Four detained for attacking Agape Protestant Church in northern Turkey

SAMSUN

Turkish police have detained four suspects for “harming property,” after attacking the Agape Protestant Church in the Black Sea province of Samsun, daily Agos has reported. 

Four suspects attacked the Agape Church in the Güzelyalı neighborhood of Samsun’s Atakum district at 11.35 p.m. on Feb. 25. Video footage from the church’s security camera showed the suspects kicking the church’s door after ringing its bell. 

The Samsun Police Department launched an investigation into the incident and identified the suspects, all men in their twenties.

All suspects were detained by police on March 1. According to initial reports, the suspects claim to have drunk alcohol before the attack and say they were motivated by “troubling” recent social and political developments in Turkey.