The new Turkey |
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03-Apr-2019 |
by Uzay Bulut |
It has been six years since two archbishops and other members of the Christian clergy went missing in Syria; their whereabouts still are unknown. Yohanna Ibrahim, head of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Aleppo, and Boulos Yazigi, head of the Greek Orthodox Church, also in Aleppo, were abducted from their car in 2013. Their driver was later found killed. Erkan Metin, an Istanbul-based Assyrian human-rights lawyer who has been following these cases and written about them extensively, told Gatestone:
Metin said that the terrorist who is believed to have killed the two clergymen -- Magomed Abdurakhmanov (Abu Banat), is currently in jail in Turkey.
Metin added that Abu Banat was first detained in 2013 for entering Turkey illegally, but was then released. However, Metin continued:
Meanwhile, Metin said, international condemnation of the beheading videos spurred the Kavkaz Center, with which Abu Banat was affiliated, to distance itself from Abu Banat and clean up its image. This is why, Metin explained, the Kavkaz Center "published an article accusing Abu Banat of having been a Russian spy before his arrest in Turkey; of having kidnapped Ibrahim and Yazigi, and of then having 'executed' them by detonating bombs strapped to their bodies." Metin explained to Gatestone that the Turkish Justice Ministry has not allowed prosecutors to try Abu Banat and others for crimes committed against the archbishops. Abu Banat was tried only for "membership in al-Qaeda and for possessing weapons and explosives." According to Metin:
Had such an investigation been launched, Metin said, "it would have exposed the Syria policy of then-Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, which can be summed up as a 'strategic swamp,' which defines everyone from outside of Syria who commits savage acts inside Syria as 'opponents of the Assad regime.'" Furthermore, according to Metin:
According to Metin:
Metin noted that the Assyrian and other Christian peoples indigenous to the region are still awaiting justice for the kidnapped priests and other Christian victims of persecution in Syria. "The abductions have shaken our people at their core," Metin said. "We want the truth to be revealed, and Abu Banat, the person possibly best able to reveal it, is in a Turkish jail. The government of Turkey should finally do what is required, and get to the bottom of these crimes."
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* Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13800/turkey-missing-priests |