Religious leaders stand together against coup attempt in Turkey

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

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Religious leaders in Turkey condemned violence in a joint declaration about the coup attempt in the country that started late on July 15. 

“Terror and violence wherever and whoever they come from can never be defended and regarded as legitimate. Killing one person is like killing the entire humanity and is absolutely not accepted by believers,” the statement read. 

Director of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) Mehmet Görmez, Istanbul’s Fener Rum Patriarch Bartholomew, the Turkish Jewish Turkish Jews’ Chief Rabbi Rav Izak Haleva, the acting Patriarch of Turkish Armenians Aram Ateşyan, leader of Assyrian Catholic Community Yusuf Çetin and Turkish Assyrian Catholic acting Patriarch Yusuf Sağ have all joined the declaration.

The declaration started with “In the name of God,” continuing, “We as the religious representatives of Jewish, Christian and Muslim citizens, together with our communities, are in a deep state of sorrow because of the terror incidents that have disrupted peace in our beautiful country and the world and have that have caused unbearable pain by taking the lives of many loved ones of our citizens.”

All divine religions have the common foundation of divine love, the declaration said. 

“Love for people, love for living creatures and love for the environment are an indispensable part of this divine love. Terror and violence wherever and whoever they come from could never be defended and regarded as legitimate. Killing one person is like killing the entire humanity and is absolutely not accepted by believers. For this reason, we declare to our esteemed public that we are ready to do whatever we can to absolutely prevent terror and violence and to make love and justice dominant in our country and the entire world. Our sincere wish and our prayers are for terror to be wiped entirely from our country and from our world. May god protect our country and the entire humanity.”