Hate-speech on Christmas Eve

At the Christmas night on the 24th of December, an interesting message was written on one of the electronic billboards of a mosque in Kadikoy Port, Istanbul. The billboard of the mosque did not give a positive or embracing message. It targeted the Christians and Jews by giving a reference to the Qoran, Muslim’s holy book. The text barrowed from the Qoran says that “O you who have believed, do not take the Jews and the Christians as allies. They are in fact allies of one another.”

No clear explanation has been received from the Mosque or the Administration of Religious Affairs about the purpose of this text, yet.

Fatih Altaylı the Church Owner

It has become evident that the grandfather of Fatih Altaylı became the owner of a village, which used to be an Armenian village, just after the Genocide. For those, who are not familiar with Fatih Altaylı: he is a journalist and producing a talk show called Teke Tek. He is known as one of the fanatic advocators of anti-Genocide campaigns because fervently denies it. Even once he said that “Whoever argues that Genocide happenned, I will spit at the face!”

It has become clear why he has anti-Genocide ideas. The land and property that his family owns were once seized from the Armenians. Therefore, it is believed that the fear of the loss of properties and prestiege is the prime motive of his fanatic anti-Genocide arguments.

In the protests against him, there are several questions posed. The protestors now ask how a person happened to own a church. Here, the protestors refer to the church located on the land seized by Altaylı’s family. They ask how and why a Muslim can seize it. Furthermore, the protestors ask who used to live before 1915 in the village that Altaylı’s grandfather “owned” later on and where they are now.