Armenian MP from opposition pro-Kurdish “People’s Democratic Party” (HDP), Garo Paylan has applied to the Minister of the Interior of Turkey, Suleyman Soylu on the issue of the attack on Santa Maria Catholic church in Trabzon on March 6. Within the request addressed to the Minister, Paylan, highlighting that this is not the only case when the aforementioned church is being attacked, the church has been attacked for several times, has mentioned: “On January 2011, the enlightened cross of the church’s dome became a target of threats. Bottles were thrown in the direction of the church, within one of them wrote: “Remove the cross from the church, otherwise, we will do it”. Afterwards, on July 15, 2016, after the revolution attempt, a group of people armed with stones and hammers attacked the church, breaking the windows, damaging the door.”
The Armenian MP, drawing the attention to the fact that years onward this church has been a target for attacks, has asked the Minister what steps are going to be undertaken to ensure the security of the church and whether an investigation has been started on the cases or not. Paylan has also asked what steps are undertaken to prevent the crimes against Christians on the ground of hatred in Turkey overall, the number of which is growing day by day: whether the criminals attacking the Christian churches will be punished.
Let us note that on March 6, 2018, Santa Maria Catholic church was attacked, located at Kemerkaya district, Trabzon. A middle-aged man opened a fire on the church and escaped.
Source: Bianet.org