Turkey has reportedly deported hundreds of foreign Christians and blocked their re-entry by labeling them as national security threats.
Lidia Rieder, Legal Officer with ADF International, told delegates at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s Human Dimension Conference in Warsaw, Poland, on Monday that these designations—issued through internal security codes—have left Protestant congregations in Turkey without pastoral leadership.
ADF International reports that since 2020, at least 200 foreign Christian workers and their families, totaling about 350 individuals, have been barred from entering or remaining in Turkey under the Ministry of Interior’s internal security codes N-82 and G-87.
The organization explained that the codes are used to deny residence permits or prevent re-entry often without charges or evidence of criminal wrongdoing.
Those affected include citizens of the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, South Korea, several Latin American nations, and various European countries, many of whom have been denied visas or deported in recent years.
A June 8 ruling by Turkey’s Constitutional Court dismissed an appeal from nine foreign Christians challenging the N-82 designation.
The court’s decision publicly listed their names, leading local media to brand them as missionaries and enemies of the state. Following the publication, online commenters reportedly called for the death penalty and referred to killing them as a religious obligation.
Between December 2024 and January 2025 alone, at least 35 new codes were assigned, including to individuals who had lived in Turkey for decades. These administrative bans have deeply impacted religious communities in Turkey, where many Protestant congregations depend on foreign pastors for ministry and leadership.
One such case, Wiest v. Türkiye, is currently pending before the European Court of Human Rights. The case involves a U.S. citizen who had legally lived in Turkey for over 30 years but was suddenly barred from returning without explanation.
Although Turkey’s Constitution guarantees freedom of religion, ADF International warned that foreign Christians and local churches are facing increasing restrictions.
The organization pointed out that the historic Halki Seminary remains closed, Protestant seminaries lack official legal recognition, and Bible education is banned, even as Islamic theological instruction continues under state supervision.
Congregations such as the Bursa Protestant community have reportedly been stripped of access to their places of worship, while churches in Kayseri, Bahçelievler, and İzmir experienced repeated incidents of vandalism, threats, and physical damage throughout 2024.
