Turkey
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538
Total Church Membership
Population vs. Church Members
7
Congregations
History
Early leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints preached in Turkey in 1850, recognizing present-day Ephesus as the New Testament home of the Christian congregation to which Paul, Timothy and John belonged. In May 1854, Latter-day Saints organized a congregation in Turkey. It consisted of British Latter-day Saint soldiers who, along with allied forces from Turkey and France, fought against Russia in the Crimean War.
In 1884, the Church established the Turkish Mission and sent Jacob Spori, born in the Swiss Alps, to preach in Turkey. Three months after arriving in Istanbul and teaching himself the Turkish language, Spori began preaching. While there, he also taught English, French and German. Mischa Markow, a Hungarian living in Istanbul, joined the Church in 1887. After his baptism, he returned to Hungary to preach. In September 1889, the first Armenian converts were baptized in Aintab. For many years Church growth in Turkey was slow but efforts during recent decades have led to the organization of several new congregations. The first of these was organized in Ankara in October 1979. In 1991 the Church sent an estimated 13,000 blankets, 80,000 pounds of clothing, and funds for medical supplies to aid Kurdish refugees in Turkey.
For Journalist Use Only
Elena Nechiporova
Fax: 7 495 363 2580
Phone: 7 295 363 2573
Africa
Total Church Membership
621,448
Members
2,150
Congregations
Missions
34Missions
Family History Centers
Temples
3Temples
Asia
Total Church Membership
1,206,148
Members
2,139
Congregations
Missions
45Missions
Family History Centers
Temples
8Temples
Europe
Total Church Membership
493,970
Members
1,382
Congregations
Missions
34Missions
Family History Centers
Temples
12Temples
North America
Total Church Membership
9,336,465
Members
18,071
Congregations
Missions
182Missions
Family History Centers
Temples
109Temples
Oceania (Pacific)
Total Church Membership
562,341
Members
1,253
Congregations
Missions
17Missions
Family History Centers
Temples
10Temples
South America
Total Church Membership
4,093,363
Members
5,541
Congregations