Turkish authorities have detained a US evangelist and ordered him held for 30 days without charge ahead of deportation, sources have told Morning Star News.
The news organisation reports that David Byle was declared “a danger to public order” as authorities in Turkey took him into custody on 6th April after asking him to report to the immigration office in Istanbul regarding his application for a residency permit.
Byle, 46, was told his application had been denied; he was immediately taken into custody and then transferred to the Fatih police station in Istanbul. Police held him for two days before transferring him on 8th April to a holding center for foreigners awaiting deportation, the sources said.
Byle’s wife, Ulrike, said he was told when he arrived at the immigration centre that there was no deportation order against him. Normally the centre would have no authority to imprison someone without a deportation order, but because Byle was taken there under police custody, immigration officials had the authority to hold him for 48 hours.
The next day, Byle’s attorney informed him that the immigration department had filed a deportation order against him upon direct recommendation from the Ministry of the Interior, which had claimed in a report to the department that Byle was a “danger to public order” and a flight risk. There was no indication of what the “danger to public order” accusation was based on, Byle’s wife said.
Byle was also informed that the government had filed a “no-reentry order” forbidding him from coming back into the country once deported. It is unclear when the order was filed or the length of time the order is valid. Finally, and of particular concern to Byle and his family, authorities claimed that because of the alleged potential danger he posed to Turkey, the government had the “right to supervise” him for 30 days – meaning they could hold him for a month without filing charges against him.
Ulrike Byle said the thought of her husband being a flight risk or a danger to the country was laughably absurd.
“I feel it’s funny,” she said.
Byle is known for being mild-mannered, polite and calm. He has no criminal record, she said. “I think the reason he is being held is because of his evangelistic activities,” she said.
The arrest took place days before Byle was set to teach a class to a group of Turks on how to tell people about the gospel, though there was no public indication of a link between the arrest and the scheduled training.
Byle is part of a small number of Christians in Turkey, and an even smaller number of expatriate Christians, who openly evangelise in the country. A ministry leader at US-based International Christian Response (ICR), which provides aid to persecuted Christians, said Byle lives in a sacrificial way totally immersed in his mission.
“He’s a very bold person, and I look up to him,” said the leader, who requested anonymity. “I wish there were more people like him.”
The organisation Byle co-founded, the Holy Book Information Association, also known as the Bible Correspondence Course in Turkey (BCC-Turkey), normally focuses on educating the Turkish public about the Bible. This alone is controversial in Turkey, and Byle also conducts “street evangelism” outreaches. These outreaches have garnered the most attention from the government, which at times has identified Christian missionary activity as a security threat.
Byle has been jailed or detained several other times by Turkish authorities and has dealt with this term of incarceration by preaching to other detainees and finding ways to get donations from others of much needed clothing for those held with him. He also wants to start teaching Turkish and English to other detainees.
The arrest comes at an awkward time for the Turkish government. Four days before the arrest, the government opened the Diyanet Center of America, a sprawling 15-acre site complete with a 20,236-square-foot mosque, fellowship hall and Turkish bath, all paid for with state money, which touts itself as the biggest Islamic campus “in the Western Hemisphere.”
The ministry leader at ICR said the opening of the center and Byle’s detention indicates religious freedom in Turkey is a “one-way street.” Turkish President Recep Erdo?an presided over the opening, telling a crowd of Muslims, “We should struggle against hate and prejudice, which are our common enemies, in cooperation with US citizens of different beliefs. Together with the US people, we should demonstrate to whole international community the true face of Islam.”
