Four men detained by police for attacking a church building in the Black Sea region of Turkey last week shouted jihadist slogans when released from jail, a marked departure from past harassment, church leaders said.
Shortly after 11.30pm on 25 February, the four Muslims went to a building rented by the Agape Church Foundation in Samsun and tried to get someone to come to the door. Initially two of the four men rang the doorbell on the building, used by the church group for worship and teaching, but seconds later two others arrived who began banging on the door with their fists and then tried to kick the door open.
Security camera
A small number of people were in the building when the men came, including one congregation member who acts as a church caretaker, but no one answered the door. Eventually the Muslims noticed a security camera and destroyed it, then left.
‘It’s obvious they were trying to get someone to come to the door,’ the church member said. ‘If someone had opened the door, I can’t imagine what would have happened.’
Police identified the suspects, who all turned themselves in on 1 March and were released the next day. Though no one was injured in the attack, which was minor compared with other incidents, the pastor decided to report it to police because of its menacing and brazen nature. The anti-Christian motive of the attack later became apparent when police were releasing the accused, as some or all of them yelled ‘Allahu Akbar [God is greater]’, the jihadist victory slogan.
