Turkey allows first new Christian church since 1923 - Deutsche Welle

For the first time in over 90 years, Turkey has permitted the construction of a new Christian church. Since the end of the Ottoman empire in 1923, only renovations of existing churches had been allowed.

At a meeting of religious representatives in Istanbul on Friday evening, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the Syriac Christian church will be built on state-owned land in the Istanbul district of Yesilkoy, which already has Greek Orthodox, Armenian and Catholic churches. The construction work, however, will be paid for by the Syriac group.

There are currently approximately 100,000 Christians in Turkey, which has an almost exclusively Muslim population of 80 million.   Read More