Turkey has expelled hundreds of foreign Christians and barred them from returning by branding them “national security threats,” the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) International reported in a press release last week.
In an Oct. 13 address to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), ADF International legal expert Lidia Rieder warned that Turkish authorities are waging a quiet campaign to remove Christians from the country simply 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 reportedly told delegates during the OSCE Warsaw Human Dimension Conference in Poland. “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.”
According to ADF International, more than 200 foreign Christian workers and their families have been expelled from Turkey since 2020, including at least 35 cases between December 2024 and January 2025. As CatholicVote has reported, Christians have faced escalating persecution in Turkey in recent years.
During her speech, Rieder also pointed to the forthcoming Wiest v. Turkey before the European Court of Human Rights, which could set a major precedent for religious liberty protections across Europe.
The case involves American citizen Kenneth Wiest, a Christian who lived legally in Turkey for more than 30 years with his wife and three children before being denied reentry in 2019 “without evidence of wrongdoing,” according to ADF International.
“Freedom of religion cannot exist if believers live under threat of expulsion for practicing their faith,” Rieder said. “The OSCE and its participating States have pledged to promote tolerance and non-discrimination. These commitments must be upheld not only in word, but in action.”
ADF International added that while Turkey’s constitution formally protects freedom of religion, in practice, the government continues to restrict Christian worship and education. Bible instruction classes are banned, even as Islamic courses operate under state oversight, and Christians remain subject to surveillance and barriers to worship.
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