The

Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...

bears a strong bond to the nation of

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

Baháʼu'lláh Baháʼu'lláh (, born Ḥusayn-ʻAlí; 12 November 1817 – 29 May 1892) was an Iranian religious leader who founded the Baháʼí Faith. He was born to an aristocratic family in Iran and was exiled due to his adherence to the messianic Báb ...

, the founder of the religion, was exiled to

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, current-day

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, by the Ottoman authorities during the formative days of the religion. Since the establishment of the Baháʼí Faith in Turkey's predecessor state, the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, and in Turkey, the legal standing of the religion has been contested as progressively wider scales of organization of the religion have been attempted by the community. In the 21st century, many of the obstacles to the religion remain in place, as Baháʼís cannot register with the government officially. Despite this, members do not face significant persecution due to the

separation of religion and state The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular sta ...

in Turkey, and there are estimated to be 10,000 to 20,000 Baháʼís and around one hundred Baháʼí

Local Spiritual Assemblies Spiritual Assembly is a term given by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá to refer to elected councils that govern the Baháʼí Faith. Because the Baháʼí Faith has no clergy, they carry out the affairs of the community. In addition to existing at the local level ...

in Turkey.

Early phase

Many of the important geographic areas of the early period of the Baháʼí Faith were historically controlled by the

, from which

came about after the Empire's dissolution in the 1920s. The first interaction between the history of the religion and what is present-day Turkey occurred when Mullá 'Alíy-i-Bastámí, who was a Bábi—the immediate predecessor religion associated with the

—was arrested in Ottoman-controlled

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

for teaching the religion and sent as a prisoner to

in 1846.

In 1863, when

, the founder of the religion, was in

due to his banishment from

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, he was further exiled by the Ottoman government from Baghdad to Istanbul. He was later exiled to

Edirne Edirne (; ), historically known as Orestias, Adrianople, is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the Edirne Province, province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, Edirne was the second c ...

in the western part of Turkey, and ultimately to

Acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

in current-day Israel. While in Istanbul and Edirne the followers of the religion started to become known as ''Baháʼís'', and a significant portion of Baháʼu'lláh's writings were written while he was in current-day Turkey. While much of the writings were written in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

, the central figures of the Baháʼí Faith have written in Turkish, though most of the early

Baháʼí literature Baháʼí literature includes the books, letters, and recorded public talks of the Baháʼí Faith's founders, the clarifying letters of Shoghi Effendi, the elucidations of the Universal House of Justice, and a variety of commentary and history ...

in Turkish was printed by the large Baháʼí communities in Baku

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

and

Ashkhabad Ashgabat (Turkmen language, Turkmen: ''Aşgabat'') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Turkmenistan. It lies between the Karakum Desert and the Kopet Dag, Kopetdag mountain range in Central Asia, approximately 50 km (30 ...

Growth

Developments along Western Turkey

Baháʼís have lived in the territory of modern Turkey since Baháʼu'lláh's time. Other Baháʼís have come from other places to be in Constantinople in this period around 1910. After joining the religion in 1906 in the United States

Stanwood Cobb Stanwood Cobb (November 6, 1881 – December 29, 1982) was an American teacher, author and prominent Baháʼí of the 20th century. He was born in Newton, Massachusetts, the son of Darius Cobb and his wife, née Laura Mae Lillie. Darius and his ...

''The Baháʼí World'', Vol 18, Part 5, "In Memoriam: Stanwood Cobb, 1881-1982"
/ref> taught history and Latin at

Robert College The American Robert College of Istanbul ( or ), often abbreviated as Robert or RC, is a Selective school, highly selective, Independent school, independent, mixed-sex education, co-educational, Education in Turkey#Private schools, private Second ...

in Constantinople in the period 1907–1910 and undertook travels to see ʻAbdu'l-Bahá.Oates, John F. 1975?. ''Biographical Dictionary of American Educators'', Vol. 1, pp. 275
/ref> In succeeding years, Cobb wrote several works dealing with Turkey - ''The Real Turk'', ISBN B000NUP6SI, 1914, Ayesha of the Bosphorus, 1915, and Islamic Contributions to Civilization in 1963.

Wellesley Tudor Pole Wellesley Tudor Pole OBE (23 April 1884 – 13 September 1968) was an English Baháʼí, psychic, spiritualist and activist for vegetarianism. Pole authored many pamphlets and books and was a lifelong pursuer of religious and mystical qu ...

had been pursuing investigations in the Middle East and visited Constantinople where he heard of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá in 1908 and soon became a Baháʼí. The woman known as

Isabella Grinevskaya Beyle (Berta) Friedberg (; 3 May 1864 – 15 October 1944), best known by the pen names Isabella () and Isabella Arkadevna Grinevskaya (), was a Russian Empire, Russian-Jews, Jewish novelist, poet, and dramatist. As a translator, she translated ...

moved from

Odesa Odesa, also spelled Odessa, is the third most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern ...

Ukraine after gaining some notability as a playwright to Constantinople and after meeting ʻAbdu'l-Bahá on a trip to Egypt became a member of the Baháʼí Faith. In 1913,

ʻAbdu'l-Bahá ʻAbdu'l-Bahá (; Persian: , ;, 23 May 1844 – 28 November 1921), born ʻAbbás (, ), was the eldest son of Baháʼu'lláh, founder of the Bahá’í Faith, who designated him to be his successor and head of the Baháʼí Faith from 1892 un ...

, Baháʼu'lláh's son and successor, commented that the religion was spreading into the interior of Turkey.

Süleyman Nazif Süleyman Nazif (;‎ 29 January 1870 – 4 January 1927) was a Turkish poet and a prominent member of the CUP. He mastered Arabic, Persian, and French languages and worked as a civil servant during the reign of Sultan Abdul Hamid II. He c ...

is a prominent poet and thinker from Turkey at the turn of the 20th century who was challenged to learn more of the religion while in Paris, by the poet

Catulle Mendès Catulle Mendès (; 22 May 1841 – 8 February 1909) was a French poet and man of letters. Early life and career Of Portuguese Jewish extraction, Mendès was born in Bordeaux. After childhood and adolescence in Toulouse, he arrived in Paris in 1 ...

. Investigating the religion, including meeting with ʻAbdu'l-Bahá a number of times and becoming an admirer of Tahirih, Nazif wrote about various facets of these encounters and history in several books - though they contain errors they can be considered an important alternative source on early views of Baháʼí history.

Martha Root Martha Louise Root (August 10, 1872 – September 28, 1939) was an American traveling teacher of the Baháʼí Faith in the early 20th century. From the declaration of her belief in 1909 until her death thirty years later, she went around the ...

, a Baháʼí teacher, visited Turkey in 1927, 1929, and 1932. Following the rise of

Secularism in Turkey In Turkey, secularism or laicism (see ''laïcité'') was first introduced with the 1928 amendment of the Constitution of 1924, which removed the provision declaring that the "Religion of the State is Islam", and with the later reforms of Turk ...

, the Turkish government, around 1928, decided to order the police in the town of

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; , or ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, Turkey. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna ...

to conduct a close investigation into the purpose, the character and the effects of Baháʼí activity in that town. Mentioned in the morning papers the next day, the chairman of the Baháʼí

Local Spiritual Assembly Spiritual Assembly is a term given by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá to refer to elected councils that govern the Baháʼí Faith. Because the Baháʼí Faith has no clergy, they carry out the affairs of the community. In addition to existing at the local level ...

of Constantinople travelled to offer the necessary explanations to the authorities concerned but he and the rest of the assembly were all arrested, and Baháʼí literature in their homes was seized. However their books were returned and there was widespread publicity in leading newspapers of Turkey leading to the government lifting the ban on the Baháʼís.

Developments spread east

Sometime before 1930, Sami Doktoroglu came in contact with the religion, and became a Baháʼí. He would later become an important member of the religion in Turkey, and as part of the community of

Birecik Birecik is a municipality and district of Şanlıurfa Province, Turkey. Its area is 912 km2, and its population is 93,866 (2023). It lies on the Euphrates. Built on a limestone cliff 400 ft. high on the left/east bank of the Euphrates, " ...

. Despite the earlier situation where the ban on the religion was removed, further waves of arrests of Baháʼís spread through

Urfa Urfa, officially called Şanlıurfa (), is a city in southeastern Turkey and the capital of Şanlıurfa Province. The city was known as Edessa from Hellenistic period, Hellenistic times and into Christian times. Urfa is situated on a plain abo ...

Adana Adana is a large city in southern Turkey. The city is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the northeastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the administrative seat of the Adana Province, Adana province, and has a population of 1 81 ...

and

Gaziantep Gaziantep, historically Aintab and still informally called Antep, is a major city in south-central Turkey. It is the capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Medi ...

. In the winter of 1951, the visit to Istanbul of

Amelia Collins Amelia Engelder Collins (June 7, 1873 – January 1, 1962) was a prominent American Baháʼí from a Lutheran family. She became Baháʼí in 1919. She made large donations to several Baháʼí projects in Haifa, Israel, such as to the buildin ...

, a Baháʼí teacher, was facilitated by Doktoroglu. He made hotel reservations and greeted her at the airport with a large group of Baháʼís. Several meetings were arranged at which she could meet groups of Baháʼís and a large banquet was given in her honour. Doktoroglu then went on

Baháʼí pilgrimage A Baháʼí pilgrimage currently consists of visiting the holy places in Acre, Israel, Acre and Haifa at the Baháʼí World Centre in Northwest Israel. Baháʼí Faith, Baháʼís do not have access to other places designated as sites for pilgri ...

and on his return a letter dated 14 December 1951 written on behalf of the head of the religion reached the believers in Istanbul encouraging the friends to establish a Local Spiritual Assembly and to pursue other tasks concerning which he had given instructions to Doktoroglu. In April 1952 the Local Spiritual Assembly of (now renamed) Istanbul was formed with Doktoroglu as one of its members. Years later Doktoroglu was successful in obtaining permission to search the government archives. Among his findings was an indication that Mulla ʻAláy-i-Bastámí had in his travels reached the city of

Bolu Bolu is a city in northern Turkey, and administrative center of the Bolu Province and of Bolu District,

Further developments and problems

By the late 1950s Baháʼí communities existed across many of the cities and towns Baháʼu'lláh passed through on his passage in Turkey. In 1959 the Baháʼí

National Spiritual Assembly Spiritual Assembly is a term given by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá to refer to elected councils that govern the Baháʼí Faith. Because the Baháʼí Faith has no clergy, they carry out the affairs of the community. In addition to existing at the local level ...

of Turkey was formed with the help of

ʻAlí-Akbar Furútan ʻAlí-Akbar Furútan (; 29 April 1905 – 26 November 2003) was a prominent Iranian Baháʼí educator and author who was given the rank of Hand of the Cause in 1951. Biography A native of Sabzivár in what was, at the time, Iran's Khur ...

, a

Hand of the Cause Hand of the Cause was a title given to prominent early members of the Baháʼí Faith, appointed for life by the religion's founders. Of the fifty individuals given the title, the last living was ʻAlí-Muhammad Varqá, who died in 2007. Hands of ...

— an individual considered to have achieved a distinguished rank in service to the religion. Among the members of the National Spiritual Assembly was Masíh Farhangí who had previously served on the Baháʼí National Spiritual Assembly of Iran; he had his family had pioneered from Iran to Turkey around 1959 and both he and his wife were registered as graduate students in a medical college. Even though Farhangí was elected secretary of the body, he was ejected from Turkey at the end of that year. Repeating the pattern of arrests in the 1920s and 30s, in 1959 during

Naw Ruz Nowruz (, , () , () , () , () , Kurdish: () , () , () , () , , , , () , , ) is the Iranian or Persian New Year. Historically, it has been observed by Iranian peoples, but is now celebrated by many ethnicities world ...

mass arrests of the Baháʼí local assembly of

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

resulted in the religion being accused of being a forbidden

Tariqah A ''tariqa'' () is a religious order of Sufism, or specifically a concept for the mystical teaching and spiritual practices of such an order with the aim of seeking , which translates as "ultimate truth". A tariqa has a (guide) who plays the r ...

, or sect of Islam. The court requested three experts in comparative religion to give their opinion: two of the three experts supported viewing the Baháʼí Faith as an independent religion, and one claimed that it was a sect of Islam. After this report, the court appointed three respected religious scholars to review all aspects of the question and advise the court of their views. All three of these scholars agreed that the religion was independent on January 17, 1961. However the judges chose to disregard these findings and on July 15, 1961 declared that the Baháʼí Faith was a forbidden sect but this decision was appealed to the Turkish Supreme Court. Starting in 1960 until 1990, however, Baháʼís could register with the government when the Interior Ministry issued instructions introducing a new standardized code system that did not include the religion, a situation similar to the current Egyptian identification card controversy.

Re-establishment of the National Assembly and further issues

By 1963, there were 12 Baháʼí local assemblies in the country, and the number grew to 22 assemblies by the end of 1973. The National Assembly was able to be reestablished in 1974, and by 1986 there were 50 local assemblies. But turmoil continued when on August 6, 1996, 21 Iranians (8 men, 4 women and 9 children, the youngest of whom is 4 years old), approached the

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, l ...

(UNHCR) in Ankara to request asylum from Iran. UNHCR officials registered their names and informed them of new regulations which require asylum seekers to apply within five days to the police in the city where they entered the country. The asylum seekers were issued documents by the UNHCR indicating their intention for requesting asylum from the local Turkish police. They boarded a chartered bus and arrived in Agri, the city of their entrance, the next morning. However the group disappeared — with various reports suggesting they were returned to Iranian authorities.

Modern community

Since its inception the religion has had involvement in socio-economic development beginning by giving greater freedom to women, promulgating the promotion of female education as a priority concern, and that involvement was given practical expression by creating schools, agricultural coops, and clinics. The religion entered a new phase of activity when a message of the

Universal House of Justice The Universal House of Justice is the nine-member supreme ruling body of the Baháʼí Faith. It was envisioned by Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, as an institution that could legislate on issues not already addressed in the ...

dated 20 October 1983 was released. Baháʼís were urged to seek out ways, compatible with the

Baháʼí teachings The teachings of the Baháʼí Faith are derived from the writings of Baháʼu'lláh, its founder. A corpus of Baháʼí literature include books and writings of the Báb and Baháʼu'lláh, along with the public talks and writings of ‘Abdu� ...

, in which they could become involved in the social and economic development of the communities in which they lived. Worldwide in 1979 there were 129 officially recognized Baháʼí socio-economic development projects. By 1987, the number of officially recognized development projects had increased to 1482. However, in Turkey things are complicated. Baháʼís still arrive in Turkey as refugees from the

Persecution of Baháʼís Baháʼís are persecuted in various countries, especially in Iran, where the Baháʼí Faith originated and where one of the largest Baháʼí populations in the world is located. The origins of the persecution stem from a variety of Baháʼ ...

in Iran. But matters in Turkey are hardly supportive. Despite a 2006 regulation allowing persons to leave the religion section of their identity cards blank or change the religious designation by written application, the government continued to restrict applicants' choice of religion. Despite the regulation, applicants must choose Muslim, Christian, Jew, Hindu, Zoroastrian, Confucian, Taoist, Buddhist, Religionless, Other, or Unknown as their religious affiliation so individuals can't be registered as Baháʼís. Additionally there are still instances of harassment and property has been confiscated. In February 2001 the Baháʼí community lost a legal appeal against government expropriation of a sacred site near Edirne; the Ministry of Culture had previously granted heritage status to the site in 1993. In January 2001 two Baháʼís were detained for proselytizing in

Sivas Sivas is a city in central Turkey. It is the seat of Sivas Province and Sivas District.İl Beledi ...

while a local imam commenting on the arrest made a public rebuke alluding to those "whose killing is necessary." Still in 2001, two Baháʼí university professors at Sivas'

Cumhuriyet University Sivas Cumhuriyet University () is a public university established in the Sivas Province of Turkey in 1973 at the 50th anniversary of Republic of Turkey. The main campus of the university is located away from Sivas city center, settled in an are ...

faced expulsion. in 2008, a Baháʼí was appointed dean of the Science and Letters Faculty of the

Middle East Technical University Middle East Technical University (commonly referred to as METU; in Turkish language, Turkish, ''Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi'', ODTÜ) is a prestigious public university, public Institute of technology, technical university located in Ankara, ...

. The Turkish government supported the declaration of the Presidency of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

when he "denounced" the trial of Iranian Baháʼís announced in February 2009.

Demographics

Because the religion is proscribed there can be no official counts of membership. Estimates by others range from 10,000 to 20,000. The

Association of Religion Data Archives The Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA) is a free source of online information related to American and international religion. One of the primary goals of the archive is to democratize access to academic information on religion by making t ...

(relying on

World Christian Encyclopedia ''World Christian Encyclopedia'' is a reference work, with its third edition published by Edinburgh University Press in November 2019. The ''WCE'' is known for providing membership statistics for major world religions and Christian denomination ...

) estimated some 21,000 Baháʼís in Turkey - and some 880 in Cyprus. The US State Department estimated the Turkish Cypriot Baháʼí community of approximately 200 in 2008. There are about a hundred local spiritual assemblies in modern Turkey.

References

External links

Baháʼí Faith in Turkey
official webpage
Baháʼí Holy Places in Turkey
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baha'i Faith In Turkey Religion in Turkey