TÜRKIYE

Türkiye is divided between Europe (three per cent of its territory) and Asia (97 per cent). The capital is Ankara, with about five million people, but Istanbul is the largest city with about 14 million people.

Modern Türkiye was founded as a secular state in 1923 by Kemal Ataturk, “The Father of the Turks”, who brought in many radical reforms. Eight years previously up to 1.5 million Armenian and Assyrian Christians had died in the Ottoman genocide of 1915.

Despite 99% of Türkiye’s citizens being Muslims (the majority Sunni) it has a secular constitution that guarantees freedom of religion but there is great tension between secularists and Islamists and the country has become increasingly Islamic and nationalistic under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In 2018 he became Executive President – head of state and head of government – and negotiations for Türkiye to join the European Union have been put on hold due to his increasingly autocratic rule.

Because many Turks believe that to be a real Turk one must be a Muslim, there has been a general rise in hate speech directed against religious minorities, with Alevi Muslims, Baha’is and Christians facing pressure. A controversial law, Article 301, prohibits publicly denigrating the Turkish nation and under its terms Christians have been accused of “anti-Turkishness”. The state-funded Diyanet (Presidency of Religious Affairs) controls religious groups and influences the extent of freedom of religion.

Since an attempted coup in July 2016 there has been an ongoing crackdown on all perceived opposition – soldiers, judges, teachers and religious minorities including the tiny Christian community. Scores of Christian foreign nationals have been expelled, while US pastor Andrew Brunson (see below) was imprisoned for two years on false charges of links to terrorist groups before being expelled in 2018.

Christians in Türkiye

While Türkiye’s traditional churches have permission to meet (Armenian and Assyrian Orthodox, the former being the larger) most Protestant churches are not recognised by the government and local authorities often refuse to grant them permission to build or rent premises. Protestant seminaries have been shut down, forcing many churches to rely on foreign pastors, but since 1919 over 130 expatriate Christians have been deported or banned from reentering Türkiye, with spouses and children bringing the number affected up to 303. None of the pastors has been convicted of any crime and they lived in the country legally, in some cases for decades, but they were designated “security threats” by the Interior Ministry and issued either G-87 or N-82 immigration restriction codes by the Directorate-General for Migration Management. 

The Association of Protestant Churches’ 2024 report (published on 14 June 2025) states that there are approximately 214 Protestant churches or fellowships in Türkiye, the majority located in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir. Of these, 152 have obtained legal entity status through the establishment of 21 religious foundations, 27 representative branches of religious foundations, 36 church associations and 68 representative branches linked to those associations, but the remaining churches do not possess legal entity status.

Twelve Protestant churches and fellowships worship in historical church buildings, 123 rent facilities, 57 meet in premises they own and 22 meet in homes. Most leaders are trained through internal apprenticeships, a small percentage study at theological schools overseas and some receive training through seminars organised in Türkiye.

In addition to the 214 listed churches that worship in Turkish, there are estimated to be around one hundred Protestant fellowships in Türkiye that worship in other languages, the majority comprised of refugees from Iran.

In the late 1980s church leaders began meeting together in solidarity and partnership and in the mid 1990’s they formed the Alliance of Protestant Churches. On 23 January 2009 the Association of Protestant Churches of Türkiye was formally established to provide advocacy and support.

Many Turks associate Christians with the Crusades, the Inquisition, imperialist policies and western immorality. Evangelicals and especially missionaries have been misrepresented widely by the government, the media and in school textbooks. Christian converts from Islam face social and familial ostracism and sometimes threats from Turkish nationalists and Muslim extremists. On rare occasions, Muslim converts have been attacked and even killed.

Andrew Brunson

American pastor Andrew Brunson, who led Izmir’s Resurrection Church for 23 years, was arrested in October 2016 and imprisoned for two years on false charges of terrorism and spying. His release was the result of intensive diplomatic efforts and he returned to the US immediately.

The Association of Protestant Churches reported that the number of media attacks designed to incite hatred of Protestants seriously increased during Pastor Brunson’s incarceration and trial, with Turkish media repeatedly linking churches and individual Christians to terrorist organisations.

(ADF International, Al-Monitor, Association of Protestant Churches in Türkiye, Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Forum 18, International Christian Concern, Middle East Concern, Operation World, Universal Periodic Review: Stakeholders’ Report October 2024, Voice of the Martyrs Canada, Voice of the Martyrs USA, World Watch List, World Watch Monitor)

Church in Chains in Action

Church in Chains has had several meetings at the Turkish Embassy in Dublin in relation to the legal and social difficulties faced by evangelical churches.