"Respect of Worship and Belief"

So much for the civilizing atmosphere inherent in various cultures and religions making an attempt to be open and accepting to one another's values and sensitivities. Turkey, a large country whose geography places it on the cusp of demarcation between the worlds of the West and of the East, has long prided itself, thanks to its modern founder Kemal Ataturk, as a secular-governed country, while still a majority-Muslim country.

Before Kemal Ataturk decided that the only way for his country to meet modernity after its long history as a leading Islamic country following the downfall of the Ottoman Empire, the country was in decline, social, political and economic. In the years since, with its Western alliances, it has managed to modernize itself. Its educational system, its justice system, are modelled on Western ideals.

After the reforms introduced in 1926, the Republic of Turkey became a secular, democratic state, its religious schools abandoned in favour of a national school system, and its legal system based on the Italian penal code. Head scarves for women were forbidden in public, in an attempt to persuade the population to become more modern and westernized in their outlook.

Turkey is a member of NATO, and has been trying to enter the EU for years, improving their human rights record to qualify for EU inclusion. Germany and France have been reluctant to give their assent to Turkey's admission to the EU, occasioning no little resentment. In the last number of years, an Islamist-style government has been elected, moving Turkey closer to its Muslim neighbours.

Official Turkey has strengthened its weak connections to Muslim countries like Iran, Syria and Lebanon, while engaging in newfound hostilities with Israel, its long-time associate in the region. And just in the last week an international incident has occurred through what is being termed a 'religious dispute', which puts a quite ugly stamp on relations between the country, its people, and the West.

A retired Canadian diplomat who had moved with his Turkish wife to Turkey on his retirement, died recently, and was buried in a Christian ceremony at a cemetery in Bodrum, after his family had obtained permission from the municipality for a priest to perform the ceremony. Hans-Joachim Himmelsbach, a retired trade commissioner originally from Vancouver, who spoke Turkish among other languages, was familiar with Turkey.

He was the former deputy director of the Central and Eastern European Trade Development Division of the Canadian foreign affairs department. When he retired a decade earlier, he lived alternately in Vancouver and Turkey. He was 65 when he died, and he planned to be buried in Turkey, close to where his wife now lives without him. He died of a brain blood clot, recovering from an operation, three weeks ago.

A local Sunni Muslim family of social and political influence took umbrage at the fact that Mr. Himmelsbach's grave was too close to their family plot. They undertook to insist that the grave be removed and placed elsewhere in the cemetery where it would not offend their sensibilities. Mr. Himmelsbach's wife and family were not informed; the grave was summarily moved to another, remote cemetery site.

"If they told me this incident was going to happen 30 years ago, I wouldn't have believed them. My husband doesn't deserve this. He moved to Turkey to make me happy", Ms. Himmelsbach informed the Hurriyat Daily News and Economic Review.

In response, Sinan Dayioglu, whom the newspaper described as a businessman, representing "one of Bodrum's leading families", had this to say: In the world, people having different beliefs are separated with walls or wires, even though they are in the same cemetery.

"This is for the respect of worship and belief."