We caught up with CSW's Middle East Advocacy Officer after a recent visit who told us a little more about what goes on behind the scenes of Turkey's tourist image.

I've been to Turkey on holiday and it didn't look like there was much persecution...

It’s a lovely place for a holiday! And it’s true that the violations of religious freedom aren’t very obvious

to the casual observer. The truth is that most of the problems lie in societal attitudes, not restrictions from the government. When I visited Turkey last year to interview members of minority faiths, one of the main things that struck me was how accustomed they had become to decades of being sidelined in society. At first the people I met barely even mentioned the problems they faced, because these issues are so ingrained in daily life.

So what are the religious freedom problems?

Turkey is officially a secular state, but with a population that’s 98% Muslim, other faiths are very much in the minority. There’s also a common perception that to be Turkish means to be Muslim. The government claims that it has made improvements in human rights, but this hasn’t translated to increased freedom for Turkish citizens. And in the current volatile political situation, human rights are often the first thing to disappear from the political agenda.

So, as I said, the main problems are within society and community mindsets. I met a Christian convert who told me about watching a football match between Ukraine and Turkey, and his Muslim grandmother said, “You should be supporting Ukraine, they’re a Christian country.” He replied “But I’m Turkish!” and she said “But you’re Christian!”

In terms of government restrictions, churches face enormous difficulty in getting official registration, and an unregistered church can be shut down at any time. Every Turkish citizen has to carry an ID card stating their religion. However, only officially recognised religions can be entered in the religion column, so unrecognised minorities such as Baha’is or Alevis have no choice but to leave the column blank – leaving them open to discrimination in employment and education. There’s also a problematic law against ‘insulting Turkishness’, which in practice is often misused to clamp down on freedom of expression, including expressing religious beliefs other than Islam.

One of the major issues we’ve worked on is the case of the Malatya murders. In April 2007, three employees of a Christian publishing house were tortured and murdered in Malatya, eastern Turkey. The five men accused of the murders have recently been released on bail under changes to the law, so it doesn’t look like we’ll see a conclusion in the near future. It’s a heartbreaking time for the families of the victims, so please do keep them in your prayers.

What is CSW doing to address these issues?

We’ve produced a comprehensive report and set of recommendations on the current situation in Turkey, which we’re using in meetings to brief Members of Parliament and other high-level decision-makers, encouraging them to take action. We also contributed to the UN’s regular assessment of Turkey’s human rights record – the UPR process – which is an increasingly important way of holding a country to account. We’re hoping that international pressure will encourage Turkey to guarantee true religious freedom for all its citizens.