On 12 February 2026, the European Parliament, the highest representative body of the 27 countries of the European Union, passed a resolution demanding that Turkey stop expelling foreign Christian leaders and journalists.

Resolution 'P10_TA(2026)0047' was approved with 502 votes in favour, 2 against and 59 abstentions.

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The text criticises the severe restrictions on press freedom and religious freedom in Turkey at a time when the country, led by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is once again moving closer to the European Union in trade negotiations.

The European Parliament has condemned the fact that “in recent years, at least 300 foreign Christian pastors, missionaries and their family members have been deported from Türkiye and denied re-entry through the application of the ‘N-82’ and ‘G-87’ administrative measures designating them as national security threats without evidence, trial or effective means of appeal”.

Strong pressure against evangelical pastors

Evangelical Focus reported extensively on many of these cases, including the imprisonment in 2018, trial and release after 738 days in detention without evidence of American evangelical pastor Andrew Brunson.

Spanish theologian Carlos Madrigal, who served as an evangelical pastor in Turkey for 36 years, fully integrated into the country and known for his conversations about faith on television and in Turkish literature, explained to Evangelical Focus in an interview his experience of being blacklisted and denied permission to re-enter the country where he had spent most of his life.

Last October, the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva also heard the request from the World Evangelical Alliance that Turkey “engage in structured dialogue with Protestants”.

Turkey’s “sustained pressure on Christian communities”

The current Turkish state’s obstinacy against Christians, says the resolution now passed by the European Parliament, is evident in “the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque, the destruction of Christian churches, and sustained pressure on Christian communities, illustrating a broader and systematic pattern of restrictions on fundamental freedoms, including freedom of expression and freedom of religion”.

Among those who have worked hardest to demand that Turkey respect Christians is Dutch Member of the European Parliament Bert Jan-Ruissen, a Protestant (from the Dutch SGP party and a member of the European Christian Political Party).

ECPP MEP @hjaruissen: “Türkiye must take freedom of religion seriously.”

In Türkiye, Christian missionaries have been arbitrarily labelled as threats to national security and banned from entering the country, even after living there for years. This obstructs churches and… pic.twitter.com/tJy7PAuSol

— ECPP (@ecpp_eu) February 12, 2026

In his defence of the resolution during the plenary session, Bert Jan-Ruissen denounced: “You bring the Good News of the Gospel, the message of peace and reconciliation through Jesus Christ. Then you are considered a threat to national security and are no longer allowed to enter the country. That is the harsh reality of missionaries working in Türkiye”.

 The MEP considers that the anti-Christian action of the Erdogan government ’obstructs churches and violates religious freedom".

Therefore, “as the EU strengthens ties with Türkiye again, it must speak clearly. Türkiye must stop targeting churches, guarantee freedom of religion or belief, and allow Christians to share their faith freely”, Bert-Ruissen demanded.

Five of the last ten years without a special envoy for religious freedom

The resolution condemning Turkey comes at a time when the European Union is once again demonstrating its neglect in promoting religious freedom as a fundamental human right outside of its borders.

The position of Special Envoy for the Promotion of Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) has been vacant for over a year. This role, created in 2016 to promote religious freedom in countries with which the European Union has relations, has seen more absences than appointments in recent years.

After the successful tenure of Slovakian Jan Figel, the role began to be sidelined in 2020, with timid responses to pressure from MEPs concerned about religious freedom who were calling for a new appointment that never came.

The European Union finally appointed a new Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief in May 2021, but Christos Stylianides of Cyprus left the post just five months later.

Almost a year later, Mario Mauro of Italy seemed set to take over the role, but this was never confirmed. Finally, Frans Van Dalen of Belgium was appointed in December 2022. He ended his term in 2024 and no one has filled his position since.

European parliamentarians such as Bert Jan-Ruissen and Miriam Lexmann have written to European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen asking her not to let any more time pass without appointing a new special envoy, but more than a year later the position remains vacant.