2006年VOA标准英语-Three Faiths Share Adjoining Sites in Istanbul

By Miguel Angel Rivera
Istanbul, Turkey
04 December 2006
 
watch Turkey's Religious Tolerance¹

One of the themes of Pope Benedict's visit to Turkey last week was to strengthen the bonds between the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Christians³. But he also began his pilgrimage by expressing sympathy for the pressures felt by religious minorities within the Muslim world.

And he is expected to sharpen his calls for what the Vatican calls "reciprocity" -- the idea that Muslim demands for greater respect in the West must be matched by increased tolerance and freedom for Christians in Muslim countries.

Turkey itself is 90 percent Muslim. But in parts of the large cities, there are pockets of people of different faiths, living together peacefully. VOA's Miguel Angel Rivera looks at the relationships between three houses of worship that share adjacent sites in one Istanbul neighborhood.

 
Kuzguncuk

Kuzguncuk, is an ancient part of Istanbul, the only city in the world that lies in two continents; Asia and Europe. For hundreds of years it has been inhabited by Muslims, Jews, and Christians; Turks, Armenians and Greeks. Kuzguncuk lies on the Asian side of the Bosporus Strait.

There is a church, a mosque⁴, and a synagogue, right beside each other. The priest of the Armenian Orthodox Church, using a key made in 1835, opens the doors to a Christian² world within a Muslim one.

 
Priest
The priest is one of a few who come from another part of Istanbul to serve the faithful. And when he says faithful, he is referring to Jews and Muslims, as well as Christians, who enter this holy place to pray. "There is no difference between us. Muslims come in here to light a candle. Yes, Muslims come to pray here. They light the candle and they pray. There is no difference. There is only one God and different paths to that God."

The church leader, Mehmet Biraz, says cooperating on every level is vital for offsetting⁵ the religious negativity he finds in politics. He says ties with others are still strong. "We have good relations with the neighborhood. We are buying things from this area because we want the local merchants to benefit from our trade. In the political world there is the appearance that religions have problems among themselves. But at the people level, we have no problems among ourselves."

One woman has lived in front of the church and mosque for 20 years says, "Very beautiful… We live in peace here. Everybody loves each other. This mosque on this side, and the synagogue on the other, being so close to each other, shows that Turks really accept different religions and cultures."

It is a fresh late morning, after a rain, and faithful Turks await the arrival of the imam or hoja, the religious leader to direct them in midday prayers, and prepare to pray with ritual cleansing⁶.

The land the mosque sits on was a gift -- from the Armenian Orthodox Church.

For hundreds of years, the Ottoman Empire promoted religious tolerance.  Modern Turkey's founder⁷, Mustafa Kemal, also known as Ataturk, rejected tying his new government to Islam, even prohibiting the use of traditional clothing in favor of western wear. Religious tolerance was also his government's policy.

A resident, Mahmut Uslu, says, "We have good relationships with our neighbors the Armenians and the Greeks. They come to our funerals. We go to their funerals. The Armenian Church is older than ours. Ataturk's new republic had an open door policy to all religions.  You can come to our home. Religion is important, not what religion you belong to."

Imam Aydin Vantan has led prayers in the Kuzguncuk mosque for years. "We are all very close, like the flesh and fingernail. We are all together. Nobody can separate us, Christians, Jews, and Turks."

There are more than 22,000 Jews in Turkey. Most of them live in Istanbul. There was an influx⁸ into the Ottoman Empire during the last years of the fifteenth century, after Jews and Muslims were expelled from Spain during the reign⁹ of Ferdinand and Isabella..

Jews held senior positions in the sultan's government. Rabbi Cenk Misraji is the highest-ranking Jewish leader in Asian Turkey. "From the moment of our arrival more than 500 years ago, there has been great religious tolerance in Turkey. We have been able to follow our religion, and open our synagogues wherever we desired. We were free to follow our traditions, practices and Jewish customs."

There have been some glaring exceptions to the general tolerance of Turkish society. The Christian Armenians say they were the victims of Ottoman genocide in 1915, when thousands died. The Turks deny the accusation¹⁰. Turks and Kurds -- fellow Muslims -- have battled each other for years in parts of the country where the Kurds are found.

 
Imam Aydin Vantan
And there have been terrorist attacks against Jewish targets, most recently in 2003.

But in this neighborhood, there is a different story.

Here a Muslim, in a gesture of brotherhood¹¹, designed, constructed, and donated a small park with its delicate fountain in front of the doors of the synagogue, behind, and adjoining, the mosque and the church.

1 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

2 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

3 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

4 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

5 offsetting   

n.偏置法v.抵消( offset的现在分词 )；补偿；（为了比较的目的而）把…并列（或并置）；为（管道等）装支管

参考例句：

• Dealers, having concluded a forward contract, should always hedge with an offsetting contract. 外汇经营商在签订了一项远期合同之后总是应进行套头交易签订一项相抵合同。 来自辞典例句
• Where does Germany think offsetting shifts into greater external deficits might occur? 在德国看来，这么大的外部赤字应该转移到哪里？ 来自互联网

6 cleansing   

n. 净化(垃圾) adj. 清洁用的 动词cleanse的现在分词

参考例句：

• medicated cleansing pads for sensitive skin 敏感皮肤药物清洗棉
• Soap is not the only cleansing agent. 肥皂并不是唯一的清洁剂。

7 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

8 influx   

n.流入，注入

参考例句：

• The country simply cannot absorb this influx of refugees.这个国家实在不能接纳这么多涌入的难民。
• Textile workers favoured protection because they feared an influx of cheap cloth.纺织工人拥护贸易保护措施，因为他们担心涌入廉价纺织品。

9 reign   

n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势

参考例句：

• The reign of Queen Elizabeth lapped over into the seventeenth century.伊丽莎白王朝延至17世纪。
• The reign of Zhu Yuanzhang lasted about 31 years.朱元璋统治了大约三十一年。

10 accusation   

n.控告，指责，谴责

参考例句：

• I was furious at his making such an accusation.我对他的这种责备非常气愤。
• She knew that no one would believe her accusation.她知道没人会相信她的指控。

11 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。