TURKEY: ASSAILANT STABS CATHOLIC PRIEST; WOUNDS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 003910

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/05/2026
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KIRF TU
SUBJECT: TURKEY: ASSAILANT STABS CATHOLIC PRIEST; WOUNDS
SUPERFICIAL

REF: ANKARA 522

Classified by Polcouns Janice Weiner; reasons 1.4 (b) and
(d).


1. (U) Summary: An assailant stabbed a Catholic priest in the
Black Sea port city of Samsun July 2; the priest, a
Frenchman, was treated and released the next day. The Samsun
Governor told reporters the assailant had been diagnosed as
schizophrenic. The attacker reportedly accused the priest of
conducting missionary work. Fear of missionaries appears to
be on the rise in Turkey; after a 16-year-old boy murdered a
Catholic priest in Trabzon in February, there were claims
that the victim was a missionary. End Summary.

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Attacker "Schizophrenic"
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2. (U) A 47-year-old man stabbed Catholic Priest Pierre
Brunissen in the hip in the Black Sea port city of Samsun.
The priest, a 74-year-old Frenchman, was treated at a local
hospital and released July 3. Samsun Governor Guzeloglu told
reporters that the assailant, Atilla Nuran, turned himself in
to police shortly after the incident.


3. (U) The Turkish press widely reported that Nuran is
mentally ill. According to several reports, he was arrested
in 1983 for stabbing and killing his aunt after she poured
tea on him. Guzeloglu said Nuran was diagnosed as
schizophrenic in January 2006. Nuran also reportedly had
accused Brunissen before the attack of conducting missionary
work, i.e., trying to convert Turkish Muslims. Nuran was an
acquaintance of Brunissen, and some press reports asserted
that the attack was related to money Nuran owed to the priest.

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Victim Eager to Return to Work
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4. (U) Papal Nuncio Antonio Lucibello told us Brunissen
downplayed the attack in conversations with Catholic clergy
at the hospital, assuring his colleagues that he is eager to
return to his duties. A contact at the French Embassy told
us the French Consul left for Samsun July 3 to meet with
Brunissen and local officials. Cardinal Walter Kasper, head
of the Vatican's Department for Christian Unity, on July 4
responded to reporters' questions about the attack by stating
that Turkey lacks true religious freedom and arguing that
Turkey is not ready for integration with Europe.


5. (U) The attack came five months after a 16-year-old shot
and killed Catholic Priest Andrea Santoro in Trabzon, another
Black Sea port east of Samsun (reftel). Some reports of the
Trabzon shooting alleged that Santoro, an Italian, was
performing missionary work.

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Anti-Missionary Sentiment
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6. (C) Lucibello said anti-missionary sentiment appears to be
on the rise in Turkey. There is no law against proselytizing
in Turkey, but those who seek to convert Turkish Muslims, or
who are believed to be doing so, face threats. Lucibello
said he often explains to GOT officials that Catholic clergy
openly express their beliefs, but do not proselytize.
Moreover, he adds, Turkey, which is officially 99 percent
Muslim, has no reason to fear the influence of the small
number of Christians residing in the country. Nevertheless,
many Turks assume that all Christians are engaged in
proselytizing, and some view them as a threat.


7. (C) Luigi Padovese, Bishop of Anatolia, told Consulate
Adana during a meeting in Iskenderun that he is concerned
about the risk faced by Catholic clergy in Turkey. He said
there have been a number of attacks and threats against
Catholic priests since the Trabzon shooting; on Easter day,

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for example, an assailant threw a Molotov cocktail at a
Catholic priest in Izmir (the bomb failed to explode),and
six weeks ago a group of motorcyclists tried to run Padovese
down as he walked on an Iskenderun beach.

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Comment: Anti-Missionary Tensions
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8. (C) Both this stabbing incident and the Trabzon shooting
took place in a Black Sea region known for an aggressive
strain of Turkish nationalism. Turkey's EU accession
process, while supported by more than half the population, is
viewed by some as an attack on Turkish culture and identity.
In this context, Christians in Turkey are seen as
missionaries bent on converting the population. Even secular
nationalists not known to be practicing Muslims -- such as
Rahsan Ecevit, wife of former PM and Democratic Left Party
leader Bulent Ecevit -- have issued hysterical warnings about
the threat missionaries pose to Turkish Islam. The GOT has
also issued alarmist statements characterizing missionaries
as a threat, though not in recent months. It may be true
that Brunissen's assailant is mentally ill, but it is no
coincidence that his victim is a priest.




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WILSON