeast Europe. It shares borders with eight countries. Kurds are the largest minority.
Population: 84 million (70% Turks, 19% Kurds, 82% Muslim, 2% Christian
Much of the New Testament was written either in or to churches in what is now modern-day Turkey, but now Turkish believers’ number only a few thousand.
PRAYER POINTS
- Church leaders– that God would give them wisdom, understanding and strength to act on and carry out their convictions.
- Pray that the Church would UNITE as one mind, one body, “having everything in common”, unafraid, unshaken & collectively praying for boldness to continue spreading light and life in this present darkness.
- Pray that in this time of uncertainty, fear, anxiety, and unrest, that the Church would lean into him, pursue peace, step out in bold confidence, proclaiming fearless VICTORY over the darkness of our situation- because we are grounded in WHO HE IS and what HE’S DONE
- Jesus would create and mature servants’ hearts that would propel believers into lives of ministry and would actively seek the wellbeing of others.
- Pray that the Church will remember why we’re here. This is our temporary home, but it is our home for a reason!
- Even though the government today remains secular, there is increasing religious and social pressure against the church and local believers.
- Pray for missionaries to continue, as visa issues are becoming more and more difficult
- The lack of obvious fruit in Turkey can frustrate and discourage Christian workers, and there is much Christian worker turnover.
- Please pray for grace and strength to continue faithfully, day after day.
- Pray for outreach among the millions of refugees currently residing in Turkey, especially from Syria and Iran. Pray that local believers would step out in faith, trusting that God will lead them to the right person to tell about their belief in Jesus.
- The importance of cleanliness in Islam reflects a deep desire to be acceptable to God. Pray for Turks to discover the once-for-all cleansing of Jesus’ blood, and our acceptance through Jesus’ righteousness. John 13.8-10, Hebrews 10.19-22
- Turkey is in the process of joining the EU, who puts pressure on Turkey for human rights – but for the last decade, President Erdoğan has depended on the support of nationalists and Islamists. Pray that Turkey does not fall under Sharia law.
- Turkey’s military has a history of taking over the government. Pray that future changes do not eliminate Christians’ few legal rights.
- Turkey’s historic churches survived, until the 20th century. Pray that the Holy Spirit would restore everything Satan stole!
- There is revival among the Kurds in northern Iraq – pray it would spread to the larger number of Kurds in Turkey.
- Many Turks and Kurds have emigrated to Europe in the last seventy years, especially to Germany. Pray Western believers would reach out to their new neighbors.
- It is illegal for an adult to evangelize children. Pray for 30,000 street kids living in Istanbul.
SCRIPTURE TO PRAY THROUGH:
James 1:2-4 “Consider it pure joy my brothers, when you face trials of various kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete”.
Matthew 5:3: “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven…”
2 Timothy 1:7– “God has not given us a spirit of fear but a spirit of power and love and soundness of mind”
Heb. 13:8 – “I am the same yesterday today and tomorrow”
Pray Romans 31: “If our God is for us, then who can be against us?”
Again, we want to lift-up these persecuted witnesses to the Lord:
- Leah Sharibu, a prisoner of Boko Haram since 2018. Pray for her release.
- Alice Loksha Ngaddah, kidnapped February 2019. She is a mother of two, working as a nurse for UNICEF. Pray for her release.
- Pray for Pastor Wang Yi to be released from prison.
- For Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani from Iran, as he and his family are adjusting from his release from prison, that they may know what God’s will is for them now. Pray for the trauma they had to endure. UPDATE: According to Article 18, once sentenced to death for his “apostasy” has been “pardoned” and released after nearly five years in Tehran’s Evin Prison, but told Nadarkhani that he still faces flogging (30 lashes) and two years’ exile 2,000km from his home. Read the report here
- UPDATE (March 17, 2023): Ryan Koher, a pilot for the U.S.-based ministry Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), and two of the ministry’s South African volunteers were released from a Mozambican prison Tuesday afternoon, the organization announced. The trio had been held at a high-security prison inside the southeastern African country for four months. Their release is a provisional one and they are required to remain in the country, while their case is still ongoing, according to MAF. Koher is said to be “doing well” following his release and has spoken multiple times with his wife, Annabel, and his two sons since his release, the ministry said. Source
The Harvest
- 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” Matthew 9:37-38
Michael Laird, Persecution Watch Prayer Conference Call Moderator
Prayer Conference Call Details
Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday
From any location on your phone
USA Time Zone:
9:00 PM Eastern
8:00 PM Central
7:00 PM Mountain
6:00 PM Pacific
Call in number: (667) 770-1476
Access Code: 281207#
MOBILE APP: Free Conference Call HD also provides a quick and easy way for you to dial into conference calls without having to remember the dial-in credentials. Save all of your conference call dial-in numbers and access codes using this free app. With the Free Conference Call HD you can instantly dial into a conference call via 3G/4G data network and or regular mobile carrier. Google Play link or App Store – iTunes
If you are experiencing any difficulties joining the call, please let us know.
What is Persecution Watch?
moved by the Holy Spirit to pray, we too must continue to serve those suffering persecution by lifting them up to the Lord through prayer.
On occasion, persecuted brothers and sisters have been invited on the conference call to share the trials they are facing. The team serves to encourage them by washing their feet in Spirit led prayer. Time is often reserved for those on the call to ask questions. We believe this helps to gain a better understanding of the situation that persecuted Christians endure in their specific nations. Q&A also helps us to focus our prayers based on their current needs.
Persecution Watch also hosts callers who want to pray united from other nations. If your heart is perplexed by the sufferings of our persecuted brothers and sisters, you no longer need to pray alone.
We welcome all who desire to pray for the persecuted church and consider it a joy to pray together with you. If you are new to the call and cannot find your voice, listen and pray silently or on mute. We are grateful and thank the Lord for bringing us all together to pray in agreement for our persecuted family in Christ. We can all be prayer warriors on this call!
God bless and protect you in your faithfulness to serve.
Lois Kanalos, Founder, Voice of the Persecuted, Nadia Dybvik, Persecution Watch Prayer Call Leader, and the Persecution Watch Prayer Team
NOTE: Please fill out the form in the sign-up link below to be included in our distribution list to receive urgent prayer requests, prayer points, notification of special prayer events and special guest speakers.
Note to Voice of the Persecuted (VOP) readers: The Persecution Watch prayer team is also the prayer team of Voice of the Persecuted. SIGN UP today.
Praying for Israel, Gaza, Morocco, Egypt, Turkey, and Syria
(Voice of the Persecuted) You are invited to join us on Tuesday, February 14, 2023 in a prayer conference call for the persecuted church hosted by Persecution Watch.
Dear Prayer Warriors,
Tonight, we will pray for brothers and sisters in Israel, Gaza, Morocco, and Egypt.
Prayer for emergency response concerning the earthquake in Turkey, and Syria
Hebrews 13:1-3
13 Let brotherly love continue.
2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
3 Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.”
We are continuing to lift up these persecuted witnesses to the Lord:
Alice Loksha Ngaddah was kidnapped in February 2019. She is a mother of two, working as a nurse for UNICEF. Pray for her release.
Leah Sharibu prisoner of Boko Haram since 2018. Pray for her release.
Pastor Wang Yi to be released from Chinese prison.
Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani from Iran
For his release and his family as their persecution continues. Pastor Nadarkhani is serving the second and plus year of his six-year sentence, recently reduced from ten years.
Ryan Kohler for his released
A pilot for Mission Aviation who is in prison in Mozambique for 2 months. While flying supplies to orphanages in the Northeast of the country, he and two others were detained and accused of supporting terrorism.
The Harvest
“I am sending you, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me” (Acts 26:18)
The Lord’s servant,
Nadia Dybvik, Persecution Watch Prayer Conference Call Leader
Prayer Conference Call Details
Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday
From any location on your phone
USA Time Zone:
9:00 PM Eastern
8:00 PM Central
7:00 PM Mountain
6:00 PM Pacific
Call in number: (667) 770-1476
Access Code: 281207#
Recommended: For those who may be subject to added charges for conference calls. Please download the app, it’s free!
MOBILE APP: Free Conference Call HD also provides a quick and easy way for you to dial into conference calls without having to remember the dial-in credentials. Save all of your conference call dial-in numbers and access codes using this free app. With the Free Conference Call HD you can instantly dial into a conference call via 3G/4G data network and or regular mobile carrier. Google Play link or App Store – iTunes
If you are experiencing any difficulties joining the call, please let us know.
What is Persecution Watch?
Persecution Watch is a U.S. national prayer conference call ministry that prays specifically for the global Persecuted Church. For over a decade, Blaine Scogin led this national network of believers who faithfully pray for the persecuted and the global harvest for the Kingdom of God. The group meets via a free call-in service every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday night at 9pm Eastern time in the United States (please check your time zone). Blaine also served as Prayer Director for Voice of the Persecuted, and the missions became one. Brother Blaine passed into glory on December 26, 2019. It was truly a blessing for all of us to serve alongside this dear man of God and he will be greatly missed. The prayer mission of Persecution Watch remains an important part of our mission. Voice of the Persecuted is committed to continue the prayer conference call for the persecuted along with the dedicated Persecution Watch prayer warrior team.
Prior to the passing of Brother Blaine, he confirmed the passing of the torch as prayer conference call leader to Nadia Dybvik. Nadia has a burdened heart for the persecuted and is a prayer warrior standing in the gap for them. She joined the Persecution Watch prayer team in 2013 and has been part of the core ever since. Before becoming the prayer call leader, she served in the role of prayer moderator since 2015. Blaine chose Nadia for her faithfulness to pray for the persecuted and her strong commitment to the Persecution Watch mission. We are blessed not only with her gift of prayer, but her genuine love for every brother and sister in Christ that comes on the call to pray. May the Lord continue to bless Nadia and the prayer team in the mission and their personal lives.
“Pray for us” is the number one request that we hear from the persecuted. As the members of the first century Church were moved by the Holy Spirit to pray, we too must continue to serve those suffering persecution by lifting them up to the Lord through prayer.
On occasion, persecuted brothers and sisters have been invited on the conference call to share the trials they are facing. The team serves to encourage them by washing their feet in Spirit led prayer. Time is often reserved for those on the call to ask questions. We believe this helps to gain a better understanding of the situation that persecuted Christians endure in their specific nations. Q&A also helps us to focus our prayers based on their current needs.
Persecution Watch also hosts callers who want to pray united from other nations. If your heart is perplexed by the sufferings of our persecuted brothers and sisters, you no longer need to pray alone.
We welcome all who desire to pray for the persecuted church and consider it a joy to pray together with you. If you are new to the call and cannot find your voice, listen in and pray silently or on mute. We are grateful and thank the Lord for bringing us all together to pray in agreement for our persecuted family in Christ. We can all be prayer warriors on this call!
God bless and protect you in your faithfulness to serve.
Lois Kanalos, Founder, Voice of the Persecuted, Nadia Dybvik, Persecution Watch Prayer Call Leader and the Persecution Watch Prayer Team
NOTE: Please fill out the form in the sign up link below to be included in our distribution list to receive urgent prayer requests, prayer points, notification of special prayer events and special guest speakers.
Note to Voice of the Persecuted (VOP) readers: The Persecution Watch prayer team is also the prayer team of Voice of the Persecuted. SIGN UP today.
Persecution Watch: Praying for Believers in Turkey
(Voice of the Persecuted) You are invited to join us on Tuesday, October 11, 2022, in a prayer conference call for the persecuted church hosted by Persecution Watch.
Turkey is a transcontinental country located mainly in Western Asia, with a small portion in Southeast Europe. It shares borders with eight countries. Kurds are the largest minority.
Population:
- 84 million
- 70% Turks, 19% Kurds
- 82% Muslim, 2% Christian
Much of the New Testament was written either in or to churches in what is now modern-day Turkey, but now Turkish believers’ number only a few thousand.
- With the reforms initiated by the country’s first president Atatürk in 1923, Turkey became a secular republic.
- The AKP government has waged one of the world’s biggest crackdowns on media freedom. During the October 2019 offensive into Syria, Turkish forces have been accused of war crimes.
- The last forty years Turkey has been at war with Independent-minded Kurds, even fighting them in Syria, and recently in Iran.
- Christianity is frowned upon and linked to the Crusades and the Spanish Inquisition. Becoming a Christian may be considered treason. Christians are ostracized and may have trouble getting jobs.
- Many church services have been disrupted. Old church buildings have been destroyed.
- Those who convert to Christianity may be tried for “insulting Turkishness”.
- 2018 -President Trump negotiated a deal with Turkey for the release of American pastor Brunson. Andrew Brunson had been imprisoned in Turkey for two years, facing 35 years in jail if he had been convicted on terrorism and espionage charges.
Prayer Points
- Pray for church leaders– that God would give them wisdom, understanding and strength to act on and carry out their convictions.
- Pray that the Church would UNITE as one mind, one body, “having everything in common”, unafraid, unshaken & collectively praying for boldness to continue spreading light and life in this present darkness.
- That in this time of uncertainty, fear, anxiety, and unrest, that the Church would lean into him, pursue peace, step out in bold confidence, proclaiming fearless VICTORY over the darkness of our situation- because we are grounded in WHO HE IS and what HE’S DONE!
- Jesus would create and mature servants’ hearts that would propel believers into lives of ministry and would actively seek the wellbeing of others.
- Pray that the Church will remember why we’re here. This is our temporary home, but it is our home for a reason!
James 1:2-4: “Consider it pure joy my brothers, when you face trials of various kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete”.
- Pray for those who are being refined into men and women that bear His image and His likeness.
Matthew 5:3: “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven…”
- Pray for those who have suffered from loss; that they would experience his comfort and peace in powerful ways, that trials would strengthen their faith and that they would experience His love, comfort and peace in a new way.
2 Timothy 1:7- “God has not given us a spirit of fear but a spirit of power and love and soundness of mind”
- Pray freedom over fear, victory over darkness, peace over anxiety, joy over turmoil, and confidence in who Jesus is and who He says we are.
- Pray that believers would hold fast, stand firm and remember as we face this “battle” that the war has already been won -there is victory over every darkness.
Heb. 13:8 – “I am the same yesterday today and tomorrow”
- Christianity used to be the dominant belief in Asia Minor, but now only 2% call themselves Christian. Pray Romans 31: “If our God is for us, then who can be against us?”
- Even though the government today remains secular, there is increasing religious and social pressure against the church and local believers.
- Pray for missionaries to continue, as visa issues are becoming more and more difficult.
- The lack of obvious fruit in Turkey can frustrate and discourage Christian workers, and there is much Christian worker turnover.
- Please pray for grace and strength to continue faithfully, day after day.
- Pray for outreach among the millions of refugees currently residing in Turkey, especially from Syria and Iran. Pray that local believers would step out in faith, trusting that God will lead them to the right person to talk about their belief in Jesus.
- The importance of cleanliness in Islam reflects a deep desire to be acceptable to God. Pray for Turks to discover the once-for-all cleansing of Jesus’ blood, and our acceptance through Jesus’ righteousness. John 13.8-10, Hebrews 10.19-22
- Turkey is in the process of joining the EU, who puts pressure on Turkey for human rights – but for the last decade, President Erdoğan has depended on the support of nationalists and Islamists. Pray that Turkey does not fall under Sharia law.
- Turkey’s military has a history of taking over the government. Pray that future changes does not eliminate Christians’ few legal rights.
- Turkey’s historic churches survived, until the 20th century. Pray that the Holy Spirit would restore everything Satan stole!
- There is revival among the Kurds in northern Iraq – pray it would spread to the larger number of Kurds in Turkey.
- Many Turks and Kurds have emigrated to Europe in the last seventy years, especially to Germany. Pray Western believers would reach out to their new neighbors.
- It is illegal for an adult to evangelize children. Pray for 30,000 street kids living in Istanbul.
We are continuing to lift-up these persecuted witnesses to the Lord:
Leah Sharibu prisoner of Boko Haram since 2018. Pray for her release.
Alice Loksha Ngaddah was kidnapped in February 2019. She is a mother of two, working as a nurse for UNICEF. Pray for her release.
Pastor Wang Yi to be released from Chinese prison.
Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani from Iran for his release and his family as their persecution continues. Pastor Nadarkhani is serving the second year of his six-year sentence.
Anita a Christian convert, facing a long prison term who escaped from Iran and praying to go to a country where she can express her faith openly.
The Harvest
“I am sending you, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me” (Acts 26:18)
Michael Laird, Persecution Watch Prayer Call Moderator
Prayer Conference Call Details
Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday
From any location on your phone
USA Time Zone:
9:00 PM Eastern
8:00 PM Central
7:00 PM Mountain
6:00 PM Pacific
Call in number: (667) 770-1476 (Note: We have a new call-in phone number)
Access Code: 281207#
Recommended: For those who may be subject to added charges for conference calls. Please download the app, it’s free!
MOBILE APP: Free Conference Call HD also provides a quick and easy way for you to dial into conference calls without having to remember the dial-in credentials. Save all of your conference call dial-in numbers and access codes using this free app. With the Free Conference Call HD you can instantly dial into a conference call via 3G/4G data network and or regular mobile carrier. Google Play link or App Store – iTunes
If you are experiencing any difficulties joining the call, please let us know.
What is Persecution Watch?
Persecution Watch is a U.S. national prayer conference call ministry that prays specifically for the global Persecuted Church. For over a decade, Blaine Scogin led this national network of believers who faithfully pray for the persecuted and the global harvest for the Kingdom of God. The group meets via a free call-in service every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday night at 9pm Eastern time in the United States (please check your time zone). Blaine also served as Prayer Director for Voice of the Persecuted, and the missions became one. Brother Blaine passed into glory on December 26, 2019. It was truly a blessing for all of us to serve alongside this dear man of God and he will be greatly missed. The prayer mission of Persecution Watch remains an important part of our mission. Voice of the Persecuted is committed to continue the prayer conference call for the persecuted along with the dedicated Persecution Watch prayer warrior team.
Prior to the passing of Brother Blaine, he confirmed the passing of the torch as prayer conference call leader to Nadia Dybvik. Nadia has a burdened heart for the persecuted and is a prayer warrior standing in the gap for them. She joined the Persecution Watch prayer team in 2013 and has been part of the core ever since. Before becoming the prayer call leader, she served in the role of prayer moderator since 2015. Blaine chose Nadia for her faithfulness to pray for the persecuted and her strong commitment to the Persecution Watch mission. We are blessed not only with her gift of prayer, but her genuine love for every brother and sister in Christ that comes on the call to pray. May the Lord continue to bless Nadia and the prayer team in the mission and their personal lives.
“Pray for us” is the number one request that we hear from the persecuted. As the members of the first century Church were moved by the Holy Spirit to pray, we too must continue to serve those suffering persecution by lifting them up to the Lord through prayer.
On occasion, persecuted brothers and sisters have been invited on the conference call to share the trials they are facing. The team serves to encourage them by washing their feet in Spirit led prayer. Time is often reserved for those on the call to ask questions. We believe this helps to gain a better understanding of the situation that persecuted Christians endure in their specific nations. Q&A also helps us to focus our prayers based on their current needs.
Persecution Watch also hosts callers who want to pray united from other nations. If your heart is perplexed by the sufferings of our persecuted brothers and sisters, you no longer need to pray alone.
We welcome all who desire to pray for the persecuted church and consider it a joy to pray together with you. If you are new to the call and cannot find your voice, listen in and pray silently or on mute. We are grateful and thank the Lord for bringing us all together to pray in agreement for our persecuted family in Christ. We can all be prayer warriors on this call!
God bless and protect you in your faithfulness to serve.
Lois Kanalos, Founder, Voice of the Persecuted, Nadia Dybvik, Persecution Watch Prayer Call Leader and the Persecution Watch Prayer Team
NOTE: Please fill out the form in the sign up link below to be included in our distribution list to receive urgent prayer requests, prayer points, notification of special prayer events and special guest speakers.
Note to Voice of the Persecuted (VOP) readers: The Persecution Watch prayer team is also the prayer team of Voice of the Persecuted. SIGN UP today.
Photo: Wahid, A. (2014). Hagia Sophia [Photograph]. (source)
Originally a Greek Orthodox church, in July 2020, the Council of State annulled the 1934 decision to establish the museum, and the Hagia Sophia was reclassified as a mosque.
32 Assyrian Organizations Demand Turkey Investigate Kidnapping of Elderly Couple
Hurmuz Diril and his wife Şimoni – Photo: Assyrian International News Agency
(AINA) 32 Syriac and Chaldean [Assyrian] organizations from France, Belgium, the United States (US), Sweden, Australia and Iraq have addressed an open letter to Turkey’s Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Interior and requested that Hurmüz Diril, who has been missing since January 12, 2020, be found and the death of his wife Şimuni Diril be brought into light (story).
Şimuni Diril and Hurmüz Diril went missing in their village in Şırnak on January 11, 2020. While the dead body of Şimuni Diril was found by their son Kemal Diril on the shore of a brook some 800 meters away from their house 70 days later, Hurmüz Diril is still missing.
Bring perpetrators to justice
The full letter of the organizations is as follows:
Dear Mr. Gül, Dear Mr. Soylu,Some time between January 8 and 11,2020 an Assyrian Christian couple Hürmüz Diril, 71, and his wife Şimuni, 65, were kidnapped from their village of Meer/Kovankaya in the Province of [Şirnak] (southeastern Turkey).
The remains of Şimuni were found by her two sons at the nearby river in the village on March 20, two months after the abduction. At this time, the fate of their missing father is still not known.
One year later, the family is still asking the government authorities to help find their missing father and to bring perpetrators to justice.
Three requests from ministries… Read More
Spike in Boycotts of Turkish Goods and Services; Consumers Cite Warmongering as Cause
Image: by Yerevanci, Wikimedia Commons
The Armenian people — whose nation was the first to adopt Christianity as its state religion in 301 AD—were native to what is present-day Turkey for more than 3,000 years. However, they became an occupied nation following Turkic invasions in the 11th century. Although indigenous, as Christians Armenians were considered second-class citizens by their oppressors, and their human rights steadily declined and culminated in outright massacre by Turkey beginning in the 1800s. Their pleas for equal rights and even autonomy were met with a premeditated, state-sponsored genocidal plan which sought to eliminate the Ottoman Turkish Empire of non-Turks, including not only Armenians but Christian Assyrians and Greeks. The result was a combination of torture and massacre for adult men; torture, rape and abduction into harems, and forced conversions for select women and children; and torture, murder and deportations — also known as death marches — for the remaining Armenians. Although more than 1 ½ million Armenians, ¾ million Assyrians/Chaldeans and 1 million Greeks perished in the ordeals, today’s Turkish regime does not acknowledge the Genocide. And, there has yet to be restitution for these crimes against humanity.
— Lucine Kasbarian
As Turkey continues it’s constant attacks against Armenians, Lucine, known by VOP’s founder, has asks us to share the following report.
Six days into the renewed attacks by the Azerbaijan-Turkey-Israeli axis on Armenia and Artsakh, many countries have come forward to denounce the warmongers.
But none of these condemning nations has yet to put any meaningful actions behind its words.
Consequently, everyday people who have stakes in the conflict — or are simply upholding their values — are imposing their own sanctions upon these rogue states. Enter the consumer boycott.
A term used to describe the withdrawal from commercial or social relations with a country, organization, or public figure as a form of protest or punishment, a boycott can be effective because anyone can participate. One need not hail from the corridors of power to make an impact.
According to the Boycott-Turkey.org and Boycott-Turkey.net campaign (websites hijacked – this is a partial mirror site), “probably one of the most powerful weapons individuals have to effect political change is their consumer purchasing power.”
For years, Turkey has injected itself, often militarily, into the sovereign affairs of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Greece, Cyprus, India, and now, Armenia and Artsakh. On October 2, reports emerged that Turkey is using NATO and American facilities to attack Armenia and Artsakh. Since NATO is unable or unwilling to rein in this rogue nation that many consider to be the single greatest threat to global security, public boycotts are increasingly gaining favor.
Against the backdrop of war, public disapproval for Turkish-made goods has intensified in Armenia again. Armenians recognize that Turkey’s involvement in this war will allow it to complete the Armenian Genocide.
The Republic of Armenia announced on October 1 that its supermarkets will no longer carry Turkish products. Merchants and importers are choosing other trade partners.
Since the renewed attacks on Armenia, communities in the Armenian Diaspora have also seen a resurgence in Turkish products and services boycotts.
Boycotting Turkey has been relatively consistent over the generations as Armenians as a rule refuse to support Turkey’s economy which has already enriched itself through confiscated Armenian national wealth and territory after launching the Armenian Genocide with no reparations or sanctions in sight.
These citizen initiatives include boycotting Turkish construction companies; restaurants, nightclubs; grocery stores and packaged goods; Turkish rugs, carpets, and textiles; Turkish music/ dance performances, and musical recordings; Turkish movies and soap operas; Turkish Airlines and tourism to Turkey, Azerbaijan, and/or N. Cyprus; as well as discouraging enrollment in Turkish language and studies programs at international academic institutions, many which are deeply enmeshed with the Turkish government and its military industrial complex.
Armenian-American activist Shunt Jarchafjian is on a mission to educate his fellow Armenians about the products they might see at their local markets. He pointed out that Tukas tomato paste was owned by the Turkish Armed Forces Pension Fund. He says that if someone bought that product from 1967 to 2014, the purchaser contributed to the tax revenue of the Republic of Turkey, and helped fund the retirement of the soldiers serving in the Turkish Armed Forces. He also adds that the Ulker processed foods company sits atop an Armenian cemetery confiscated by the Turkish government during the Armenian Genocide. He makes a point of explaining how the Turkish military and government have tormented the Armenians year after year, and how consumer consciousness counts.
Some activists are also demanding the suspension of support of all cultural exchange programs organized to foster so-called “reconciliation” initiatives between Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
According to Bloomberg News, the Turkish lira “plunged to successive record lows in September,” that is, since the Armenia/Artsakh invasions, with 7.83 lira to the dollar. As many aggrieved groups are simultaneously boycotting Turkey, the country may be feeling the squeeze economically.
In July 2020, communities of Greece and Greek Cyprus doubled down on their decades-long boycotts of Turkish products and tourism in response to the unresolved Turkish Genocide of Hellenes, Armenians and Assyrians and the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus. Their new initiatives are in response to Turkey’s highly-contested conversion of the UNESCO-protected Christian Orthodox Cathedral of Hagia Sophia into a mosque and Turkish illegal drilling incursions into the Eastern Mediterranean.
Turkey under Erdogan may attempt to justify his many foreign interventions in a bid to realize his dream of restoring the Ottoman Caliphate. However, Turkey’s relationship with the Muslim world is also not as ironclad as Erdogan may wish to have it appear. Mahmoud Zahran, a researcher specializing in Turkish affairs, said “the success of boycott campaigns would reveal how unpopular Erdogan’s regime is in a region where he has tried to paint himself as a leader.”
At the end of September, Saudi Arabia announced a ban on all Turkish goods. The Saudi Kingdom has been at loggerheads with Turkey over the contested murder of exiled Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the status of the Qatar peninsula. According to the Turkish newspaper Dunya, the Saudi government has ordered individual businesses not to trade with Turkish companies or buy any products made in Turkey, and has imposed fines on companies that do not comply.
A Turkish boycott campaign in also in effect in Egypt. In January of this year, MP Ismail Nasr El-Din called on the government to impose a boycott of Turkish products, services and tourism “in response to the blatant transgressions by the Turkish government in the region, and its attempts to plunder the wealth of the Middle East, spread chaos, and destabilize the Middle East.” MP Omar Sumaida, head of the Congress Party, said “we launched a campaign to boycott Turkish products, and our party has developed plans to educate citizens to boycott Turkish products in all offices affiliated with the party across the country.” As early as 2013, a number of Egyptian TV channels stopped airing Turkish soap operas and dramas, to protest Turkish intervention in the Middle East.
These popular boycotts intensify the existing Arab League boycott. Many Arab countries cannot afford the high cost of retaliating militarily to Turkey’s incursion into northern Syria, and so are opting for economic sanctions as defense. “An Arab boycott of Turkish products would significantly hurt Ankara’s economy. Turkish exports to the Arab world total more than $30 billion annually, representing 18.3% of its overall exports, according to the trade data website, Trade Map.
Iraqi Kurds such as Jwnaid Murad, owner of Las Market in Erbil, have a boycott of Turkish products in effect. “Of course, boycotting goods will affect my business. But after watching Turkey commit the war crimes they have in Rojava, I don’t care,” he said. “If I had to choose between starving to death and eating food produced by Turkey, I would starve.” Iraqi Kurdish boycott organizer Hamid Banyee of Sulimaniyeh says “We’re expanding the campaign to include all parts of society, which will be a fatal blow to the Turkish economy,”
The Turkish lira has been in sharp decline since 2017, including increasing inflation, Turkish economists say. Sergey Dergachev, senior portfolio manager at Union Investment, believes that the geopolitical choices made by Turkey have contributed to the financial freefall.
As the number of global Armenian boycotts increase following the violent flare-up between Azerbaijan and Artsakh in July, Turkish/ Azeri thugs started to attack peaceful Armenians around the world, as well as destroy and deface Armenian churches, schools, monuments and memorials. The very day Azeri attacks on Artsakh began on Sep 27, the Karageozian family of Armenian-owned Noor Mediterranean Grill in Somerville, Massachusetts began receiving death threats, violent social media posts, negative online reviews, and slurs.
Few know that since 1992, independent Armenia has endured an illegal economic blockade by Turkey and Azerbaijan for standing by the Armenians of Artsakh. In fact, Turkey has been running one of the longest and biggest boycott operations of all time which includes occupying and confiscating the ancestral Armenian homeland for a thousand years. Thus, Armenian-made products rarely leave Armenia for export. At the same time, Turkey has been exporting its own cheaper goods to Armenia through the Republic of Georgia, an act which presented the needy of Armenia with reason to abandon their own more expensive products for Turkish ones.
Turkey has no diplomatic relations with Armenia and refuses to establish them until Armenia gives up Artsakh, accepts the boundaries agreed upon in the disastrous 1921 treaty of Kars between Kemalist Turkey and Soviet Russia (there is no official agreement over these borders between independent Armenia and the Republic of Turkey), and promises to stop pursuing international recognition for the Armenian-Greek-Assyrian Genocide of 1915.
Says Armenian-American activist Joe Sifatsouz, “Most Turkish restaurants outside Turkey are subsidized by the Turkish government, which might explain why there are so many of them. When a friend has a yen for kebabs, tell him or her to enjoy the variations made by neighborhood Armenian, Assyrian, Cypriot, Egyptian, Greek, Kurdish, Lebanese, Syrian, Palestinian, Indian, or Iraqi restaurants instead.”
But individual resolve is seen as only one aspect of the issue. U.S. President Trump once said he was ready to halt a $100 billion dollar trade deal with Turkey over its hubris in Syria. “If the superpowers are sincere about curbing the Turkish menace, they should stop hiring Turkish construction firms, break bilateral tax treaties and remove Turkey companies from U.S. Stock Exchange listings,” added Sifatsouz. “Right now, Turkish businesses abroad must pay their host countries as well as Turkey’s Internal Revenue Administration. Removing obligatory taxes to the Turkish state — and other large-scale economic sanctions — will bring Turkey to heel.”
By Lucine Kasbarian
Turkey Deporting Foreign Christians or Banning Their Return, Sources Say
Sultan Ahmed Mosque, also known as the Blue Mosque, in Istanbul, Turkey. (Wikipedia)
(Morning Star News) – Dozens of foreign Christians in Turkey have been forced to leave the country or been banned from returning in what appears to be government targeting of the Protestant Christian community, rights advocates say.
Many, like Carlos Madrigal of Spain, have been serving in leadership roles in Protestant churches in the country for years. Such foreigners have lived in the country for decades, forming families and buying property, according to a researcher at Middle East Concern (MEC).
Madrigal has lived in the country for more than 19 years on a clergy visa as the spiritual leader of the Istanbul Protestant Church Foundation (IPCF), according to a press statement from the group. At the airport in November 2019, he was issued a stamp in his passport that he realized would keep him from returning to Turkey if he left the country, so he decided to cancel his trip and appeal the decision, according to published reports.
Madrigal appeared on Turkish television in June to point out that he could see no clear reason why he was banned from the country, the MEC researcher said.
Noting that the ban against Madrigal was issued in November 2019, the IPCF stated, “It is with great sadness that we must inform you that since 2019, it has been made increasingly difficult for foreign Protestant clergy serving in Turkey to be resident in our country.”
Denied
Turkey’s Ministry of Interior notified another foreign Christian, Joy Anna Subasigüller, a U.S.-born mother of three married to a Turkish pastor, on June 5 that her family visa was denied, according to German media outlet Deutsch Welle (DW).
Subasigüller, who has lived in Turkey 10 years, is a stay-at-home mom of three children ages 2, 4, and 4 months. Her children, like their father pastor Lütfü Subasigüller, are Turkish citizens, and she suspects the decision to deport her is related to his Christian work, according to DW.
Pastor Subasigüller was stunned that Turkish authorities would require them to abandon their home and relatives in Turkey, he told DW. The couple plans to contest the decision in court.
Another case involves a U.S. pastor in Istanbul who was about to fly out of the country from Istanbul with his family on June 24. He learned he would not be allowed to return to Turkey, canceled his flight and filed an appeal, according to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).
Another foreign resident of Turkey, Hans-Jurgen Louven of Germany, had invested more than 20 years in culture and faith tourism in the country with encouragement and assurances from local officials. In August 2019 an application to renew his residency visa was denied, and he was ordered to leave the country in 10 days, according to Christian support group Open Doors’ World Watch Monitor.
De Facto Ban
It is estimated that about 35 Christian workers received similar bans in 2019 and 16 more since the end of June, according to a Middle East and North Africa researcher for CSW.
The bans could go undetected by the unsuspecting. As Christian foreigners leave the country at airports, officials stamp an “N-28 Code” in their passports, according to the IPCF. Officially the code indicates that they need to obtain special approval to re-enter the country via their country’s embassy, but those who have tried to obtain it have been refused, making the code essentially a de facto ban, said the MEC researcher.
The N-28 Code can also be used to deny visa renewals, according to the IPCF.
Those fighting the ban find that administrative courts are not giving lawyers access to reports from Turkish intelligence, according to the MEC researcher. Advocates hope that they will be more successful by appealing to the constitutional court and, if not, then at the European Court of Human Rights, he said.
Effect on Churches
The targeting of foreign Christians puts pressure on Turkey’s small and vulnerable Protestant community, which relies on foreigners for formal religious training and sometimes for funding, advocates say.
“This will deprive them of support and make them feel isolated and abandoned,” said the CSW researcher.
There are about 10,000 Turkish Protestants who attend about 170 churches, many of them house churches, in the overwhelmingly Muslim country of more than 84.3 million people, said the MEC researcher.
While officially Turkey allows freedom of religion, including conversion from Islam, advocates say that pressure began building against foreign Christians in the country when U.S. pastor Andrew Brunson was imprisoned on spurious terrorism charges from 2016 to 2018.
Some Christians believe that a blacklist may have begun while authorities were trying to gather evidence against Pastor Brunson, the MEC researcher said. Some have noticed that many of those banned had attended one of three Christian conferences, he added.
“It’s notable that none of these people have been charged with any breaking of the law,” he said.
Foreign and local Christians love Turkey, he added, saying that some will have to count the costs of staying in light of recent developments.
“You actually find that Turkish Christians, they love their country,” he said. “These people who are receiving the bans – I know many of them personally love Turkey and have given such a lot to Turkey.”
Turkey ranked 36th on Open Doors’ 2020 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian.
Erdogan Wants to Crush Recognition Efforts of Armenian Genocide
ANCA, EAFJD and Armenia’s Foreign Minister Condemn ‘State Policy of Intimidation’
(Asbarez News) President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey convened a five-hour closed-door session of his High Advisory Board to discuss efforts to crackdown on activists and advocacy organizations engaged in securing the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide.
According to Anadolu news agency, Erdogan convened the meeting to formulate Turkey’s response to “groundless and anti-Turkey allegations regarding the events of 1915,” with his Communications Director Fahrettin Altun reiterating that Turkey would not allow the “seeds of hostility” to be sown through “distorted historical events.” Read More
A still frame from the 1919 documentary film Auction of Souls, which portrayed eye witnessed events from the Armenian Genocide, including stripped naked and crucified Christian girls.
Minorities in Turkey on edge amid threats, attacks
(Al-Monitor) Vulnerable groups have faced intimidation or worse in recent weeks in what both the government and the opposition warn are efforts to stoke conflict, though they disagree on who’s to blame.
ISTANBUL — Ethnic and religious minorities in Turkey are on edge after a series of threats and attacks, with both government officials and their critics warning society’s most vulnerable are being targeted to foment strife.
Kurds, Christians and others have all faced intimidation or outright violence in recent weeks in what appear to be mostly unrelated incidents. Yet they coincide with growing economic uncertainty and political tensions wrought in part by the coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 4,500 people in Turkey and hammered the economy. READ MORE
Reported by Ayla Jean Yackley
VOICE OF THE PERSECUTED 
