Speaking at the Council for Europe on October 9, the president of Turkey, Abdullah Gul, called for changes to a law on "insulting Turkishness" that has damaged Turkey's bid to join the European Union. Known as “Article 301,” the law has been used to persecute writers, journalists, scholars, and religious minorities. For example, as reported by Compass Direct, two Turkish converts to Christianity, Hakan Tastan and Turan Topal, are currently on trial for “insulting Turkishness.” Others accused under the law have included Turkish Armenian editor Hrant Dink (who in January was murdered by an ultra-nationalist because of his views on the deaths of Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Turks in 1915), and the Nobel Prize-winning author Orhan Pamuk. Please pray that president Gul’s acknowledgement of the need for change in the law helps move Turkey towards full embrace of religious freedom and human rights.
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The 2008 Global Leadership Forum, September 26-27, will feature conversations among leading evangelical thinkers and representatives from other faith traditions on the diverse challenges facing evangelicalism in this new century. Read more »
