Easter celebrations across Turkey

ANKARA

Turkey’s Christians are an “inseparable part” of the nation, EU Minister Volkan Bozkir said in an Easter Sunday message as churches celebrated the festival across the country.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu also issued an Easter statement in which he wished for “peace and tranquility to humanity”.

Stressing that Muslims, Christians and Jews had lived side-by-side in the region for centuries, he added: “In Turkey, as a reflection of the mentality that diversity is richness, for centuries mosques, churches and synagogues have stood in same towns.”

In Izmir province, a service was held at the House of the Virgin Mary, near Selcuk, amid heightened security as police warned of possible terror attacks on churches and synagogues over Easter.

Worshippers at the site, where the Virgin Mary is said to have lived in her later years, lit candles and prayed.

“I was doubtful whether people would come after what happened in Turkey but there was a huge crowd,” Father Maciej Sokolowski said after holding mass. “This house is an important place not just for Christians but also for Muslims.”

Christians in Hatay and Mersin provinces in southern Turkey, where early Christianity took root, also celebrated.

Around 150,000 Christians are thought to currently live in Turkey.

Easter is celebrated by Christians to mark the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his resurrection three days later.