On Tuesday, July 31, 2007, Jehovah's Witnesses in Turkey received a
letter of certification confirming that the "Association for the Support
of Jehovah's Witnesses" has been officially registered. The Witnesses
can now purchase and own property, rent meeting places for conventions,
accept donations, and defend their legal interests in court when
necessary.
http://www.jw-media.org/index.html
Do they mean WTS or Dubs?
by TopHat 10 Replies latest watchtower scandals
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TopHat
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BCberean
hmmmm....what's this all about I wonder?
Is Turkey the only country doing this?
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Gopher
The WTS has taken on so many different corporate titles, one of them being the Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses.
This item from the JW website makes it appear that the organization is now recognized in Turkey.
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AudeSapere
Were they previously under ban in Turkey?
-Aude.
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Gopher
Were they previously under ban in Turkey?
Here's what the WT website had to say about that:
In 2004, the government passed a new law that allowed religious associations to be formed, in line with European standards. Jehovah’s Witnesses filed the charter for their Association to the Istanbul authorities on July 11, 2005. The constitutionality of the charter was challenged in court by government officials. Finally, on May 17, 2007, the Supreme Court upheld the decision of the Sisli 3rd First Instance Court in Istanbul, confirming that the charter for the Association complied with the Turkish Constitution.
In recent years, freedom of worship for Jehovah’s Witnesses has been improving in Turkey. However, some Jehovah’s Witnesses still face fines and imprisonment. There are, for example, no provisions in the law for conscientious objection and neither is there any opportunity for alternative civilian service.
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greendawn
Turkey being a Moslem country does not take nicely to the spread of Christian influences in its territory but since they clamour to enter the EU they have no choice but to align their laws with its laws, a long process due to the backwardness and dictatorial nature of their constitution.
Even so they are never likely to become full members due to being a large, populous and poor Moslem country. Nobody wants the EU to get flooded by millions more of unassimilable Moslem Turks on top of the 16 million Moslems that are already there.
It's a shame that a twisted cult like the JWs will seek to preach their gospel there as if it were the real gospel.
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TopHat
What struck me as odd, was the term "Jehovah's Witnesses" can own property. My question is: Wouldn't the JW who is a Turk be allowed to own property or own his property already? OR is this statement about the Watchtower from Crooklyn owning property in Turkey?
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choosing life
I would think it is about owning property as a religion. The whole idea is they are free to set up shop now as a bonified religion and assume all rights to relieve people of their money.
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TopHat
I guess they have the delusion of converting the nation of Turkey to their way of thinking.
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under_believer
You know, try as I might I can't bring myself to see this as bad news.
Any opening up of public discourse and freedom of speech in a Muslim country is good.