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PEACE WALKERS SOON resume a marathon trek aimed at undoing centuries of hostility between Christians and Muslims. 

        A small team leaves Istanbul for Antioch, later this month, on 
the second leg of a four-year retracing of the routes of the Medieval Crusades - which organizers of The Reconciliation Walk say are the source of ongoing enmity between the two religions. 

        The walkers - who set out from Cologne, Germany on Easter Sunday last year - plan to conclude their overland journey in 1999, arriving in Jerusalem to mark the 900th anniversary of the fall of the city to the Crusaders. 

        They carry with them a statement expressing regret for the way the Crusaders - responding to Pope Urban II's appeal for a holy war to reclaim Palestine from Muslim control - "betrayed the 
name of Christ" by corrupting the gospel's "true meaning of 
reconciliation, forgiveness and selfless love". 

        Meanwhile other small teams of Christians continue to travel 
through the country to pray and share the same message of 
reconciliation with people they meet. Around 300 participants 
from over 15 countries have joined The Reconciliation Walk 
during the past few months, said international coordinator and 
Youth With A Mission field director for Europe, the Middle East 
and Africa, Lynn Green. 

        "The response has been warm and positive. On many occasions Turkish people have been visibly affected by the sincerity of the walkers, and deeply touched by the personal nature of the 
apology," he said. 

        "Even during those times when the response has been less 
enthusiastic - not surprising for a country deeply wounded by 
'Christian' activity in the past and present - it is rare for 
anyone to experience actual animosity." 

        The Reconciliation Walk has been reported positively in 
newspapers and on across the country. One group traveled to the 
capital, Ankara, where they were given an official reception by 
the chairman of Turkey's Directorate of Religious Affairs,  the 
highest-ranking Muslim cleric in the country, who said that he 
was "greatly touched" by the apology. 

        Walkers have found their misconceptions about Muslims being removed, said Green. "They expect to meet stern, fanatical 
Muslim leaders but more often than not they encounter warm, 
hospitable Imams... 

        "Similarly, the walkers come as a surprise to Muslims. For the first time they meet Christians who are revolted at the violence 
and rubbish that pours out of Hollywood, and at other aspects of 
our Western culture. These encounters so often act to disarm the 
bitterness that lies between us." 
 

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