Three people in Diyarbakir threatened the priest of Assyrian Church of the Virgin Mary, forcing him to destruct the bell tower by this weekend. The victim of attack, Father Yusuf Akbulut said that they were mad at banning of minarets in Switzerland. According to him, the middle aged people came to the church last Friday and questioned of the responsible and learning it is Father Yusuf himself parried whether there are any bell towers in the church. Afterwards, they threatened that if the priest doesn’t demolish the bell tower he will see what happens.

Thereupon, father Akbulut appealed to police and lodged a complaint against the intruders, declaring: “We have been living in our own country peacefully together with the other people here. We are natives here. We don't have a problem with Switzerland. Nobody can hold us accountable for the minaret ban in Switzerland. We did not immigrate from Europe; we belong here and we maintain good relations with all the other communities here. Everyone has the right to worship freely everywhere. We are not afraid, but we are expecting the authorities to take precautions,” Agos weekly reads.

At that, the clergyman fails to comprehend the causitive connection between the Swiss ban and Assyrian church in Diyarbakir. But presumably, the recent decision by Sydney authorities to erect a monument to the vistims of Assyrian Genocides in Ottoman Turkey played a part in it.

S.T.