North Cyprus/Turkey: Bibles confiscated from expatriate Christian"s home

On 29 January 2021, Middle East Concern (MEC) reported that the home and business premises of expatriate Christian Ryan Keating in the Famagusta (Magusa) district of North Cyprus had been raided by police and customs officials who confiscated several Bibles and editions of the New Testament. According to MEC, North Cyprus" most prominent Turkish language newspaper published a "factually incorrect and provocative article about missionary activity in North Cyprus, mentioning the search of his property and linking Ryan Keating with Pastor Andrew Brunson, who spent two years in a Turkish prison on trumped up terrorism charges". Michael Bosch, persecution analyst at World Watch Research, found this news worrying: "Although the self-declared "˜Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" is only recognized by Turkey (which has occupied the territory since 1974), it is known for its general respect for civil liberties and human rights, including Freedom of religion or belief. In Freedom House"s Freedom in the World 2020 Index, North Cyprus is rated as "˜free", in sharp contrast to Turkey. However, the October 2020 election of pro-Turkey President Ersin Tatar seems to have changed things on the ground (BBC News, 19 October 2020). Although his victory was a surprise and quite narrow (he gained only 52% of the votes), his election might signal a change for the worse as regards civil liberties in North Cyprus for the small (expatriate) Christian community making up around 2% of the population. They now hope that North Cyprus will not follow Turkey"s example by starting to label expatriate Christians "˜a security threat" and expel them from the country."