Turkmenistan

How are Christians harassed, discriminated against and persecuted?

Turkmenistan is one of the most closed countries in the world. There is no freedom of speech, press or religion in the country known as the North Korea of Central Asia. The country's first president Saparmut Niyarzov ruled the country with a heavy hand from its independence in 1991 until his death in 2006. Niyarzov established a persona worship of him, with schoolchildren saying a prayer to him every day at school. He combined this personality worship with the Islam followed by the majority of the country's inhabitants. Niyarzov's successor, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, moderated the cult of personality but continued the hard-line style of government, causing Turkmen citizens great problems and Christians even greater ones.

While Russian Orthodox and Russian Evangelical Christians can meet in their own church buildings, Turkmen convert Christians are not allowed to lead a church and most meet in underground churches. Christians are regularly arrested and harassed by police, while it is illegal to evangelize, bring Bibles into the country or distribute Christian material.

Turkmen identity is closely linked to Islam, and a Turkmen who is not Muslim is a fake Turkmen in the eyes of many of his countrymen. Therefore, new Christian converts will first encounter persecution from family, colleagues and friends. They are often ostracized by family members who either won't accept having a convert in the family or fear being ostracized from the local community because of their Christian family member. If they let the Christian stay in the family, they risk that the only baker in town won't sell them bread, the mechanic won't fix their car, or the electrician will overcharge for fixing the electricity. Many families don't want to take that risk and ostracize the Christian, who then has to flee and find a new community. The convert also risks losing their job and is considered a traitor for abandoning their people by leaving Islam.

Cautious mission and quiet church growth

Missionary work is difficult and Christians risk imprisonment and harsh persecution for sharing the gospel. But Christians still share the gospel one-on-one, and there are Turkmen who come to faith, albeit in small numbers.

What does the Danish European Mission do

For security reasons, we cannot mention the projects in the country.