The Association of Protestant Churches began its collaboration between local churches in Turkey at the end of the 1980s with a meeting of church leaders. This alliance that began as a “Representative Committee” (“Temsilciler Kurulu” also known as “TeK”) gained essential momentum toward the end of the 1990s in response to the growth of the Protestant Community and increasing anti-Christian media and propaganda. Within time a large percentage of the local churches in Turkey have become part of this alliance.
For many years TeK had problems with representation in the eyes of official government bodies due to the limitations found in the old laws pertaining to the establishment of an association. In recent years, the “Association Law” was revised and TeK made a decision to form itself into an association. The Association of Protestant Churches was formed on 23 January 2009, with registration number 35-049-108, and based in Izmir.