The Turkish government has issued an official decree inviting Turkey's Christian and Jewish communities to reclaim their long-confiscated religious properties.

The decree of 27 August 2011 comes 75 years after the government seized hundreds of buildings and lands owned by its Greek, Armenian, Syriac and Jewish communities.

David Turner (Church in Chains) and Tom Slattery (Evangelical Alliance Ireland) have presented the Turkish Ambassador to Ireland, Mr Altay Cengizer, with a copy of "A Threat' or Under Threat? Legal and Social Problems of Protestants in Turkey, 2010", published by the Association of Protestant Churches in Turkey.

Turan Topal (50) and Hakan Tastan (41) have finally been acquitted four years after they were first charged with "anti-Turkishness". They had been involved in leading Bible correspondence courses.

Two Turkish Christians, Hakan Tastan (41) and Turan Topal (50), were tried for the eleventh time in May 2010 on a charge of "anti-Turkishness". They had been involved in leading Bible correspondence courses.

The European Court of Human Rights has ordered Turkey to remove the religious affiliation section from citizens' identification cards, calling the practice a violation of human rights.

Christians in Turkey are continuing to face major obstacles in finding a place to worship. These difficulties arise because the Turkish state only legally recognises three minority communities – Armenians, Greeks and Jews.