türkçe links to original Turkish article
(Milliyet Newspaper, 3 July 2018)
Saving lives and souls!
According to research in the American archives done by
academician Dr. Faruk Taşkın, missionaries of the American Board
opened 10 hospitals in Anatolia where missionary work was
conducted.
Both before and after the founding of the Turkish Republic,
American health missionaries in Anatolia were working in Anatolia,
based on research conducted by Dr. Taşkın, who is in the history
department of Artvin Çorum University, over 7 years in American
archives. By 1911 the American Board had set up hospitals in
Merzifon, Sivas, Talas, Antep, Adana, Harput, Diyarbakır, Mardin,
Erzurum and Van and in 1913 13 missionary doctors were working
at these hospitals.
At times, German and English missionaries worked with the
Americans. In 1910 alone more than 9,000 Ottoman citizens
received treatment at the hospitals and 1,900 significant operations
were conducted. Dr. Taşkın's research is entitled "The American
Board's Health Activities in Turkey (1833-1923), Based on Its
Own Documents".
In one of the documents from 1908, missionary Dr. Atkinson wrote
that "One must first be a missionary and a Christian, more than
being a man of medicine, in order to be a good doctor. The most
effective method is conducting visits to hospitals and villages."
Another missionary, Everett P. Wheeler, wrote that "We are
opening schools and hospitals in Turkey for Christians and
Christianity, bringing medicines and modern medical methods. We
are using aid organizations as an effective means to bring the
Protestant understanding to non-Protestants."
Dr. Taşkın noted that the missionary hospitals were shuttered
during and after World War I but "the hospitals in Adana and
Talas continued to operate until 1934. Moslems who came to
the hospitals were given Christian propaganda and in the
documents it is stated that Moslem patients in Maraş and
Antep were given Bibles. A report from the Konya missionary
hospital noted that mostly Greeks attended religious meetings
on Sundays and Wednesdays but some Turks came, as well.
According to the documents, from time to time both Moslems
and Jews provided support to the missionaries health units."
U.S. Missionary Establishments in Anatolia (1910)
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