A court in Istanbul accused Pastor Michael Feulner, a German citizen, of posing a threat to Turkey’s national security, Ahval reported citing The Barnabas Fund, an international Christian aid agency.

Pastor Feulner faces deportation if the judges rule against him, which will happen in two to three months’ time. Feulner has no right to appeal such a decision in the immigration court.

Feulner’s lawyer said that in early February, the pastor had been held in custody unlawfully in solitary confinement for 30 hours, and later told to leave Turkey within ten days. He was later allowed to stay in the country until his case is resolved.

The pastor came to Turkey in 1999 as a relief worker in the wake of the devastating earthquake in Izmit that claimed 17,000 lives. He and his family later settled in nearby Yalova, where he has been pastor of Yalova Lighthouse Church since 2003.

In 2020, Turkey deported at least 18 foreign Christian workers, Christian Post reported in July. The previous year saw 35 Christian workers deported. A February report by the International Christian Concern found an increase in religious freedom violations in Turkey, with several churches converted into mosques and municipal buildings.

A local elderly Syriac couple from the southeastern Sirnak province’s only remaining Christian village have been missing since Jan. 7, 2020, while Syriac monk Father Sefer Bilecen appeared in court in February this year facing charges of terrorism over sharing food with a member of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).