DIYARBAKIR, Turkey — In a show of government hostility toward Christians, a Protestant church foundation has been denied permission to acquire land for a worship center, a legal expert said.
Diyarbakir Protestant Church Foundation wants to establish a worship center in Diyarbakir for a congregation numbering more than 100. In 2023 the foundation requested to purchase land zoned for religious buildings, but the application was denied. The foundation legally challenged the denial, but a court upheld the rejection in 2024, Alliance Defending Freedom International said.
ADF International is supporting an appeal.
‘Bureaucratic maze’
“As is frequently the case in Turkey, the applicants were met with a bureaucratic maze in which state institutions passed their applications back and forth, claiming to lack the authority to grant the land usage request,” explained an ADF International statement.
Ninety-nine percent of Turkey’s population is Muslim.
“Its government is increasingly marked by Islamization and nationalism, which creates challenges for religious minorities, particularly Christians,” ADF International stated.
An estimated 185 Protestant ministers — foreigners who were living in Turkey — have been deported or banned from re-entering the country, stated ADF International. Some have been deemed national security risks. Turkey also has closed Protestant seminaries.
Turkey is No. 50 on Open Doors’ 2024 World Watch List of places most difficult to be a Christian.
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