Displaying results 1 - 12 of 12

Religious Freedom Priorities for the Biden Administration
Feb 4, 2021   As the Biden administration begins to formulate its broader human rights policy, USCIRF highlights several priority countries when it comes to international religious freedom. Condemning and preventing…
The Situation in Sinjar
Feb 18, 2021   In recent years, northern Iraq has become a battleground for Turkish armed forces and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). In June 2020, Turkey escalated their attacks in the region, announcing military…
50 Years and Counting: The Continued Closure of Halki Seminary in Turkey
May 20, 2021 It’s been 50 years since the Turkish government closed the Greek Orthodox Theological School of Halki, also known as the Halki Seminary. The school continues to be unable to educate or train clergy in a country…
Sivas Massacre and Turkey’s Persecution of the Alevi Community
Jul 2, 2021 On July 2, 1993 a mob set fire to the Madimak Hotel in Sivas, Turkey—where a group of prominent Alevi writers, poets, and thinkers had gathered. Reports show 37 people died in what became known as the Sivas (or…
An Update on Religious Freedom Conditions in Turkey
Dec 10, 2021 Religious freedom conditions in Turkey continue to follow a disappointing, negative trajectory. The Hagia Sophia conversion, the continued closure of the Halki Seminary, government meddling in the internal affairs…
Conditions for Religious and Nonbelief Communities in Turkey
Jul 7, 2022 This past spring, USCIRF staff traveled to Turkey and met with religious and nonbelief communities across the country. Numerous issues continue to negatively impact their freedom of religion or belief, including an…
The Suffocating Hold of HTS on Northwest Syria
Nov 18, 2022 More than a decade after the onset of Syria’s civil war, the conflict continues with multiple state and non-state actors vying for power. Today, one of the most notable non-state actors is the militant Islamist…
The Alevi Struggle for Rights in Turkey
Nov 25, 2022 Alevis constitute the largest religious minority in Turkey and have faced persistent obstacles to the exercise of their religious freedom. In October 2022, the Turkish government announced its plan to create a new state-run Alevi institution—…
Shortcomings of the State Department’s CPC Designations
Jan 25, 2024 One of USCIRF’s key functions is to make recommendations to the State Department about which countries we think should be designated as Countries of Particular Concern or CPCs, based on our independent research and…
10 Years On: Ongoing Threats to Religious Minority Survivors of ISIS’s Genocide
Aug 2, 2024 Ten years ago, the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) launched a campaign of mass atrocities to achieve the religious and ethnic cleansing of Yazidis, Assyrian-Chaldean-Syriac Christians, Shi’a and Sunni Muslim Turkmens,…
Responses to Genocide: Two Former U.S. Officials Reflect on ISIS’s Genocide in Iraq and Syria
Aug 9, 2024 Ten years ago, the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) launched a campaign of mass atrocities to achieve the religious and ethnic cleansing of religious minority groups in Iraq and Syria. In 2016, the U.S. State Department…
Religious Freedom as Syria Transitions After Assad
May 23, 2025  At the end of 2024, over thirteen years since the onset of Syria’s protracted civil war, the country’s political landscape dramatically shifted when a rebel coalition toppled the government of President Bashar al-Assad. Religious freedom…