Turkish court orders Iranian refugee to report on similarities between Quran, Bible

Aziz Özen - ISTANBUL

An Iranian refugee who was detained in Turkey while trying to travel to Spain with a fake passport has been ordered by a Turkish court to report on the similarities between the Quran and the Bible following his claim that he could be persecuted at home for converting to Christianity.

19-year-old Ali Karimi was detained in Istanbul’s Sabiha Gökçen Airport on Nov. 25 when he attempted to board a flight to Spain with a fake passport.

Karimi told the police that he had fled his country after converting from Islam to Christianity, fearing possible repercussions in Iran. He added that he entered Turkey via Georgia to ultimately travel to Spain, where his brother lives, to apply for asylum.

“I’ve become a Protestant with the help of an Iranian, named Riza. Converts are described as apostates in Iran, so I have fled my country because I feared that I could be killed there,” the young man told the Turkish police.

The 8th Court of First Instance in Istanbul has recently ruled to release Karimi conditionally by imposing judicial controls.

According to the ruling, Karimi must prepare a summary of similarities between Islam and Christianity by reading the Quran and the Bible and present it to the Turkish court every week.

However, Karimi failed to appear before the court in the first scheduled appointment to present the summary.

In Turkey, the courts usually order to resume the arrest when a conditionally-released suspect violates the imposed judicial controls.