English translation of Ölmeyen Nefret, from the author’s Miras archive. Written in the context of 2018, eleven years after the Malatya murders. The quoted legal document and the claims reported here are reproduced as part of the historical article, rather than as a statement of current law. Scripture passages are rendered from the Turkish source.
One of the most debated and misunderstood subjects concerning Christianity is missionary work. Although it does not belong exclusively to Christianity, discussion of mission in our country generally centers on Christians. There are understandable reasons for this. But accusations made at a disturbing level often move the discussion outside ethical boundaries. Let us first consider what “mission” and “missionary work” mean for Christians, and how these concepts relate to the Bible.
For a Christian who believes that everyone needs the saving message of God’s gospel, mission is a way of life. Shortly before his ascension, Christ Jesus defined the Christian’s responsibility concerning that gospel. Matthew 28:19 tells his followers to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This is the fundamental starting point that charges Christians with sharing the gospel.
Perhaps the most striking word in this commission is “go.” Jesus commanded his disciples—and, in our century, those who become his disciples through faith—to go to people who need the gospel’s salvation and announce that salvation. He also instructed them to teach people to obey everything he had commanded (verse 20). He wanted his disciples to guide those they reached in living out their faith.
On the basis of this passage, we might define Christian mission as announcing the good news of salvation brought by Jesus Christ and helping those who believe that news allow his commands to flourish in their lives. An important point is that missionaries are more than announcers. They cooperate with and serve alongside Christians living in the countries where they work.
Of course, this is an understanding from within Christianity. In our country, missionary work is often regarded as a problem—even a national security problem. We can question the objective grounds of those who treat the spread of Christianity as a political matter. Sadly, Christians in Türkiye carrying out what they understand as a God-given responsibility encounter insults, contempt, and public exposure, alongside baseless attacks in the press that never go beyond allegation.
What are those allegations? “Missionaries are working against Türkiye!” But which missionaries, using which institutions or foreign powers, or acting on whose behalf? Some accusers believe they possess more definite information. They name individuals, institutions, and activity reports to explain how missionaries supposedly target Türkiye. This article cannot answer every allegation. But turning genuine Christian mission into a political movement or an accusation of treason is, in fact, a direct insult to Christianity.
To speak plainly, there will be people who seek to accomplish harmful purposes through Christians. But that possibility cannot justify branding Christianity or all Christians as subversive. The consequences are far from harmless: such allegations have led to attacks upon Christian churches and individuals, and to pressure against them.
The effect of this dangerous approach is clear. National concern in discussions of mission should therefore begin with protecting Christians in Türkiye. After a period in which reckless attacks grew more frequent, we witnessed the Malatya massacre of 18 April. Three brothers whom I knew personally were brutally murdered by five young men aged nineteen or twenty, whose relationship to wider forces was unclear. Eleven years later, the pain remained fresh and threatening.
Even then, we saw no remorse among political groups using Christians as material for anti-Western sentiment or domestic political sensitivities. Even in the face of an act that betrayed the spirit of twenty-first-century Türkiye, some were still eager to establish how much blame missionaries might bear.
We have not forgotten the attitudes that almost tried to make local Christians responsible for the Malatya massacre. Apart from a few sensitive democratic writers, the press kept searching for an unseen hand behind the event. When concern should have been a normal democratic response, finding even one example made us rejoice.
The most disturbing attitude came from people who condemned the brutality in Malatya while continuing to insist on their mistaken views of mission. They did not come close to understanding the seriousness of the event. These were more than murders to be treated solely as a criminal matter. Looking only at the brutality of the killings makes it impossible to reach the right conclusion. The event was both a savage crime and a social problem containing further dangers for the future.
Seeking to prevent those dangers requires no justification beyond concern as a citizen. When we fail to stand beside our neighbors, a deep emptiness opens beside us. Along with those we call “others,” it is our country’s strength, resilience, and future that are exhausted. One of the most substantial contributions to a solution is the report quoted below.
A document on Christians’ rights
Some legal information about Christians’ rights in Türkiye is important here. The original article draws on an official statement published by the Union of Protestant Churches in Türkiye, titled “What Are the Rights of Believers in Christ?” It describes the aims of believers in Christ as follows:
A. They have no political purpose and are not concerned with politics.
B. Their fundamental purpose is faith in Jesus and the Bible.
The document presents their rights in these terms:
1. Türkiye is a secular state. The Republic of Türkiye has no official religion. Every religion is free. Article 10 of the Constitution states that everyone is equal before the law, without distinction based on, among other things, philosophical belief, religion, or denomination.
2. Freedom of religion belongs to everyone. Citing Article 2 of the Constitution and a decision of the Ninth Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation, numbered 1985/2523 and 1985/3431, the statement says that Turkish and foreign believers in Christ may choose their faith, form a congregation, worship together, spread their faith, learn it, and teach it. The document states that none of these activities is prohibited or unlawful.
The same document includes the following discussion, attributed to a legal report by Associate Professor Nevzat Toroslu, under the heading “Believers in Christ Do Not Aim to Obtain Political Benefit or Influence”:
“Nor is it possible to say that believers in Christ act with the aim of obtaining political benefit or influence. To say that they act for political benefit, propaganda or instruction using religion, religious feeling, or things regarded as sacred would have to relate to the daily struggle for political power: obtaining a political office or retaining one already obtained. To speak of political influence, such propaganda or instruction would likewise have to aim at affecting others’ political thinking—for example, persuading them to vote for particular people or a political party.
“First of all, however, the religious belief that believers in Christ are alleged to promote has no political character. It contains no political rules for the world in which we live; it speaks only of God’s spiritual dominion. Nor is it possible for believers in Christ to use the religious belief they are alleged to promote as an instrument in the daily struggle for political power, thereby obtaining political benefit or influence.
“Beyond belonging to a religious community, believers in Christ are not members of a political party or organization in the circumstances described. They make no political demand for themselves or others. In the publications they are alleged to give people for purposes of propaganda or instruction, no political person, party, or organization is praised, and no participation is sought in such a person’s or organization’s struggle for political power.”
It appears that certain circles are troubled, for different reasons, by the presence of Christian missionaries seeking to exercise their legal and human rights properly. This attitude seems to fuel political and ethnic divisions. Christians themselves are deeply troubled by that division—by being killed, injured, and subjected to continuing pressure.