ANKARA. – Christian clergymen expressed concern about the growing threats in Turkey, with which they come across it after the April 7 attack on a Protestant clergyman in Istanbul, Hürriyet Daily News reports.

Attacks on the Christian clergymen may decrease for some time, however, it again intensifies.

“We hesitate when opening our doors and welcoming the faithful inside,” Pastor Krikor Ağabaloğlu of the Gedikpaşa Armenian Protestant Church in Istanbul said adding the state intentionally refused to grant permission for the construction of a church building.

“They are trying to stymie the spread of Christianity in this way,” he said.