The Economist - USA (2019-12-21)

The EconomistDecember 21st 2019 Europe 79

T

hereissolittleTurksagreeonthese

daysthatevensettlingonthecoun-

try’snationaldrinkishard.Secularists

pickraki, a tipplebesthadwithgrilled

fishandmusic.Religiousconservatives,

includingPresidentRecepTayyipErdo-

gan,insistona milkyandnon-alcoholic

drinkcalledayran.

A goodthing,then,thatthereistea,

aroundwhichallcanunite.Anaverage

Turkgetsthroughabout3.5kg(7.7lb)of

teaeveryyear,oralmostfourglassesa

day,aheadofeveryothercountryin-

cludingBritain,India,ChinaandRussia.

Turkeyisalsotheworld’ssixth-biggest

produceroftheleaf.Noonehasever

entereda houseora governmentofficein

Turkeywithoutbeingoffereda glass.

(Cupsareforcoffee,orfortourists.)

Nowchangeisbrewinginanancient

industry.Thegovernmentisoffering

subsidiestoteafarmerswhogoorganic,

hopingthatwell-heeledforeignerswill

thenpaymoreforTurkishtea.Thestate

teacompany,Caykur,thecountry’slarg-

estproducer,willconvertentirelyto

organicfarmingby2023,modernTur-

key’scentenary.

Atoneofthecompany’sfactoriesnear

Rize,a drabcityborderedononesideby

theseaandbymountainsdrapedin

greencarpetsofteaontheother,the

manager,KoksalKasapoglu,saysthe

policyhasalreadyyieldedresults.Organ-

icproductionatCaykurhasshotupfrom

under 100 acresa decadeagotoabout

10,000today,about5%ofthetotalarea

undercultivation,hesays.

TeaowesitspopularityinTurkey

largelytoprice.Inthesecondhalfofthe

19thcentury,whenteaarrivedinthe

Ottomanempire,theeconomywasin

decline.ManyTurkschosethenewdrink

overcoffee,whichtheyhadbeensipping

forcenturies,butwhichhadbecome

hardtoafford.

Priceisjustasimportanttoday.Partly

becauseorganicallygrowntearequires

morelandtoproducethesameamount

ofcrop,it costsroughlytwiceasmuchas

thestandardkind.Taxpayers’cashcan

nodoubtpersuademanyfarmerstogo

organic.Butwiththeeconomysputter-

ing,convincingTurkishtea-drinkersto

buythestuffwillbeharder.

Teafortwotimestheprice

Tu r ke y

RIZE

Turkishtaxpayerssubsidiseorganicteafarming

Harvestinghandouts

“O

ur cries have not been heard by

many,” said Ignatius Aphrem II, pa-

triarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church, in

November. He was at a conference in Buda-

pest on the persecution of Christians, and

he spoke for those in the Middle East who

had been pushed from their homes, forc-

ibly converted or killed. Despite such suf-

fering, he lamented, “very few tangible

steps have been taken.” There was an ex-

ception to the general apathy, however:

Hungary, the conference’s host, which he

praised for its “unwavering commitment”

to Christians in need.

The Hungarian government declared

this year that it is “taking responsibility for

all of the world’s Christian communities”.

Since 2016 it has created a high-level posi-

tion dedicated to Christian-persecution is-

sues; set up Hungary Helps, a foreign-aid

agency that has reportedly given 90% of its

assistance to Christians; and founded the

International Conference on Christian Per-

secution, which representatives from 40

countries attended in late November. Driv-

ing the push is Viktor Orban, the prime

minister, who bills himself as a defender of

Christianity both at home (by rejecting

Muslim people and Western liberalism)

and worldwide (by sending aid to Chris-

tians abroad). His closest ally in this cru-

sade is Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin,

who has said that Russians watch the

plight of Christians in the Middle East

“with tears in our eyes”.

Christians are undoubtedly at risk. The

Pew Research Centre found that, in 2017,

they were harassed in every Middle Eastern

country, either by the state or by other

groups. Increasingly, strongmen are using

persecuted Christians as “instruments in a

larger political conflict”, says Marie Juul Pe-

tersen, a researcher at the Danish Institute

for Human Rights.

For nationalist leaders, the cause has

much appeal. To stir up Hungarian voters,

Mr Orban likens European Christians fac-

ing the “muzzle of political correctness” to

Middle Eastern ones facing death. Interna-

tionally, meanwhile, he and others blame

Western liberal democracies for failing to

stand up for oppressed Christians. Some

suggest that liberal leaders are too coward-

ly to do so. Others hint at something darker.

Mr Orban speaks of “a mysterious force”

that “shuts the mouths of European politi-

cians and cripples their arms” to act on the

issue. Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign

minister, says Europe “shamefully re-

nounces its Christian roots”. And in Sep-

tember, at a unpanel on Christian persecu-

tion, co-hosted by Brazil and Hungary, the

Philippines’ foreign secretary asked omi-

nously: “Hear anything from Wall Street?

Nothing. Lombard Street? Even less.”

According to these men, couching

Christian rights in broader religious-free-

dom language, as is common in Western

countries, does not count. Central to their

argument is a widespread refrain, repeated

not just by Mr Orban but also by Germany’s

chancellor, Angela Merkel: that Christians

are the most persecuted religious group in

the world. This statement is hard to verify,

according to Katherine Marshall of George-

town University. Varied definitions of per-

secution, hard-to-reach populations and

overlapping religious and ethnic identities

all complicate data-gathering.

Anyway, there is little evidence that

Hungary’s style of Christian-centric aid is

especially helpful even to Christians. Much

of it has gone towards individual building

projects—about $1.7m to restore churches

in Lebanon, and another $450,000 to a

school for displaced children in Erbil, the

Kurdish capital. The overall amount of aid

Hungary gives to persecuted Christians is

“meagre”, says Balazs Szent-Ivanyi of

Aston University. The government has

claimed it totalled a modest $40m over

three years.

The most serious harm that Mr Orban

and his ilk do to the Christians they claim

to champion is to corrode the idea of reli-

gious freedom itself. Helping illegal immi-

grants in Hungary can get you imprisoned

for a year, and being a Jehovah’s Witness in

Russia can get you tortured. Christianity’s

loudest defenders are not very Christian. 7

Christians are persecuted in the Middle

East. European autocrats blame liberals

Christian persecution

A useful stick