09/21/2019 Turkey (International Christian Concern) – Turkey has again expelled a foreign Christian from the country, bringing the number of expelled foreign Christians within the last year to 24. Hans-Jurgen Louven is a German who for the past two decades has worked in the Turkish tourism sector.
Louven’s deportation order came as a shock. He moved to Turkey in 1998, and requested permission from the authorities to build a business that promoted faith tourism trips. The authorities warmly welcomed the idea, and throughout the past two decades Louven has never received any indication that the authorities felt hostile towards his business.
According to one local source, his deportation order was issued from the Interior Ministry, not the courts. This has caused significant difficulties for Louven, who attempted to appeal the order. He left the country on September 12th, after having been given notice just ten days prior of the decision.
Turkey has developed an alarming pattern of expelling foreign Christians from the country. It is often viewed as an attempt to further isolate the country’s already small Christian presence. Although technically secular, Turkey is increasingly moving in an Islamist direction.
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