Since the failed coup of July 2016, the level of intolerance against those not siding with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has intensified. Turkish nationalism, combined with the growing Islamisation of Turkish society, means the tiny Christian minority, and other religious minorities, face mounting pressure, which is increasingly translating into violent incidents. While religious conversion is not prohibited by Turkish law, there are serious implications for Muslims who convert to Christianity, as they often experience intense pressure from family, friends and community to return to Islam.
Turkey: Malatya murderers’ 39-year prison sentences upheld
Six months after five Turkish men were convicted of the grisly murders of three Christians in southeast Turkey ten years ago, an appeals court has upheld their three consecutive life sentences in prison. The regional Gaziantep 3rd Criminal Court of Appeals decision on 18 July confirmed the incarceration of Emre […]
Legal limbo of Turkey’s Syriac Christian properties still unresolved
Over the past five years, legal ownership of at least 100 ancient Syriac Christian properties in Turkey’s southeast has been seized and transferred to the Turkish state treasury, where the title deeds still remain. The government-confiscated properties include two functioning monasteries, including adjacent lands to the 4th century Mor Gabriel […]
Political stalemate holds US pastor ‘hostage’ in Turkish jail
Comments this week from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan increased speculation that Turkey has been holding jailed US pastor Andrew Brunson hostage since last October in order to extract political concessions from the United States. Addressing the parliamentary assembly of his ruling Justice and Development Party on 30 May, Erdoğan […]
Turkey unprepared for Trump’s counter-demand
Turkey was unprepared in mid-May when a new bilateral issue emerged with the United States during Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s meeting with his US counterpart Donald Trump in Washington DC, Al-Monitor reports. There were already two obvious agenda items between the two presidents: Turkey’s outspoken objection to Washington’s decision […]
Trump presses Turkish president to release jailed US pastor
US President Donald Trump has raised the issue of a US pastor imprisoned in Turkey during his first face-to-face meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Washington DC, reports CNN. According to the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), both President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence spoke […]
Istanbul Patriarch ‘losing sleep’ over closed Orthodox seminary
Istanbul’s Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew II admitted last week that he is “losing sleep” over the long-delayed opening of the Holy Theological School of Halki. The historic seminary is located on an island hilltop, an hour’s ferry ride from Istanbul. One of the most prestigious seminaries in Eastern Orthodoxy, the Halki […]
Turkey vote ‘could lead to hate crimes against non-Muslims’
Turkey’s referendum result, which allowed President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to expand his powers, could lead to the further erosion of democracy and of the demonising of non-Muslims, a former opposition politician has warned. In the referendum, held on 16 April, 51 per cent of voters approved proposals to abolish the […]
Turkish court halts expropriation of Armenian cathedral
The Turkish government’s expropriation a year ago of the largest Armenian cathedral in the Middle East has been halted by a Council of State court decision, the Armenian weekly Agos reports. Located in the historic heart of Diyarbakir, the largest city in southeast Turkey, the Surp (Saint) Giragos Apostolic Armenian […]
Secretary of State Tillerson meets wife of US pastor jailed in Turkey
America’s top diplomat met for 20 minutes yesterday with the wife of US pastor Andrew Brunson, jailed in Turkey for nearly six months on undisclosed charges of involvement in a terrorist organization. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was on a one-day stopover (March 30) in the Turkish capital Ankara, […]
Turkish state interferes in Armenian Church elections
A years-long saga on the leadership gap in Turkey’s Armenian Church has reached still another snag, Al-Monitor reported on March 22. The debilitating illness of the spiritual leader of Turkey’s largest Christian community has left Armenian Patriarch Mesrob II Mutafyan alive, but unable to fulfill his church duties since 2008. […]