Turkey Expels Hundreds of Christians Under “National Security” Label, Rights Groups Warn

Key Facts

Published: October 16, 2025 Location: WARSAW/ISTANBUL/BUDAPEST Source: Statements OSCE speaker, Worthy News Investigation

• Turkey has expelled more than 350 foreign Christians since 2020, labeling many as “national security threats,” according to rights groups.
• At an OSCE conference in Warsaw, legal experts from ADF International accused Turkey of systematically targeting Christians solely for practicing their faith.
• Cases such as Wiest v. Turkey before the European Court of Human Rights could set key precedents for religious freedom across Europe.
• Christian organizations say hate crimes and religious discrimination have intensified under President Erdoğan’s rule, as Turkey continues to restrict Orthodox and Protestant communities.

by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief

WARSAW/ISTANBUL/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Turkey has deported hundreds of foreign Christians citing “national security” concerns as part of a broader crackdown by the Muslim-majority nation, several investigators confirmed.

Worthy News learned Thursday that the issue was raised at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) meeting in Warsaw.

Lidia Rieder, legal expert of the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) International, told delegates that Turkey is systematically targeting Christians purely “for practicing their faith.”

“Turkey’s labeling of peaceful Christian residents as ‘security threats’ is a clear misuse of law and an attack on freedom of religion or belief,” Rieder said during the OSCE Warsaw Human Dimension Conference.

“When governments manipulate administrative or immigration systems to exclude people based solely on their faith, it undermines both the rule of law and the very principles of tolerance and peaceful coexistence that the OSCE was founded to protect.”

HUNDREDS EXPELLED

Since 2020, more than 350 foreign Christian workers and their family members have been expelled from Turkey, including at least 35 cases between December 2024 and January 2025, according to the ADF.

The international watchdog said Turkey’s Ministry of Interior assigned those targeted “security codes,” such as N-82 and G-87, effectively barring them from re-entering the country by labeling them national security threats.

Rieder also reminded the OSCE conference of the “landmark case” Wiest v. Turkey, currently before the European Court of Human Rights, which is expected to set a precedent for protecting religious freedom across Europe.

Rights groups said Kenneth Wiest, a U.S. citizen and Protestant, was born, raised, and lived legally in Turkey with his wife and three children for over 30 years before being banned from the country in 2019 upon returning from a trip without any evidence of wrongdoing.

His case is seen as part of broader policies viewed by church observers as discriminatory against religious and faith minorities since President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan consolidated power more than a decade ago.

GROWING PRESSURE

Hate crimes and religiously motivated attacks increased in 2024, according to a human rights report by Turkey’s Association of Protestant Churches.

Besides targeting foreign Christians, Turkish authorities continue to deny the Ecumenical status of the Patriarch of Constantinople, refusing formal recognition of his global authority over the Orthodox Church.

The Halki Seminary, a historic Orthodox theological school in Istanbul, has been closed since 1971. However, President Erdoğan has reportedly agreed to meet with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to discuss reopening the seminary, following renewed international attention to the issue.

Turkey’s dual identity — as a NATO ally with strategic importance and a Muslim-majority state with growing Islamic nationalism — has placed its treatment of minority faiths under global scrutiny.

Estimates place Turkey’s Christian population between 203,500 and 370,000, roughly 0.2–0.4 percent of the nation’s 85 million population.

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