Turkey

How are Christians harassed, discriminated against and persecuted?

The Association of Evangelical Churches in Turkey (TEK) tells Danish European Mission that Christians in Turkey are not persecuted, but rather under pressure. Many former Muslims experience resistance from their family and classmates when they become Christians. Christians are forced to teach Islam in school. There are also attempts to close down churches for non-objective reasons. Some Christians are stigmatized in the media.

The situation has improved since 2007, when two Turkish Christians and a missionary were stabbed to death at the Christian publishing house Zirve in Malatya. Before that, the priest Andrea Santoro was martyred in Trabzon in 2006.

For decades, missionaries have been expelled, but in 2019-2021, 78 missionaries and their families, or 185 people in total, were expelled or denied entry. The expelled missionaries leave gaps in the Turkish church, but at the same time, the development means that local Turkish Christians have to take more responsibility than before, which is a healthy development in its own way.

Increased search for Jesus

At the same time as the pressure on the church, the Danish European Mission's contacts tell us that over the past 3-4 years there has been a new openness to the gospel in Turkey, not least among young people. The increasing Islamization of the country by some forces has created frustrations that are causing some Turks to leave Islam.

Traditionally, a large proportion of Turks who have converted from Islam to the Christian faith have dropped out again after pressure to genome conversion from friends, families and communities. Therefore, for many years, the number of Turkish Christian converts has remained constant at around 4000-5000. But now it seems that the number is beginning to exceed 7000.

What does the Danish European Mission do

• Implementing two leadership training programs for Turkish Christians to fill the gaps left by expelled missionaries. In 2021 - January 2023, 59 were trained in an online program that they can now use in their churches. Seven leadership trainees received full-time training in 2021-2022 so they can lead church plants or fill vacancies in existing churches. 
• Salary for a pastor in church planting in an area where there are almost no Christians. 
• Financial support for media outlets that reach out God's love in Jesus to people in Turkey on different media platforms in their own way. 
• Distributing emergency aid to victims of powerful earthquakes in February 2023 in Turkey.