Report on the human rights and property rights abuses facing the Syriac monastery of Mor (Saint) Gabriel in Midyat, Turkey
Stockholm
1. SUMMARY
This report from the Syriac Universal Alliance (Please see Appendix 6 for further information on SUA) outlines the human rights and property rights abuses relating to the Syriac Aramean Monastery of Saint Gabriel in Midyat, Turkey (“Saint Gabriel Monastery” or “Monastery”).
The Saint Gabriel File
Monastery boundary cases declared null and void in Ankara court battle: Back to the drawing board for the monastery
Ankara
The Syriac Universal Alliance (SUA), the recognised United Nations NGO representing the Aramean (Syriac) people worldwide, reports that the Supreme Court in Ankara
5th Anniversary of the Abduction of the Metropolitans of Aleppo Highlighted at an International Symposium in Germany
The World Council of Arameans (Syriacs) (“WCA”) and its Member Federation in Germany, Bundesverband der Aramäer in Deutschland (“BVDAD”), held an international symposium in Gronau, Germany, concerning the Fifth Anniversary of the Abducted Archbishops of Aleppo. There seem to be new lines of contact with a group that claims to hold them against their will.
New postponement of Syriac monastery case and clear pattern of Turkish delay in court proceedings
London
The Syriac Universal Alliance (SUA), the recognized United Nations NGO representing the Aramean (Syriac) people worldwide, reports that the court trial held in relation to one of the several Mor Gabriel Monastery trials, on Wednesday, 17 February 2010, in Midyat, Turkey, has once again been postponed.
Request to amend article 125 of Constitution and ID Card
Iraq’s Arameans express deep concern about the lack of constitutional recognition as a distinct ethno-religious people and their uncertain future in their homeland in the Nineveh Plain which soon may be retaken from ISIS. Unlike other populations in Iraq such as Turkmen, Chaldeans and Assyrians, the Syriacs are not mentioned in Article 125 of the Constitution. Therefore, they are now forced to identify themselves by one of these identities, or the Arab one, and thus adopt an identity that is entirely foreign to them in the ID Cards that have to be issued. This has caused serious concerns and angry reactions among hundreds of thousands of Iraq’s indigenous Arameans in and outside Iraq who refuse to identify themselves other than Syriacs or Arameans.
The World Council of Arameans (Syriacs) (“WCA”) addresses this pertinent issue in a letter that has been sent by the WCA to Iraqi government officials and the media. The WCA and its Member Federations also sent the letters to Iraq’s Ambassadors across Europe, the USA and Australia, requesting them to share it with Baghdad and the dignitaries in charge of constitutional amendments and also requesting for meetings to further clarify the issue and the uncertain future of Iraq’s Aramean Christians in the post-ISIS period in Iraq, considering that the Nineveh Plains may be reconquered in the near future.
Scroll down below to download the letter of the WCA and the Syriac Orthodox and Catholic Archbishops of Iraq. Also, view the video message of the WCA President and the Vice-Chairman of the Aramean Federation in the Netherlands.
The Syriac Catholic activist Isho' Majeed Hadaya (1954-2006) was murdered on 22 November 2006 in his hometown of Baghdeda (Qaraqosh), North Iraq, because of his Aramean Christian identity. At his funeral, the Aramaic flag was laid on his coffin.
