Turkey’s history—from its Ottoman past, to the regime of its current Islamist president—has been defined by its poor treatment of its Christian minority.

A century ago, the Ottoman Empire committed genocide against Christians.  From 1915 to 1923, over 3 million Christians--Armenians, Syriacs, Assyro-Chaldeans, Greeks and Maronites-- were killed. During that ­period, half the populations of Tur Abdin and Mount Lebanon, among the Middle East’s final Christian strongholds, were slaughtered or died of famine. Hundreds of thousands more were widowed, orphaned and forced into exile with little more than the clothes on their backs, and nightmares of the atrocities they’ve witnessed. Christians constituted about 20 percent of the population prior to 1915, but now amount to less than one percent of modern-day Turkey.  To this day, Turkey’s Erdogan government denies the occurrence of this genocide, and is aggressively engaged in a campaign to whitewash history.  

In July 2020, supported by the questionable jurisprudence of Turkey’s highest administrative court, President Erdogan has decided to convert the Hagia Sophia, the world’s once-largest Christian cathedral into a mosque.  The conversion of this ancient Christian landmark and UNESCO World Heritage Site is not only an affront to Eastern Christians, but to all Christians and people of good will.

This latest move continues a long-standing trend of Christian landmarks and houses of worship being appropriated and converted into mosques or even seized by the Turkish state. Cultural landmarks, including the Hagia Sophia, are some of the only remnants which testify to Turkey’s once-vibrant Christian presence.  By targeting the Christian cultural legacy, Erdogan and the Turkish government aim to complete the genocide that began a century ago.  It is unacceptable, and the world must not stand by idly.

Turkey’s persecution against Christians also extends beyond its borders.  Turkey’s egregious human rights violations also include the ethno-religious expulsion of Syriacs in northern Syria and the destruction of more than 500 Greek Orthodox churches in Turkish-occupied areas of Cyprus.

President Erdogan is a destructive force against Christians of the Middle East, and an irresponsible actor in the greater region.  There are a number of political means through which to pressure the Erdogan government to adopt reforms—we are hard at work pursuing a number of options.  Meanwhile, we invite fellow American Christians to take a stand—as consumers—and hold Erdogan’s government accountable.  

In solidarity with the persecuted Christians of the Middle East and Africa, we call on consumers to:

1. Boycott tourism and travel in Turkey.  Moreover, if traveling in Europe or Asia, try to book fights that do not include layovers in Turkey on the travel itinerary. British Airways, Air France, and Lufthansa all have layovers in the U.K., France, and Germany.  These are good options if one cannot fly direct. 
2. Boycott Turkish Airlines.
3. Boycott Peyman (dried seeds and fruit company)
4. Boycott Beko (home appliance company)

We also call on the following American companies and entities to take the following actions: 

1. United Airlines to cease their affiliation with Turkish Airlines in the Star Alliance
2. Entities and states to divest from the Turkish Wealth Fund