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Turkey deports peaceful Christians under guise of ‘national security’ claims watchdog
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Turkey has been accused of deporting hundreds of peaceful Christians under the guise of «national security,» including dozens last year, in a move legal advocates warn is an «attack» on the freedom of religion.
In a Monday address to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), legal expert for the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) International, Lidia Rieder, warned that Turkey is systematically targeting Christians purely «for practicing their faith.»
«Turkey’s labeling of peaceful Christian residents as ‘security threats’ is a clear misuse of law and an attack on freedom of religion or belief,» Rieder said during the OSCE Warsaw Human Dimension Conference. «When governments manipulate administrative or immigration systems to exclude people based solely on their faith, it undermines both the rule of law and the very principles of tolerance and peaceful coexistence that the OSCE was founded to protect.»
Visitors gather outside the Armenian Church of the Holy Cross on Akdamar Island in Lake Van, Turkey, on Sept. 7, 2025. (Bilal Seckin/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
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Since 2020, more than 350 foreign Christian workers and their family members have been expelled from Turkey, including at least 35 cases between December 2024 and January 2025, reported the ADF.
According to the international watchdog, Turkey’s Ministry of Interior has assigned the individuals targeted by Ankara «security codes,» like as N-82 and G-87, which effectively bars them from ever re-entering the country as it classifies them as a national security threat.
Rieder also reminded the OSCE conference of the «landmark case» Wiest v. Turkey, which is currently before the European Court of Human Rights, and is «expected to set a crucial precedent for the protection of religious freedom in Europe and beyond.»
Kenneth Wiest, a U.S. citizen and a Protestant, was born, raised and then resided legally in Turkey with his wife and three children for over 30 years before he was banned from the country in 2019 upon returning from a trip «without evidence of wrongdoing.»
His case is just the latest in what is increasingly viewed as discriminatory policies that persecute religious minorities since President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan took office more than a decade ago.
Women pray during the annual service at the Armenian Church of the Holy Cross on Akdamar Island in Lake Van, Turkey, on Sept. 7, 2025. (Bilal Seckin/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
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In a statement to Fox News Digital, Rieder said that the Turkish delegation present at the OSCE conference «itself acknowledged that discrimination against Christians is on the rise across the OSCE region and beyond,» which she said was «notable.»
«While Turkey emphasized its commitment to promoting tolerance through international cooperation, the same principles must be upheld within its own borders,» she said. «The reality on the ground remains deeply concerning for many individuals, families, and communities who continue to face restrictions on worship, deportations, and barriers to religious education.
«Turkey’s call to hear the voices of victims and to respect fundamental freedoms for all must now be translated into concrete action,» Rieder added.
The Turkish embassy in D.C. did not directly respond to Fox News Digital’s questions but pointed to a statement released on Wednesday by Ankara’s office of Communications Center for Countering Disinformation, which denied the claims levied by ADF International and called them «completely unfounded and part of a deliberate disinformation campaign.»
The office pointed to the history of Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities that have co-existed together and said Turkey is working to «protect» and «restore» places of worship.
«Respect for faiths and pluralism are indispensable elements of our country’s democratic order,» the statement read. «Turkey, like any other sovereign state, may make administrative decisions on foreign nationals for a variety of reasons, including visa violations, disturbance of public order, or a lack of legal permits.»
The communications department said no visa-based decisions have been made based on «identity or affiliation.»
A priest (R) is seen kissing a holy symbol held by the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I. The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I celebrated the Easter’s Vigil ceremony at St. George Cathedral, in Fener, Turkey on April 20, 2025. (Valeria Ferraro/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images))
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The statement did not directly address the case involving Wiest.
«Freedom of religion cannot exist if believers live under threat of expulsion for practicing their faith,» Rieder said. «The OSCE and its participating States have pledged to promote tolerance and non-discrimination. These commitments must be upheld not only in word, but in action.»
OSCE did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s questions about what steps it will take to address the growing concerns of religious persecution in Turkey.
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GOP rips FISA court for tapping ex-Biden ‘disinformation’ lawyer to advise on surveillance
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Republican lawmakers called it «insane» that the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court appointed to a key advisory panel a lawyer with past ties to the Biden administration’s controversial Disinformation Governance Board.
Judges on the FISC appointed Jennifer Daskal this month to serve as an amicus curiae, meaning Daskal is now among a small group of lawyers designated to advise the secretive court, which approves warrants for federal authorities to surveil targets for foreign intelligence purposes. The GOP lawmakers say Daskal’s history with the disinformation board raises worries about her ability to discern whether warrants are appropriate.
«The same person who helped to build a board to censor American speech now advises judges on how to protect American liberties,» House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, told Fox News Digital in a statement. «That’s ridiculous — and exactly why Congress must continue our oversight.»
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Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, looks on during a hearing with the House Judiciary Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on Sept. 3, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., echoed Jordan’s concerns, saying Daskal’s appointment was «insane» and calling for reforms to the FISC.
Schmitt shared a video of himself on X questioning Daskal during a hearing about what he called the Biden administration’s «censorship enterprise,» referencing Daskal’s role in aiming to dispel what the administration viewed as inaccurate information about COVID-19 masks and vaccines and information about election security.
FISC proceedings are classified and «ex parte,» meaning a judge reviews the federal government’s warrant application and the target of the warrant has no awareness of the proceedings. A judge reviewing the application can, however, turn to an amicus curiae to present counterpoints to the government’s application, meaning Daskal is among a handful of lawyers who could be tapped to argue against allowing the government to wiretap a person’s phones or otherwise surveil them.
The logo of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is seen at the Los Angeles Federal Building after a news conference to provide an update on the investigation into a May 18, 2025, bombing at a fertility clinic in Palm Springs, California, on June 4, 2025, in Los Angeles. (PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)
Under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the government has access to these powerful spy tools for foreign intelligence purposes, but it has sometimes, whether inadvertently or intentionally, improperly targeted U.S. citizens.
Building more guardrails into the legislation has long been a point of contention for privacy hawks. Republicans, in particular, became highly critical of the FISC after finding that the court approved the FBI’s warrant applications, which contained flimsy and inaccurate evidence, to surveil Trump campaign aide Carter Page beginning in 2016.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told the Washington Free Beacon, which first reported on Daskal’s appointment, that the «American people need to have confidence in the people tasked to serve as amici» before the FISC. Grassley pointed to a bill he introduced, the FISA Accountability Act, which would allow Congress to have a say in who is chosen as an amicus curiae.
Jordan and Grassley have been some of the most vocal proponents of reining in the federal government’s use of FISA after identifying instances in recent years of intelligence officials allegedly abusing their authority and infringing on U.S. citizens’ Fourth Amendment right to privacy. In the case of Page, DOJ inspector general Michael Horowitz released a report in 2019 that identified more than a dozen «significant errors or omissions» across the FBI’s four warrant applications used to surveil the former Trump aide. Daskal, in her new role, could offer confidential, weighty legal arguments to a FISC judge that support or oppose intelligence officials’ requests to surveil someone.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is seen in the U.S. Capitol during votes related to the government shutdown on Thursday, October 16, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Daskal served as a top lawyer in the Department of Homeland Security when she helped launch the Disinformation Governance Board. Conservatives heavily criticized it, describing the board as a «Ministry of Truth» that sought to censor their viewpoints in violation of the First Amendment.
Daskal chartered the board, while Nina Jankowicz was named its executive director, an appointment that fueled Republicans’ fury over it after finding Jankowicz’ past social media posts that they said revealed she was too partisan. Jankowicz, for instance, cast doubt on the New York Post’s bombshell story in 2020 about Hunter Biden’s laptop, which she said fit a pattern of Russian «information laundering.» Biden administration officials vehemently objected to the claims in the New York Post’s story about Joe Biden’s handling of Ukrainian foreign policy, though the authenticity of the laptop itself has been verified through court proceedings.
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Republicans put so much pressure on DHS about the board — calling it an «abuse of taxpayer dollars» and raising alarm that it painted policy disagreements over COVID-19, election security and immigration as mis- or dis- information — that it disbanded just a few months after its launch.
In Daskal’s hearing exchange with Schmitt, Daskal said «it’s not appropriate for the government to censor any points of view.» Daskal did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
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Russia urges Iran, ‘all parties’ in Middle East to show restraint amid US military buildup
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Russia warned Iran and «all parties in the region to exercise restraint and caution» Thursday amid a U.S. military buildup in the Middle East.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov made the remark as the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, and its strike group are moving from the Caribbean toward the Middle East.
«Russia continues to develop relations with Iran, and in doing so, we call on our Iranian friends and all parties in the region to exercise restraint and caution, and we urge them to prioritize political and diplomatic means in resolving any problems,» Peskov said Thursday, according to Reuters.
«Right now, we are indeed seeing an unprecedented escalation of tensions in the region. But we still expect that political and diplomatic means and negotiations will continue to prevail in the search for a settlement,» he added.
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A F-18E fighter jet takes off from aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford as it sails during NATO Neptune Strike 2025 exercise on Sept. 24, 2025, in the North Sea. (Jonathan Klein/AFP via Getty Images)
The move of the USS Gerald R. Ford would place two aircraft carriers and their accompanying warships in the region. The USS Abraham Lincoln and three guided-missile destroyers arrived in the Middle East more than two weeks ago.
Negotiations between the United States and Iran over the latter’s nuclear program advanced Tuesday toward what Tehran described as the beginning of a potential framework, but sharp public divisions between the two sides underscored how far apart they remain.
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The USS Gerald R. Ford is heading toward the Middle East as tensions with Iran escalate and President Donald Trump demands full nuclear dismantlement. (Jonathan Klein/AFP via Getty Images)
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said the two sides reached a «general agreement on a number of guiding principles» and agreed to begin drafting text for a possible agreement, with plans to exchange drafts and schedule a third round of talks.
Yet Washington has publicly insisted that any agreement must result in the dismantling of Iran’s nuclear program — including its enrichment capacity — along with limits on Tehran’s ballistic missile program and an end to its support for allied militant groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
The world’s largest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford, is seen in the North Sea during NATO Neptune Strike 2025 exercise in September 2025. (Jonathan Klein/AFP via Getty Images)
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Those demands go well beyond temporary enrichment pauses or technical adjustments.
Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner and Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.
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