Christmas and being Christian is no holiday for Turkey’s newest church

Protestants encounter discrimination daily, reports Laura Pitel in Istanbul

Pastor Eyup Badem of the Holy Light Church in Sanliurfa has been beaten repeatedly (Huseyin Ozkan)

It is Turkey’s newest church. Dark, run-down and grimy, it is housed in a former bakery in the town of Sanliurfa that no one wanted to use.

Just as the Virgin Mary gave birth in a stable after being turned away elsewhere, the tiny Protestant community in the southern Turkish province will seek to make the best of their humble space.

The tiles on the walls of what is now the Holy Light Church are falling off and little of the white paint on the ceiling remains. But a silvery grey banner with a plain white cross lends an air of solemnity. At the front stands a matching grey lectern, plastic chairs have been laid out in neat rows in the absence of pews.

“We didn’t have money to buy or build a church,” the pastor, said Eyup Badem. “We are poor as a community. We didn’t get any help.”

Instead, they held a collection and found the old bakery for 2,500 Turkish lira (£575) a year. The location seems fitting given the role of bread in the Bible and Christian practice, from the feeding of the 5,000 with two fishes and five loaves to Christ’s declaration: “I am the bread of life”.

Pastor Eyup described the site as in a “very bad condition”, adding: “It will look like a poor church.” But he and his congregation are grateful to have a place to meet. Their community, made up of about 500 people who converted from Islam or are considering doing so, lives under a cloud of discrimination and the threat of physical violence.

The preacher, who converted to Christianity in 1991, lost his job because of his faith. He has been repeatedly threatened and beaten up, most recently by a gang of men he did not know. Even his eight-year-old daughter had suffered. Last year she returned home “covered in blood” after being attacked by other children at school.

Christians are a tiny minority in modern Turkey, with an estimated population of 100,000 in a country of 80 million. Of that about 5,000 are Protestant, the vast majority of them converts from Islam.

As part of its bid for EU membership, the Turkish government has taken small steps to improve minority rights but Christians still face a climate of deep suspicion. The national discourse encourages Turkish nationalism based on being both Sunni Muslim and ethnically Turkish. Those who fall outside that narrow definition, including Christians, face mistrust and accusations of forming a fifth column.

Pastor Eyup said that his experience showed that understanding and education could help to foster greater acceptance. “Of course I wish people would be more tolerant towards my religion in Turkey,” he said. “But when friends and people around me get to know Christ they become more moderate.”

“Christ was beaten, he was tortured, but he never complained about it,” he said. “He prayed for those who did these things.”

Christmas is not a holiday in Turkey, so most of the Holy Light Church will be working. Instead, they will come together on Sunday. Pastor Eyup said: “We will sing and read the Bible and we will celebrate the birth of Christ.”