Sects in Turkey
From Peter Phillips Sir: In my piece about the Christians of the Turabdin (Arts, 5 June) I made an error in saying that Syrian Orthodoxy is `the majority sect in Turkey and Syria'. While this is arguably true in Turkey (though the Armenians may be quite as numerous), I am informed by the leading expert in the field, Robert Brenton Betts, that in Syria there are perhaps 1,375,000 Christians, of whom over half (800,000) are Antiochi an Greek Orthodox. The Syrian Orthodox, at barely 130,000, or less than 10 per cent of the total, are also exceeded in number by both the Greek Catholics at 155,000 and the Armenians at 160,000-120,000. To get the whole picture one must add 30,000 Roman Catholics and 10,000 Presbyterians. However, Dr Betts did agree with me that in Syria and Jordan the Christians are flourishing despite the apocalyptic reporting by some commentators and added that 'they were doing fine in Iraq, too, before the allies intervened'.
Peter Phillips
London Ni
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