Over the past 100 years, the number of Christians in Türkiye has fallen from 20% to 0.2% of the population. The systematic targeting of Turkish Christians and missionaries from abroad by the Turkish government has significantly contributed to this trend. Human rights experts hi-ghlighted the growing intole-rance against Christians in Türkiye at Europe’s largest human rights conference, which was hosted by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in Warsaw, Poland on Oct. 5.
As the Islamisation of the country progre-sses, Open Doors reports that the pressure on the Christian community has increased massively since the coup attempt by a faction of the armed forces in 2016. There is arguably a dictatorial paranoia that sees an enemy in all foreign actors, manifesting in anti-Christian sentiment. Conspiracy theories often paint Christians as collaborators with foreign powers seeking to undermine Turkish identity. The govern-ment spends enormous sums of money to spread Islam at home and abroad through one of its largest ministries, the Turkish Directorate of Religious Affairs. Alongside these efforts, it has become increasingly wary of a small number of Christian missionaries residing in the country.