U.S Evangelist Detained In Turkey Now Released

A U.S evangelist taken into custody by Turkish authorities and declared a "danger to public order" has been released.
 
David Byle was detained on April 6 and held for 30 days after authorities in Turkey asked him to report to the immigration office.
 
He was summoned in regards to his application for a residency permit and was told his application was denied.  He was immediately taken into custody and transferred to the Fatih police station in Istanbul. 
 
"Praise God, I was released from the deportation center this afternoon and just arrived home," David Byle wrote on Facebook. "Thanks to all who prayed and did advocacy for me, also to my tireless lawyer and most of all to our lord and savior Jesus Christ, who never left side, and never will."

Byle's attorney said the immigration department had filed a deportation order against him by direct recommendation from the Ministry of the Interior. 
 
The government also filed a "no-reentry order" which forbids him from coming back into the country once he is deported. 
 
As Byle has been declared a potential danger to Turkey, the government has the "right to supervise" him for 30 days without filing charges against him, reports Christianity Today (CT). 
 
Byle's wife spoke with CT, and said she thought the idea of her husband being a danger to the country was absurd. 
 
"I feel it's funny," said Ulrike Byle. "I think the reason he is being held is because of his evangelistic activities."
 
Byle who is described as mild-mannered, polite and calm was scheduled to teach a class to a group of Turks on how to share the gospel. 
 
Byle is a ministry leader at the U.S-based International Christian Response (ICR), an organization that provides aid to persecuted Christians, and the co-founder of the Bible Correspondence Course in Turkey.
 
Even though Byle has no criminal record, this not the first time he was arrested by Turkish authorities. 
 
In 2007, he was arrested for street evangelism after officers said people complained about "aggressive evangelism," but the charges were dropped. 
 
IN 2009 and 2010 he was detained for deportation, but was not found guilty of committing any crimes and the deportation was blocked.
 
Since his first arrest, Byle has had problems with Turkish authorities, including a five-year court battle for residency which ended when a court ruled that the government had not shown enough evidence that he was "a threat to national security and public morals."