Church Moves ‘Volunteers’ out of Turkey Citing Unrest
The Church has transferred 15 young volunteers serving in Turkey to Germany, where they will continue their service among the Turkish-speaking population of Berlin. [The Church anticipates] these volunteers will return when conditions in Turkey normalize. Our prayers are with the people of Turkey and with our Church members who live there (Mormon Newsroom).
In 2013, there were 1,550,000 Turkish citizens in Germany which accounted for 22.1% of Germany’s foreign population and thus the largest ethnic minority. The current estimate is that nearly 3 million people in Germany have at least one Turkish parent (Wikipedia).
Turkey has seen a recent failed coup attempt (July 15, 2016) against its leader, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Hundreds were killed or wounded during the attempt and thousands have been arrested or relieved of their duties since then. A state of emergency has been declared.
There are 439 members of the Church in Turkey, with 1 mission and 12 congregations.