ISTANBUL, Turkey, Mar. 27, 2002 — "How dare you sell books related to the Christians! Don't you know the Christians are bombing our brothers and sisters in Afghanistan?" This was the reaction of a group of Muslim women when they came across the stall of the Bible Society in Turkey at the Antalya Arts and Crafts fair last September, less than three weeks after the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.
"They were full of anger," said Ameniel Bagdas, Executive Secretary of the Society. "We tried to calm them. We smiled and said, 'We love you. We are not interested in politics. We are not American — we are Turkish like you." When offered a copy of the New Testament, however, the women shouted, "We don't want your New Testament!"
Some visitors expressed surprise at Christian books being on sale so openly. "This is an Islamic country!" they exclaimed. "Ninety-nine per cent of the population is Islamic but our country is a secular state," the Society staff pointed out. "The books you see here are God's Word. Anyone has the right to read the Bible."
A young university student was keen to see what the New Testament had to say about the crusades. Staff opened the Bible with him and shared verses about peace and forgiveness.
"There is nothing about the crusades in the Bible," they told him. "The Bible commands us to love our enemies. One of the Ten Commandments tells us to love our neighbor as ourselves." Astonished to hear this, the young man bought a New Testament, thanked the staff and left.
Turkish Book Fairs are Important Venues for Bible Sales
Book fairs are the main retail opportunities for the Bible Society in Turkey and with three different fairs running, October and November were busy months for the Society. They brought the usual crop of questions — and quite a lot of verbal attacks — which the Society representatives did their best to deal with in a polite and gracious way.
Reflecting on the conversations at the fair, Mr Bagdas said, "We praise God for such opportunities. Many can learn about the Word of God and learn about the real Christian faith."
The Besiktas Book Fair was held in the second week of October. The mayor of Istanbul, who performed the opening, came to the stand and offered the Society his best wishes for the success of the new Turkish Bible, launched that evening.
Not all the visitors were as well-disposed, however. An Islamic author, Emine Senlikoglu, who, according to Mr Bagdas, has written books attacking Christians, also came over to the stand.
They welcomed her, offering her a booklet they had prepared called In the Beginning was the Word, which describes how the Bible has come down through the ages and the development of Turkish Bible translation. "Mrs. Senlikoglu declined the offer and left angrily," said Mr Bagdas. "Then, a few minutes later, she came back and gave us a book called Praise the Lord, I'm a Muslim.
"Read this book carefully,' she said, 'then you will learn how wrong your religion is!"
At the third book fair, held at Feshane from October 12-21, Numan Noyan, a well-known producer of programs for Islamic television, also launched a public attack on the Bible Society.
"There is a Christian stand here among us," he told his audience. "They want to deceive us: they show the Jesus film, they freely distribute the New Testament! By doing this they think they will deceive us! No way! There is a priest here: he speaks nicely but don't be confused, my friends!"
One of the staff from the Bible Society stand was in the audience and recognized himself from the speaker's description. "I'm that person, Mr Noyan," he shouted. "We love you." This was met with a silence and then Mr Noyan continued — in a slightly different tone.
When the meeting ended, however, the audience flocked to the stand and in half an hour, to the Society's delight, they sold no fewer than 150 New Testaments.
Source: United Bible Societies, Bible Network News
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