"Modern Turkey's first new church opens in Istanbul
Sep. 1, 2006. 02:06 PM
REUTERS
ISTANBUL — A new Christian church has opened in Istanbul for the first time in modern Turkey in what its founder hailed today as a sign of increased religious freedom in the EU candidate country.
Since the foundation of the Turkish Republic in 1923 as a secular state with a predominantly Muslim population, accompanied by a mass exodus of Greek and Armenian Christians, many churches and other non-Muslim religious buildings have closed or been abandoned."
More:TheStar.com - Modern Turkey's first new church opens in Istanbul
