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Turkey
The area that is now Turkey (known in former times as Asia Minor) was a center of the Christian faith in the time of the apostle Paul. Islam came to the area at the end of the 10th century and now nearly 99 percent of the Turkish people are Muslim. Under the leadership of Kemal Ataturk, Turkey was reborn as a secular, modern state in 1923, following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, which had dominated the Middle East for four centuries. Ethnic Turks comprise 80–85 percent of Turkey’s population. The Kurds are the largest minority group in Turkey, and there are smaller populations of Arabs, Circassians, Armenians, Lazes and Georgians. Upon the invitation of several institutions in Turkey, the PC(USA) has been active in providing specialized leadership support through education, development, health training, discipleship and nurture.
The Kurds are the largest ethnic group in the world without their own state. They have lived for thousands of years in an area that now includes parts of Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria and the former Soviet Union. After World War I Kurds hoped to create a homeland somewhere within the ashes of the Ottoman Empire, but those dreams vanished with the birth of the Turkish Republic in the early 20th century. The PC(USA) is involved in Turkey through a number of service and witness opportunities. A few co-workers and volunteers offer their skills to support the work of partners in the country. For example, some are helping in the preparation of a Turkish Bible dictionary, which will provide support for the new Turkish translation of the Scriptures. |
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