04/30/2020 Turkey (International Christian Concern) – A study conducted this year by Turkey’s Ministry of Education in conjunction with Sakarya University has found that students are “resisting compulsory religion lessons, the government’s ‘religious generation’ project and the concept of religion altogether.” This report follows polling conducted last year which found that despite Turkey’s focus on developing Imam Hatip schools, people aged between 15-29 are increasingly describing themselves as less “religiously conservative” than older adults.

Both secularism and Islamism have played different roles in the persecution of Turkey’s Christians throughout the country’s existence. The current government has emphasized so heavily Islamic nationalism that it has marginalized Christians in a manner that has not alarmed the church to this degree in several years. However, they also live with the memories of suffering extreme persecution during times of heightened secularism. Many Christians within the church feel with great concern the environment shifting around them, but towards which side has yet to be revealed.

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