Istanbul, Nov. 29, 2007 (CWNews.com) - An Orthodox priest has been kidnapped and is being held for ransom in Turkey, the Anatolia news service reports.

Father Edip Daniel Savci, a priest of the Syrian Orthodox Church, was taken captive in the southeastern town of Midyat, near the Syrian border, on November 28.

Another priest in the region reported that he had received a ransom demand, asking for €300,000 (about $440,000), shortly after Father Savci's car was found abandoned outside the town. The kidnappers threatened to kill the priest if the ransom was not promptly delivered.

Although the Christian minority in Turkey has suffered several violent attacks in recent months, spokesmen for the Orthodox Church said that they were not convinced the kidnapping was done for religious reasons. The Syrian Orthodox community, concentrated heavily in the southeast of Turkey, has frequently been caught up in conflicts that pit the local Kurdish community against the Turkish government.

The Syrian Orthodox Church, in communin with Rome until after the Council of Chalcedon, is one of the most ancient Christian communities in the region, tracing its foundation back to the preaching of St. Jude the apostle. In recent decades most of the local Christians have fled, leaving only about 25,000 members of the Syrian Orthodox Church remaining in the region.