Global InformationChristianity in Turkey information
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| Total population | |
|---|---|
| Est. 200,000–320,000[1][2] | |
| Religions | |
| Christianity (Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodoxy, Protestant) | |
| Languages | |
| Turkish, Greek, Ecclesiastical Latin, Koine Greek, Armenian, Syriac, Arabic, Russian, Georgian, English, German, Korean, Persian |
Religion in Turkey  |
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| Secularism in Turkey |
| Irreligion in Turkey |
| Christianity by country |
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 Christianity portal |
Christianity in Turkey has a long history dating back to the early origins of Christianity in Asia Minor during the 1st century AD. In modern times the percentage of Christians in Turkey has declined from 20 to 25 percent in 1914 to 3–5.5 percent in 1927, to 0.3–0.4%,[3][4] roughly translating to 200,000–320,000 devotees.[5] The percentage of Christians in Turkey fell mainly as a result of the late Ottoman genocides:[10] the Armenian genocide, Greek genocide, and Assyrian genocide,[14] the population exchange between Greece and Turkey,[8][15] the emigration of Christians that began in the late 19th century and gained pace in the first quarter of the 20th century,[8][16] and due to events such as the 1942 Varlık Vergisi tax levied on non-Muslim citizens in Turkey and the 1955 Istanbul pogrom against Greek and Armenian Christians.[8] Exact numbers are difficult to estimate as many former Muslim converts to Christianity often hide their Christian faith for fear of familial pressure, religious discrimination, and persecution.[17]
This was due to events which had a significant impact on the country's demographic structure, such as the First World War,[11] the genocides of Greeks, Armenians, and Assyrians perpetrated by Turkish Muslims,[11] and the population exchange between Greece and Turkey,[18] and the emigration of Christians (such as Assyrians, Greeks, Armenians, etc.) to foreign countries (mostly in Europe and the Americas) that actually began in the late 19th century and gained pace in the first quarter of the 20th century, especially during World War I.[19][9]
Signed after the WW1, the Treaty of Lausanne explicitly guarantees the security and protection of both Greek and Armenian Orthodox Christian minorities. Their religious institutions are being recognized officially by the state.[20][21]
In 2011, there were more than 200,000-320,000 people of different Christian denominations,[22] representing roughly 0.3-0.4 percent of Turkey's population,[3][4] including an estimated 80,000 population of Oriental Orthodox Christians,[23] 47,000 Turkish Orthodox Christians,[24][25] 35,000 Roman Catholic Christians,[26] 18,000 Antiochian Greeks,[27] 5,000 Greek Orthodox Christians,[23] 8,000 Protestant Christians, 4,994 Jehovah's Witnesses,[28] and 512 Mormons.[29] There is also a small group of ethnic Orthodox-Christian Turks (mostly living in Istanbul and İzmir) who follow the Greek Orthodox, Turkish Orthodox, or Syriac Orthodox churches, and additionally Protestant Turks who still face difficulties regarding social acceptance, and also historic claims to churches or property in the country because they are former Muslim converts to Christianity from Turkish-Muslim backgrounds (rather than ethnic minorities).[30] Ethnically Turkish Protestants number around 7,000–8,000.[31][32] In 2009, there were 236 Christian churches open for worship in Turkey.[33] The Eastern Orthodox Church has been headquartered in Constantinople since the 4th century AD.[34][35][30]
In 2022, Christians were seen as being 0.2% of the population. This was mainly Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Christians, Roman Catholics, Syrian Orthodox Christians, Protestants, Armenian Catholics and Chaldean Christians, as well as smaller groups. It was noted that the number of Eastern Orthodox Christians had risen sharply, mainly due to refugees from Russia and Ukraine.[36]
In 2023, the country was scored 2 out of 4 for religious freedom; this was mainly due to disputes over land.[37] The Mor Ephrem Syriac Orthodox church, set to open on 8 October 2023, is the first church built since the foundation of the Republic of Turkey.[38]
- ^ The World Factbook Archived 4 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine (in Hebrew)
- ^ "(PDF) The Global Religious Landscape". Archived from the original on September 28, 2018.
- ^ a b "The Global Religious Landscape". ResearchGate. Archived from the original on April 2, 2020. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
- ^ a b "Religions". Central Intelligence Agency. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved February 9, 2013.
- ^ "Global Christianity – A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Christian Population" (PDF). Pew Research Center. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 1, 2021. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
- ^ a b Gutman, David (2019). "The thirty year genocide: Turkey's destruction of its Christian minorities, 1894–1924". Turkish Studies. 21 (1). London and New York: Routledge on behalf of the Global Research in International Affairs Center: 1–3. doi:10.1080/14683849.2019.1644170. eISSN 1743-9663. ISSN 1468-3849. S2CID 201424062.
- ^ a b Smith, Roger W. (Spring 2015). "Introduction: The Ottoman Genocides of Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks". Genocide Studies International. 9 (1). Toronto: University of Toronto Press: 1–9. doi:10.3138/GSI.9.1.01. ISSN 2291-1855. JSTOR 26986011. S2CID 154145301.
- ^ a b c d Üngör, Uğur Ümit (June 2008). "Seeing like a nation-state: Young Turk social engineering in Eastern Turkey, 1913–50". Journal of Genocide Research. 10 (1). London and New York: Routledge: 15–39. doi:10.1080/14623520701850278. ISSN 1469-9494. OCLC 260038904. S2CID 71551858.
- ^ a b İçduygu, Ahmet; Toktaş, Şule; Ali Soner, B. (February 2008). "The politics of population in a nation-building process: Emigration of non-Muslims from Turkey". Ethnic and Racial Studies. 31 (2). London and New York: Routledge: 358–389. doi:10.1080/01419870701491937. ISSN 1466-4356. OCLC 40348219. S2CID 143541451. Archived from the original on March 25, 2020. Retrieved August 2, 2020 – via Academia.edu.
- ^ [6][7][8][9]
- ^ a b c Morris, Benny; Ze'evi, Dror (November 4, 2021). "Then Came the Chance the Turks Have Been Waiting For: To Get Rid of Christians Once and for All". Haaretz. Tel Aviv. Archived from the original on November 4, 2021. Retrieved November 5, 2021.
- ^ Morris, Benny; Ze'evi, Dror (2019). The Thirty-Year Genocide: Turkey's Destruction of Its Christian Minorities, 1894–1924. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. pp. 3–5. ISBN 978-0-674-24008-7.
- ^ Roshwald, Aviel (2013). "Part II. The Emergence of Nationalism: Politics and Power – Nationalism in the Middle East, 1876–1945". In Breuilly, John (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of the History of Nationalism. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 220–241. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199209194.013.0011. ISBN 9780191750304. Archived from the original on January 15, 2023. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
- ^ [6][7][11][12][13]
- ^ Chapter: The refugees question in Greece (1821–1930) in "Θέματα Νεοελληνικής Ιστορίας", ΟΕΔΒ ("Topics from Modern Greek History"). 8th edition (PDF), Nikolaos Andriotis, 2008
- ^ Quarterly, Middle East (2001). "Editors' Introduction: Why a Special Issue?: Disappearing Christians of the Middle East" (PDF). Middle East Quarterly. Archived from the original on May 11, 2013. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
- ^ "Christian persecution - Turkey". www.opendoorsusa.org. Archived from the original on April 7, 2015. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
- ^ Chapter The refugees question in Greece (1821–1930) in "Θέματα Νεοελληνικής Ιστορίας", ΟΕΔΒ ("Topics from Modern Greek History"). 8th edition (PDF). Nikolaos Andriotis. 2008.
- ^ "'Editors' Introduction: Why a Special Issue?: Disappearing Christians of the Middle East". Middle East Quarterly. 2001. Archived from the original on May 11, 2013. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
- ^ Turkey's compliance with its obligations yale.edu
- ^ Situation of regional or minority languages in Europe coe.int
- ^ "Global Christianity - A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Christian Population" (PDF). Pew Research Center. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 1, 2021. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
- ^ a b "Foreign Ministry: 89,000 minorities live in Turkey". Today's Zaman. December 15, 2008. Archived from the original on May 20, 2011. Retrieved May 16, 2011.
- ^ "Türkiye'de ortaya çıkan Rum Ortodoks Kilisesi kim veya nedir?". Archived from the original on November 9, 2021. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
- ^ "Türkiye'nin din haritası çizildi". October 28, 2009. Archived from the original on January 2, 2023. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
- ^ "Statistics by Country". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Archived from the original on December 18, 2016. Retrieved February 18, 2015.
- ^ "Christen in der islamischen Welt – Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte" (PDF). 2008. Archived from the original on May 2, 2014. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
- ^ "2021 Country and Territory Reports". JW.ORG. 2021. Archived from the original on December 30, 2021. Retrieved November 4, 2022.
- ^ "Statistics and Church Facts | Total Church Membership". newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org. Archived from the original on June 28, 2019. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
- ^ a b "Turkish Protestants still face "long path" to religious freedom". www.christiancentury.org. Archived from the original on October 17, 2014. Retrieved November 3, 2014.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:1was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
:2was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Life, Culture, Religion". Official Tourism Portal of Turkey. April 15, 2009. Archived from the original on April 15, 2009. Retrieved February 9, 2013.
- ^ William G. Rusch (2013). The Witness of Bartholomew I, Ecumenical Patriarch. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 31. ISBN 978-0-8028-6717-9. Archived from the original on January 15, 2023. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
Constantinople has been the seat of an archiepiscopal see since the fourth century; its ruling hierarch has had the title of"Ecumenical Patriarch" ...
- ^ Erwin Fahlbusch; Geoffrey William Bromiley (2001). The Encyclopedia of Christianity. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 40. ISBN 978-90-04-11695-5. Archived from the original on January 15, 2023. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople is the ranking church within the communion of ... Between the 4th and 15th centuries, the activities of the patriarchate took place within the context of an empire that not only was ...
- ^ "Turkey (Türkiye)". Retrieved February 19, 2024.
- ^ "Turkey: Freedom in the World 2022 Country Report". Freedom House. Retrieved February 19, 2024.
- ^ AA, Daily Sabah with (October 4, 2023). "Türkiye's 1st Orthodox church built in post-republic era set to open". Daily Sabah. Retrieved October 5, 2023.