Turkey: Gov’t seizes six church buildings
The Turkish government has seized control of six church buildings in the country’s Diyarbakir region.
Turkey
Turkey: Evangelist detained, to be deported
In April, Turkey detained an American evangelist and ordered him held for a month with a view to his deportation.
Attack on Church Building in Samsun, Turkey
Four Muslim men detained by police for attacking a church building in the Black Sea region of Turkey last week shouted jihadist slogans after they were released from custody.
Turkey: Court rules gov’t failed to protect Christians
The Malatya Administrative Court ruled last week that the Turkish government was negligent in its duty to protect three Christians who were tortured and killed in 2007 and ordered it to pay one million lira ($333,980) in compensation for their families.
Turkish textbooks encourage intolerance
Theoretically, Turkey allows non-Muslims to be exempted from compulsory religious education if their religion is on record with the state. But parents have complained that some schools have refused to allow their children to be exempted.
Turkey: Historic Protestant Church reopens
One of the oldest churches in Turkey reopened this month.
According to AINA, a worship service was recently held in the 160-year-old Mardin Protestant Church after extensive restorations as the building had been left in ruins for 60 years.
Armenian Turks Convert back to Christianity
Twelve Armenians who were baptized last month in Istanbul were among the many former Muslims who are now openly embracing Christ after their ancestors were forced to follow Islam during the Armenian and Assyrian genocides that killed millions of Christians one century ago.
Turkey: Arson Attack at Bible Correspondence School
An electrical fire in Istanbul’s Bible Correspondence School on Dec. 7 is thought to have been from an arson attack after security cameras caught a man leaving the building just after the fire started, according to Barnabas Aid.
Turkey: Land Grab Threatens Return of Minorities
A lawyer in Diyarbakir estimated that land grabs have targeted thousands of Christians and Yazidis in southeastern Turkey, according to Al-Monitor.
Turkey: Church Website Blocked as ‘Porn’
A Turkish legislator is demanding an investigation into why the website of a Turkish church was classified as pornography and blocked online from Turkey’s Grand National Assembly, according to Morning Star News.
Turkey: Confessed Killers of Christians Freed on Bail
Under a new Turkish law, five confessed Christian killers slated to be released on bail will instead remain under house arrest, according to Morning Star News.
Wolves in sheep’s clothing foiled in plot to kill Shepherd
Two wolves who infiltrated a Turkish congregation were among more than a dozen suspects arrested as police foiled a plot to assassinate the pastor.
Turkey: Prosecutor pulled from murder trial
A prosecutor probing a possible link between the assassination of a Christian newspaper editor and the Malatya murders of Turkish Christians was abruptly transferred last week to another court.
Pakistan Among World’s Worst Violators of Religious Freedoms
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom recommended that the Secretary of State name Pakistan as a Country of Particular Concern in its 2012 Annual Report.
After years of “red tape,” Christians in Turkey finally open House Church
Protestants in the eastern Turkish province of Van have finally succeeded in opening a house church after seven years of struggling with local bureaucracies, yet they are still concerned by the hostile rhetoric coming from their local officials.
Christians in Turkey Acquitted of ‘Insulting Turkishness’
After a lengthy legal battle, a Turkish judge acquitted two Christians of insulting Turkey and its people by spreading Christianity, but not without imposing a heavy fine for another unrelated charge.