Displaying items by tag: Assyrian Christians

Gulgoze (Turkey) - Inside the sixth century church in southeastern Turkey, dozens of Assyrian Christian women, men and children in their Sunday best attend a service, one of only a few held in their ancient homeland.  They are among the nearly 4,000 Assyrians left in the region after violence and poverty forced the community to leave Turkey in the 20th century.  They are now scattered across Europe, with over 100,000 living in Germany, nearly 100,000 in Sweden and tens of thousands in Belgium, France and the Netherlands.

Assyrian Christians, also known as Syriacs, are part of the eastern Christian tradition and pray in Aramaic, which Jesus is believed to have spoken.  Yuhanun Akay, 40, lives in the historic region of Tur Abdin (meaning "Mountain of the servants of God" in Syriac), in the centuries-old village of Gulgoze in Mardin.

The village, known as Ain Wardo, meaning "eye of the rose" in Syriac, was once home to hundreds of Assyrian families, where they farmed, prayed and educated their children.  Now only three families remain including Akay, a farmer and father-of-eight.

"In the past there were 200 Syriac Christian families, and seven priests in the village. We had three churches, so each neighbourhood had a church," he told AFP.

"Every Sunday there would be a service in all three churches and they would be full."

There are 2,500 churches and 300 monasteries in Tur Abdin, according to Evgil Turker, head of the Federation of Syriac Associations.

Community leaders including Turker are worried over the future of the community in Turkey despite a slight recent increase in population figures.  There are around 20,000 Assyrians in Istanbul.  Like other communities, Turker said Assyrians were affected by the same economic issues and "political pressures" under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government.

Some left in search of a better life.

There were fears earlier this year that Assyrians were being targeted after a couple belonging to the Chaldean Catholic minority went missing in January in Sirnak, near the Iraqi border.  While Hurmuz Diril, 71, remains missing, his wife Simoni, 65, was found dead in March.

The arrest of Syriac Orthodox priest Sefer Bilecen on terrorism charges also caused concern, but Turker said he did not believe there was state-led targeting of Assyrians.

Pray for Assyrian Christians in Turkey:

Pray that the political and any other form of pressures from the government against Assyrian Christians in Turkey would stop immediately

Pray that the Turkish government would assure the livelihood of Assyrian Christians to stay in their places and to keep their traditions

Pray that God would bring a revival among these Assyrian Christians and other traditional orthodox churches in Turkey and throughout the Middle East

Gulgoze (Turkey) (AFP)

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