Turkey an Example of Religious Tolerance for 500 years

20 September 2005
Voice of America
By Miguel Angel Rivera
Istanbul

[...]
Kuzguncuk lies on the Asian side of the Bosporus Strait. There is a church, a mosque, and a synagogue, right beside each other. The priest of the Armenian Orthodox Church {Mehmet Biraz}, using a key made in 1835, opens the doors to a Christian world within a Muslim one. 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,” says priest Mehmet Biraz. ”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 says cooperating on every level is vital for offsetting the religious negativity he finds in politics. He says ties with others are still strong.
[...]
The land the mosque sits on was a gift -- from the Armenian Orthodox Church.
[...]
"We have good relationships with our neighbors the Armenians and the Greeks. They come to our funerals. We go to their funerals,” says Mahmut Uslu, a worshipper at the mosque. “The Armenian Church is older than ours. Ataturk's new republic had an open door policy to all religions. [...].
[...]

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.