On January 5, 209, a judge in Turkey sentenced a 19-year-old Muslim man to four and a half years in prison for a knife attack on a Catholic priest in the coastal city of Izmir in December 2007.
Ramazan Bay, then 17, had met with Father Adriano Franchini, a 65-year-old Italian priest living in Turkey, after expressing interest in Christianity following a mass at St. Anthony's Church. During their conversation, Bay became irritated, pulled a knife and stabbed the priest in the stomach. Father Franchini was hospitalized but released the next day.
Ramazan Bay, originally from Balikesir 540 km north of Izmir, is alleged to have said he was influenced by an episode of the TV series "Kurtlar Vadisi" ("Valley of Wolves"). The series caricatures Christian missionaries as political "spies" who pay poor families to convert to Christianity.
Along with 20 other Protestant church leaders, Father Arkan filed a formal complaint with the Istanbul Prosecutor's Office on December 3, 2007 against "Valley of the Wolves" that it "presents them as a terrorist group and radio/TV broadcasts make them an easy target." The series portrayed Christians as sellers of body parts, as people involved in mafia activities and prostitution, and as working as enemies of society to spread the Christian faith.
"The result has been countless direct threats, attacks on churches and ultimately the slaughter of three innocent Christians in Malatya," the complaint stated.
"While there is a general attitude of antipathy, I believe the state is nurturing it and propagandizing it," said a spokesperson from the Alliance of Protestant Churches in Turkey."
"If the state took a more accepting and tolerant attitude, I think the general attitude would also change." (Compass/Danish European Mission)
