Baháʼí Faith in Turkey

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The

Local Spiritual Assemblies in Turkey.[4]

Early phase

Main article: Baháʼí Faith in the Ottoman Empire

Many of the important geographic areas of the early period of the Baháʼí Faith were historically controlled by the

Mullá 'Alíy-i-Bastámí, who was a Bábi—the immediate predecessor religion associated with the Baháʼí Faith—was arrested in Ottoman-controlled Baghdad for teaching the religion and sent as a prisoner to Istanbul in 1846.[4]

The house where Baháʼu'lláh stayed in Edirne

In 1863, when

Baháʼu'lláh's writings were written while he was in current-day Turkey.[7] While much of the writings were written in Arabic or Persian, the central figures of the Baháʼí Faith have written in Turkish, though most of the early Baháʼí literature in Turkish was printed by the large Baháʼí communities in Baku Azerbaijan and Ashkhabad.[4]

Growth

Developments along Western Turkey

Baháʼís have lived in the territory of modern Turkey since Baháʼu'lláh's time.

Local Spiritual Assembly of Constantinople travelled to offer the necessary explanations to the authorities concerned but he and the rest of the assembly were all arrested, and Baháʼí literature in their homes was seized. However their books were returned and there was widespread publicity in leading newspapers of Turkey leading to the government lifting the ban on the Baháʼís.[4][19]

Developments spread east

Sometime before 1930, Sami Doktoroglu came in contact with the religion, and became a Baháʼí.[20] He would later become an important member of the religion in Turkey, and as part of the community of Birecik. Despite the earlier situation where the ban on the religion was removed, further waves of arrests of Baháʼís spread through Urfa, Adana and Gaziantep. In the winter of 1951, the visit to Istanbul of Amelia Collins, a Baháʼí teacher, was facilitated by Doktoroglu. He made hotel reservations and greeted her at the airport with a large group of Baháʼís. Several meetings were arranged at which she could meet groups of Baháʼís and a large banquet was given in her honour. Doktoroglu then went on Baháʼí pilgrimage and on his return a letter dated 14 December 1951 written on behalf of the head of the religion reached the believers in Istanbul encouraging the friends to establish a Local Spiritual Assembly and to pursue other tasks concerning which he had given instructions to Doktoroglu. In April 1952 the Local Spiritual Assembly of (now renamed) Istanbul was formed with Doktoroglu as one of its members. Years later Doktoroglu was successful in obtaining permission to search the government archives. Among his findings was an indication that Mulla ʻAláy-i-Bastámí had in his travels reached the city of Bolu, east of Istanbul.[20]

Further developments and problems

By the late 1950s Baháʼí communities existed across many of the cities and towns Baháʼu'lláh passed through on his passage in Turkey.

pioneered from Iran to Turkey around 1959 and both he and his wife were registered as graduate students in a medical college. Even though Farhangí was elected secretary of the body, he was ejected from Turkey at the end of that year.[4][20]

Repeating the pattern of arrests in the 1920s and 30s, in 1959 during

Turkish Supreme Court.[21]

Starting in 1960 until 1990, however, Baháʼís could register with the government when the Interior Ministry issued instructions introducing a new standardized code system that did not include the religion,[22] a situation similar to the current Egyptian identification card controversy.

Re-establishment of the National Assembly and further issues

By 1963, there were 12 Baháʼí local assemblies in the country, and the number grew to 22 assemblies by the end of 1973.[4] The National Assembly was able to be reestablished in 1974,[23] and by 1986 there were 50 local assemblies.[4] But turmoil continued when on August 6, 1996, 21 Iranians (8 men, 4 women and 9 children, the youngest of whom is 4 years old), approached the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Ankara to request asylum from Iran. UNHCR officials registered their names and informed them of new regulations which require asylum seekers to apply within five days to the police in the city where they entered the country. The asylum seekers were issued documents by the UNHCR indicating their intention for requesting asylum from the local Turkish police. They boarded a chartered bus and arrived in Agri, the city of their entrance, the next morning. However the group disappeared — with various reports suggesting they were returned to Iranian authorities.[24]

Modern community

Gardens of the House of Baha'u'llah in Edirne

Since its inception the religion has had involvement in

Cumhuriyet University faced expulsion.[31] in 2008, a Baháʼí was appointed dean of the Science and Letters Faculty of the Middle East Technical University.[32] The Turkish government supported the declaration of the Presidency of the European Union when he "denounced" the trial of Iranian Baháʼís announced in February 2009.[33]

Demographics

Because the religion is proscribed there can be no official counts of membership. Estimates by others range from 10,000[2] to 20,000.[3] The Association of Religion Data Archives (relying on World Christian Encyclopedia) estimated some 21,000 Baháʼís in Turkey - and some 880 in Cyprus.[34] The US State Department estimated the Turkish Cypriot Baháʼí community of approximately 200 in 2008.[35] There are about a hundred local spiritual assemblies in modern Turkey.[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b U.S. State Department (2008-09-19). "International Religious Freedom Report 2008 - Turkey". The Office of Electronic Information, Bureau of Public Affair. Retrieved 2008-12-15.
  2. ^ a b "For the first time, Turkish Bahaʼi appointed as dean". The Muslim Network for Bahaʼi Rights. 2008-12-13. Archived from the original on 27 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-15.
  3. ^ a b "Turkey /Religions & Peoples". LookLex Encyclopedia. LookLex Ltd. 2008. Archived from the original on 11 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-15.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Walbridge, John (March 2002). "Chapter Four - The Bahaʼi Faith in Turkey". Occasional Papers in Shaykhi, Babi and Baha'i Studies. 06 (1).
  5. ISBN 0-85229-486-7
    .
  6. ^ Anthony A. Reitmayer, Anthony A. (compiler) (1992). Adrianople - Land of Mystery. Istanbul, Turkey: Bahai Publishing Trust. ASIN: B0006F2TSA.
  7. ISBN 978-0-521-86251-6
    .
  8. ^ The Baháʼí World, Vol 18, Part 5, "In Memoriam: Stanwood Cobb, 1881-1982"
  9. ^ Oates, John F. 1975?. Biographical Dictionary of American Educators, Vol. 1, pp. 275
  10. ^ McLean, J.A.,Pilgrim's Notes (blog), "Corrections to Blog on Stanwood Cobb...," Sunday, August 12, 2007
  11. ^ (Summarized in The Bookman: A Review of Books and Life [1] p. 429)
  12. ^ Tudor Pole, Wellesley (1911). "A Wonderful movement in the East, A visit to Abdul-Baha at Alexandria". Star of the West. Vol. 01, no. 18.
  13. ^ Graham Hassall (2006-10-01). "Egypt: Baha'i history". Retrieved 2006-10-01.
  14. ^ "A.S.Fridberg , 6 Nov. 1838 - 21 March 1902". Archived from the original on 15 December 2008. Retrieved 2009-03-22.
  15. ^ Momen, Moojan. "Russia". Draft for "A Short Encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith". Baháʼí Library Online. Retrieved 2008-04-14.
  16. doi:10.31581/JBS-5.3.3(1993)
    . Retrieved 2009-03-20.
  17. ^ ʻAbdu'l-Bahá; Mírzá Ahmad Sohrab (1929). Abdul Baha in Egypt. J. H. Sears & Co. Inc. for New History Foundation.
  18. ^ a b Necati Alkan (November 2000). "Süleyman Nazif's Nasiruddin Shah ve Babiler: an Ottoman Source on Babi-Bahaʼi History. (With a Translation of Passages on Tahirih*)". Research Notes in Shaykhi, Babi and Baha'i Studies. 4 (2). h-net. Retrieved 2008-11-13.
  19. ISBN 0-87743-166-3
    .
  20. ^ a b c Locke, Hugh C. (1983). "In Memoriam". Baháʼí World, Vol. XVIII: 1979-1983. pp. 683–685, 767–8, 777.
  21. ^
    ISBN 0-85398-350-X
    .
  22. ^ Güngör, Îzgî (2007-08-12). "Bahaʼi community wants to be recognized and heard in Turkey". Turkish Daily News. Archived from the original on 2012-07-10.
  23. ^ Faizi, Abu'l-Qasim (2002). Shirley Macias (ed.). Conqueror of Hearts: Excerpts from Letters, Talks and Writings of Hand of the Cause of God Abu'l-Qásim Faizí. Baháʼí Library Online.
  24. ^ "Iranian Baha'i Refugees Denied Asylum in Turkey". Iranian Refugees' Alliance, Inc. 1996-09-17. Retrieved 2008-12-16.
  25. ^ a b Momen, Moojan. "History of the Baha'i Faith in Iran". draft "A Short Encyclopedia of the Baha'i Faith". Bahai-library.com. Retrieved 2009-10-16.
  26. ^ Kingdon, Geeta Gandhi (1997). "Education of women and socio-economic development". Baháʼí Studies Review. 7 (1).
  27. doi:10.1016/0048-721X(89)90077-8
    .
  28. ^ Winston, Jaime (2007-10-19). "Baha'i faithful find refuge at U". The Daily Utah Chronicle.[permanent dead link]
  29. ^ Shahir, Asha (2008-10-20). "Iran's Baha'is Leave Persecution Behind On Train To Istanbul". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
  30. ^ U.S. State Department (2001-10-26). "Turkey International Religious Freedom Report, 2001". The Office of Electronic Information, Bureau of Public Affair. Retrieved 2008-12-15.
  31. ^ U.S. State Department (2001-10-26). "Turkey Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, 2001". The Office of Electronic Information, Bureau of Public Affair. Retrieved 2008-12-15.
  32. ^ Güngör, Îzgî (2008-11-13). "METU picks Bahaʼi as a faculty's dean". Turkish Daily News.
  33. ^ "Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on the trial with seven Baha'i leaders in Iran" (PDF) (Press release). Council of the European Union. 2009-02-17. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  34. ^ "Most Baha'i Nations (2005)". QuickLists > Compare Nations > Religions >. The Association of Religion Data Archives. 2005. Archived from the original on 2010-04-14. Retrieved 2009-07-04.
  35. ^ U.S. State Department (2008-09-19). "Cyprus International Religious Freedom Report 2008". The Office of Electronic Information, Bureau of Public Affair. Retrieved 2008-12-15.

External links

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