ROME — The number of anti-Christian hate crimes in Turkey more than doubled from 2021 to 2023, according to a report from International Christian Concern (ICC).
In recent years, the majority of religious hate crimes committed in Turkey have been perpetrated against Christians, ICC observed. These crimes — often underreported — include damage to property or places of worship, harassment, and physical violence.
In its summary report for religiously motivated hate crimes committed in 2023, the Turkey-based Freedom of Belief Initiative (FOBI) identified 22 hate crimes targeting Christians, more than doubling the 10 such crimes committed in 2021.
Some of the anti-Christian hate crimes have been confirmed by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) as well. In October 2023, for instance, a Muslim man entered a Christian church, recited an Islamic prayer, and slapped the pastor during a service.
Similarly, in May 2023, two elderly Assyrian men were hospitalized after being “physically assaulted with sticks and stones” for their Christian faith. The victims were hospitalized with injuries, including head injuries, OSCE noted, in one of “a series of incidents targeting Assyrians and their property in the village.”
In August, a Protestant preacher was followed and threatened with death, including by decapitation, by a group armed with bullets and making anti-Christian comments.
Turkish security forces apprehend suspects, one Tajikistani and the other Russian, in a shooting during Sunday mass at Santa Maria Catholic Church in Istanbul, Turkiye on January 31, 2024. Two gunmen opened fire on worshippers Sunday at the church in Istanbul’s Sariyer district, killing one, officials said earlier. (TUR General Directorate of Security/Anadolu via Getty Images)
News on a significant uptick in anti-Christian hate crimes in Turkey follows on the heels of worrisome reports coming out of Europe suggesting that Christian persecution is on the rise in that continent as well.
This month, the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe (OIDAC Europe) released its Annual Report 2024, showing that hate crimes against Christians in Europe had jumped by an astonishing 226 percent in just one year.
In its report, the Vienna-based Observatory identified 2,444 anti-Christian hate crimes — including violent incidents, vandalism, and arson attacks on churches — in 35 European countries in 2023, up from 749 such acts identified in 2022.
The hate crimes included 232 personal attacks on Christians, entailing harassment, threats and physical violence, the report revealed.
Last week, hundreds of important buildings around the world were illuminated in red to mark Red Wednesday, an annual event in support of persecuted Christians.
The initiative was first launched by the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) in 2016 to draw attention to the reality of anti-Christian persecution around the world and emphasize the importance of religious freedom as a fundamental human right.
The red-lit buildings included numerous cathedrals and churches, but also iconic monuments and public buildings such as the Westminster Parliament and the Hungarian Presidential Palace.