On targeted expulsions of foreign journalists and foreign Christians in Türkiye under national security pretexts

B100120/2026

European Parliament resolution on targeted expulsions of foreign journalists and foreign Christians in Türkiye under national security pretexts

(2026/2613(RSP))

The European Parliament,

having regard to its previous resolutions on Türkiye;

having regard to Rules 150 of its Rules of Procedure;

whereas Turkish authorities have increasingly resorted to deportations and entry bans against foreign journalists on vague “public order” and “national security” grounds, undermining media freedom and the right to information;

whereas Reporters Without Borders condemned the deportation of BBC correspondent Mark Lowen and the arrest and threatened deportation of French journalist Raphaël Boukandoura as serious attacks on press freedom; whereas exiled Iranian journalist Kaveh Taheri was arrested on 26 January by Turkish authorities while on his way to the French Consulate in Istanbul for a visa appointment and at risk of deportation to Iran;

whereas the measures against the journalists and press is part of a broader democratic backsliding in Türkiye, and with systematic intimidation of journalists, including denial of accreditation, travel bans, prosecutions and censorship justified by counterterrorism and national-security legislation; whereas journalist Nujan Mala Hassan was shot and injured by Turkish border guard on 20 January while reporting on protests;

whereas, in addition to the repressive measures against opposition parties, human rights and democracy activists, journalists and others, Türkiye has developed a pattern of expulsions of foreign Christians, pastors, missionaries and family members, using administrative “security codes” N-82 and G-87 that designate individuals as threats without evidence, trial or effective appeal;

whereas between 2019 and 2024 at least 132 foreign Christians were banned or expelled, affecting 303 people including spouses and children, with courts rarely providing relief and with these measures weakening local Protestant communities and creating fear of surveillance and criminalisation for peaceful religious activity;

whereas such practices are incompatible with the ECHR, the ICCPR and Türkiye’s commitments as an EU candidate country, notwithstanding the fact that this process is currently frozen;

Condemns the targeted expulsions of foreign journalists and foreign Christians carried out under unsubstantiated national-security pretexts and without due process;

Urges Türkiye to immediately cease the use of administrative security codes N-82 and G-87, to provide individualised and reasoned decisions subject to independent judicial review, and to allow those expelled arbitrarily to return;

Calls on Türkiye to release Kaveh Taheri and permit him to remain in Turkey until he obtains a visa for the EU;

Calls for the restoration of press accreditation and residence permits for journalists and religious workers removed without transparent procedures;

Demands the alignment of counterterrorism and public-order legislation with the ECHR and ECtHR case-law, as recommended by the Commission;

Invites the Commission and the EEAS to treat persecution of journalists as a specific benchmark in the accession process and to consider targeted measures should these abuses persist;

Encourages Member States to provide protection and visas to journalists and religious workers at risk and to support independent monitoring of deportation practices;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the VP/HR, the Government and Parliament of Türkiye, the Council of Europe and the OSCE.