Alarming anti-Aramean (Syriac) intimidations in Southeast Turkey
London, UK
The Syriac Universal Alliance (SUA), the recognized United Nations NGO representing the Aramean (Syriac) people worldwide, is becoming increasingly alarmed at the anti Christian and anti-Aramean activities taking place lately in the Tur ‘Abdin region in Southeast-Turkey.
1. NUSAYBIN GRAFFITI ATTACK:
Earlier this week, on Monday 12 July 2010, the 1,700-year-old Mor Jacob Syriac Orthodox Cathedral in Nusaybin, an Aramean city in antiquity and presently situated near the Syrian border, has been defaced with anti-Christian and pro-Islamic slogans in Turkish (e.g., “Allah is great,” “Beat it, Zionists,” “Go away, bastards,” and “Zionist dogs”) and Arabic (“Allah and Muhammed” and “Prophet Muhammad, fight the infidels and the hypocrites”).
2. MOR GABRIEL MONASTERY SIGN VANDALISM:
Yesterday, on Thursday 15 July 2010, the lowest line of a traffic sign which carries the name of the Mor Gabriel Monastery was covered with tape by fundamentalist elements of Turkish society. The unknown perpetrator(s) erased the second part of “Deyrul Umur,” a Turkish word borrowed from Arabic deir al-‘umr which derives from Aramaic dayro d-‘umro (“The Monastery of the abbey”).
It is precisely this Syriac Orthodox monastery, founded more than 1,600 years ago in the heart of the Christian region of Tur ‘Abdin (Aramaic for “The Mountain of the Servants [of God]”), which is involved in no less than six (6) court cases and about which the SUA has frequently reported since December 2008 (even as recently as two days ago), when once again a court case has been deliberately delayed.
The SUA strongly condemns these recent intimidating incidents and calls upon the Turkish authorities to trace the perpetrators and take appropriate measures to prevent more of such disturbing developments.
Mr Daniel Gabriel, SUA’s Director of Human Rights and UN NGO, expresses his concerns as follows: “It is widely acknowledged that the Arameans and their Aramaic language are native to Southeast-Turkey. After earlier waves of assaults, as a result of which tens of thousands Arameans fled their homeland, a deplorably low number of 3,000 Arameans are left behind. We will do everything that is in our power to protect them. And we expect from the international community and the democratic forces within Turkish society to speak up against these continuing harassments and intimidations.”
The SUA appeals to all media, human rights organizations and politicians to maintain and increase their interest and passion in relation to these frightening incidents for the Aramean (Syriac) people.
