‘I was accused of being a Christian’ for translating Pope Francis’ speeches, says Turkish actress Serra Yılmaz

Turkish actress Serra Yılmaz has claimed that she was “accused of being a Christian” for translating Pope Francis’ words into Turkish during his visit to Turkey between Nov. 28 and 30.

“I was accused of being a Christian because I was the translator of Pope Francis. Forget about what was written against me, it is ridiculous to judge people by their beliefs. But there were many individuals who made groundless claims like ‘the Vatican hired you,’ or insulted me on social media,” said Yılmaz in a panel with university students in İzmir on Dec. 10.

“As a matter of fact, the Foreign Ministry asked for me personally and I went and translated,” said Yılmaz, who is known in Italy for acting in the films of Turkish-Italian director Ferzan Özpetek.

Pope Francis paid a three-day visit to Ankara and Istanbul Nov. 28-30, during which Yılmaz translated the his speeches from Italian into Turkish.

Reminding that she had also worked as a translator for former Pope Benedict’s visit to Turkey in 2006, Yılmaz said translating was an "extra job" and that her main profession was acting.