According to the Human Rights Report, Christians in Türkiye suffered a surge in hate crimes in 2024 compared to the previous year.
The 2024 Human Rights Violation Report from the Association of Protestant Churches pointed to many hate crimes despite Türkiye’s official protection of religious freedom.
“Protestant Christian individuals or institutions have experienced hate crimes or related physical attacks resulting solely from their faith,” the report states. “2024 has increased from the previous year in both written and oral hate speech aimed at protestant Christian individuals or institutions, aimed at inducing hatred in written and verbal public opinion.”
Among the reported incidents was an armed attack on the Savioural Church Association building in Chatmekoy on December 31, when an attacker fired from the vehicle and attempted to remove the signs from the facility.
“The same individual responded to citizens celebrating the New Year, saying, “We won’t allow you to brainwash our Muslim youth! Ah, you’ll be defeated and wiped out into hell.” “When the reporter later asked the individual why he did this, his response was ‘Because I felt it.’ ”
According to the report, on January 20, 2024, when no one was there, the attackers fired fire at the Eskisehir Salvation Church building. The bullet struck the dentist’s clinic below the church level.
“The police attending the scene did not obtain a bullet casing and did not submit a report,” the report said. “No crimes were recorded and there was no police pursuit.”
The English teacher, a Christian, lost his job on December 9th at a private night class school linked to the Malatya Board of Education. The administrator gave her no cause, but the school director told her, “Beware of the associations you attend and the foreigners you make friends.”
The appeal to the Board of Education has been denied.
“She did not start a trial for unfair dismissal because she is worried about the possibility of her sister, a civil servant,” the report said.
In Kusadassi, the New Testament, partially burnt down on March 12th, was left outside the church building. On July 2nd, in Kayseri, unknown assailants attacked the Kayseri Laundry and Food Distribution Center, where refugees are served.
On July 28th at Bahçelievler, the two tried to force the door to the Bahçelievler Grace Church, causing damage to the signs.
On November 28, the two insulted church members outside the Izmir Karshaka salvation church and asked, “Why don’t the locals kill you?”
The pastor of Suruchi Church, who worked in the bookstore, was accused of trying to change the religion of people and asked if he was a missionary. Muslims also pose a threat on social media, commenting, “Just God punish you, this is a Muslim city, and celebrating Christmas here is no one brainwashing, are you not afraid to explain to God?”
The report also said police tried to bribe two members of the Maratia Church to become informants, saying, “This is to ensure you’re safe.” The executive gave one of the Christians a large sum of money and said, “We need someone we can trust inside.” Police also indicated that the church was under surveillance.
In Rulybergaz, the local office of the Salvation Church Association was a victim of a campaign to close it. The report said “issues about the signs” and “a signature campaign attempted to shut it down.” Finally, the local governor used the court process to close the office based on his religious activities.
“This representative office has been closed and the trial has expired because this lawsuit could threaten the survival of all other Savioural Churches,” the report said.
In Kutahiya, the landlord refused to rent the property at Kutahiya Church after the fellowship was forced to leave the facility.
“The town’s landlord was not ready to rent from the church,” the report said. “A real estate agent asked a church representative to leave his office. The church is still struggling to find a place to meet.”
Members of the Eastern Black Sea Salvation Church suffered from numerous hate speech incidents. Some faced workplace pressure due to their Christian faith, but they ended up leaving work and church.
Muslims prevented church members from converting in cafes, and children of church members who are married to Muslims were told at school, “You are Muslim, because your father is Muslim.”
Other churches have encountered obstacles from the authorities. Didim Light Church was denied permission to distribute pamphlets about itself, preventing authorities from inviting the Antalya Bible Church “multiple times” to invite Turks to Easter and Christmas celebrations.
“They also received threatening calls and messages from a lot of people,” the report said.
Social Media Humiliation
The report recorded an increase in the use of social media to scorn Protestant Christians.
“We encounter speeches filled with insults and blasphemies directed at official church social media accounts, church leaders, Christianity, Christian values, and Christianity in general. These often stem from the activities of social media groups that cultivate hatred towards Christians and target Christian websites and social media accounts,” the report states.
The unknown person on December 29th targeted the pastor of the Surshu Church with hate speech on social media after the Christmas celebration, saying, “…It can be enough, but give it to God to the priest who opened what God deserves him. I hope that the government authorities will act quickly on this issue.”
On the same day, at Karshayaka Salvation Church, security forces suspended the service to confirm the identification of church members and guests.
Foreign Christians
Foreign Christians who live in Türkiye also suffered.
Authorities have collected N-82 codes prohibiting entry to the state or G-87 codes denying residential visas. According to the report, between 2019 and 2024, 132 of these people received the no-entrance law, causing problems for churches that rely on foreign pastors.
While local Christians offer spiritual leadership, foreign church leaders “continued to be recognized as occupation by local authorities and official bodies.”
Among the churches suffering from such a ban were Christian leaders of the Eastern Black Sea Salvation Church.
Foreign Christians were deported, refused entry to Türkiye, and in 2024 they were denied residence permits and visas.
“Many congregations remain in difficult situations and there continues to be a great need for religious workers,” the report added, denying individuals as citizens of the United States, the UK, South Korea, Germany, other European countries, Latin America and other regions.
“Most of these people have settled in our country for many years and have lived here with their families,” the report emphasized. “These people have no criminal history, investigations or court documents. This situation reveals a major humanitarian issue. Someone in the family receives an unexpected entrance ban, and everyone in the family is facing a chaotic situation.”
On June 8, the Constitutional Court ruled against nine foreign Christians suing against the N-82 code restricting residence permits in the country. No details regarding the situation have been made public.
“The names of these nine Christians were announced by the court, which has led to many media criticism of being “missioners” and enemy of the nation. Many instances of hate speech against them were widely shared.” “In particular, many social media comments have called for the death penalty against these Christians or comment that it is a religious obligation to kill them.”
Protestants of fellowships of various sizes of Türkiye number 214, most are located in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir. Of this number, 152 have achieved legal status as “religious foundations, church associations, or representative branches.” The remaining 62 fellowships do not have legal entity status.
Protestant communities face challenges to find a place for worship, if they are not considered traditional in the outlook, the report said. Church rents can also be “unusually high.” Due to lack of awareness of fellowship meetings at places such as rental shops and depots, churches are missing out on benefits such as free electricity and tax exemptions from the authorities.
“Because members of the Protestant community are primarily new Christians, they do not have religious buildings in Turkey (Türkiye) that are part of the cultural and religious heritage that traditional Christian communities have,” the report said. “There are few historic church buildings available.”
Religious staff were banned from the Turkish national education system, so Protestant communities offer their own training.
“In 2024, Turkish law (Türkiye) continued to block the possibility of training Christian clergy and opening schools to provide religious education in some way to some extent to members of the church community,” the report states. “But the right to train and develop religious leaders is one of the fundamental pillars of freedom of religion and belief.”
The Protestant community will provide apprenticeship training, provide seminars within Türkiye, send students abroad and use the support of foreign clergy to solve this issue, the report says.
Other issues include the difficulties for Christians to obtain non-Islamic-based education and the lack of cemeteries for Christians.
The association recommended actively training civil servants on termination policies that ban the entry of foreign Protestants into the country, as well as the right to religious freedom.
