Persecution of Members in Turkey
Persecution of Members in Turkey
On May 24, 2023, over 100 members of the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light in Türkiye, including women, children, and the elderly, presented themselves at the Turkish-Bulgarian border seeking asylum. Instead of being granted entry, they were violently beaten, pushed back, and taken to the Edirne public safety office. Gunshots were fired at them, threats were made, and their belongings were confiscated.
These 104 individuals had already endured extreme and systematic persecution across various Muslim-majority countries, including Iran, Iraq, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Azerbaijan, and Thailand, due to their beliefs. They gathered in Türkiye in hopes of finding safety and were attempting to exercise their right to request asylum in accordance with Article 58(4) of the Bulgarian Law on Asylum and Refugees (LAR), which allows for verbal asylum applications before the border police. This attempt followed unsuccessful efforts to obtain humanitarian visas.
International human rights organizations, including UN experts, have raised urgent concerns about the potential deportation of the members seeking asylum. Such actions would expose them to further risks and violations in their home countries.
The 104 members of the religion were arbitrarily detained, held for five months without due process, and placed in a deportation center before being declared innocent and released. Their freedom was secured only after significant international pressure, including interventions from the United Nations and human rights organizations.
But the repression does not end here—the Turkish government continues its crackdown on religious freedom:
On 5 January 2025, Turkish police in Karaman raided the home of Pooria Lotfiillanou and Ebtighaa, an Iranian couple from the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light, as they sought asylum in the EU. Arrested for peacefully distributing religious posters, they were charged under Article 216/3 of the Turkish Penal Code for “Incitement to Hatred and Hostility” and accused of posing a threat to public order under Law No. 6458.
On 7 January 2025, authorities transferred them to Niğde Removal Center despite their vulnerable status. Ebtighaa and their six-month-old child were detained under harsh conditions, while Pooria was coerced into signing a pledge prohibiting religious activities—effectively stripping him of his rights to freedom of religion and expression.
New Cases:
On February 5, 2025, Turkish authorities in Isparta detained three members of the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light—Sajjad Jafari, Ali Lakzaeian, and Mansour Dehghan—for their peaceful missionary activities, including distributing religious posters. The police had been monitoring their activities for weeks prior to the arrests. During the operation, officers forcibly entered Dehghan’s residence and detained him, citing the promotional activities of Jafari and Lakzaeian as the reason. The detainees were pressured to sign documents without legal representation and were subsequently transferred to a detention center, facing potential deportation to Iran. If deported, they risk severe penalties, including imprisonment or execution, due to their faith, which Iranian authorities have labeled as heretical. This incident is part of a broader pattern of harassment against the Ahmadi community in Türkiye, with previous detentions occurring in 2023. The Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light has condemned these actions as violations of religious freedom and has called on the international community to intervene.
