U.S. State Department Slams Turkey in its Annual Religious Freedom Report

BY HARUT SASSOUNIAN

The U.S. State Department just issued its 2017 report on International Religious Freedom in about 200 countries, including Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia. This week, we will focus our attention on the Turkish section.

In general, all religious groups that are not Sunni Muslim suffer from discrimination and persecution in Turkey. Alevis, who constitute over a quarter of Turkey’s population of 81 million, are viewed by the state as “Heterodox Muslims”