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Assyrians in Turkey

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Turkish Assyrians
ܣܘܪܝܝܐ ܕܛܘܪܩܝܐ (Syriac)
Assyrian peopleTurkey
Turkish Assyrian Christians inCevizağacı, Beytüşşebap
Total population
25,000[1]
~600,000 (diaspora)
Regions with significant populations
MainlyIstanbul
Cities ofHakkâri,MardinandYüksekova
Southeastern Anatolia Region(historically)
Languages
Suret,Surayt,Turkish
Religion
Syriac Christianity

Assyrians in Turkey(Turkish:Türkiye Süryanileri,Syriac:ܣܘܪܝܝܐ ܕܛܘܪܩܝܐ) orTurkish Assyriansare anindigenousSemitic-speakingethnic group and minority ofTurkeywho areEastern Aramaic–speakingChristians,with most being members of theSyriac Orthodox Church,Chaldean Catholic Church,Assyrian Pentecostal Church,Assyrian Evangelical Church,orAncient Church of the East.

They share a common history andethnic identity,rooted in sharedlinguistic,culturalandreligious traditions,withAssyrians in Iraq,Assyrians in IranandAssyrians in Syria,as well as with theAssyrian diaspora.[2]Assyrians in such European countries as Sweden and Germany would usually beTuroyo-speakers or Western Assyrians,[3]and tend to be originally fromTurkey.[4]

The Assyrians were once a large ethnic minority in theOttoman Empire,living in theHakkari,SirnakandMardinprovinces, but, following theSayfo(1915, also known as the Assyrian genocide), most were murdered or forced to emigrate to join fellow Assyrians innorthern Iraq,northeast Syria, and northwest Iran. Most of those who survived the genocide and stayed in Turkey left the country forWestern Europein the 2nd half of the 20th century, due to conflicts between theKurdistan Workers' Party(PKK) and theTurkish Land Forces.As of 2019, an estimated 18,000 of the country's 25,000 Assyrians live inIstanbul.[5]According to Yusuf Çetin, Spiritual Leader of the Syriac Orthodox Community, as of 2023, there are 25,000-30,000 Assyrians in Turkey, including 17,000 to 22,000 in Istanbul,[6]most of them inYeşilköy,where the newMor Ephrem Syriac Orthodox Churchwas inaugurated on 8 October 2023.[7]

History[edit]

Ottoman era[edit]

Percentage of the prewar population that was Assyrian, presented by the Assyro-Chaldean delegation to the 1919 peace conference.
More than 50%
30–40%
20–30%
10–20%
5–10%
Map of Assyrian settlements in their homeland,Tur Abdin

TheOttoman Empirehad an elaborate system of administering the non-Muslim "People of the Book."That is, they made allowances for accepted monotheists with a scriptural tradition and distinguished them from people they defined as pagans. As People of the Book (ordhimmi), Jews, Christians and Mandaeans (in some cases Zoroastrians) received second-class treatment but were tolerated.

In the Ottoman Empire, this religious status became systematized as the "millet"administrative pattern. Each religious minority answered to the government through its chief religious representative. The Christians that the Ottomans conquered gradually but definitively with the conquest ofConstantinoplein 1453 were already divided into many ethnic groups and denominations, usually organized into a hierarchy of bishops headed by a patriarch.[8][9]

As for the5 Assyrian TribesofHakkari,TheShimun PatriarchateinQodshanis,who the Tribes worshipped because it was theAssyrian Church of the East's Holy See: was directly subservient to theSublime Porte,who the see paid thetaxesto which they collected from the tribes.[10]

Those who had converted toProtestantismdid not want to pay an annual tribute to the older churches through local bishops who then passed some of it up to the Patriarch who then passed some of it to the Porte in the form of taxes. They wanted to deal directly with the Porte, across ethnic lines (even if through a Muslim administrator), in order to have their own voice and not be subjected to the rule of the Patriarchal system. This general Protestant charter was granted in 1850.[11])

Assyrian women fleeing through the mountains duringSayfo,1915

Gaunt has estimated the Assyrian population at between 500,000 and 600,000 just before the outbreak of World War I, significantly higher than reported on Ottoman census figures.Midyat,inDiyarbekir vilayet,was the only town in the Ottoman Empire with an Assyrian majority, although divided between Syriac Orthodox, Chaldeans, and Protestants.[12]Syriac Orthodox Christians were concentrated in the hilly rural areas around Midyat, known asTur Abdin,where they populated almost 100 villages and worked in agriculture or crafts.[12][13]Syriac Orthodox culturewas centered in two monasteries nearMardin(west of Tur Abdin),Mor GabrielandDeyrulzafaran.[14]Outside of the area of core Syriac settlement, there were also sizable populations in the towns ofDiyarbakır,Urfa,Harput,andAdiyaman[15]as well as villages. Unlike the Syriac population of Tur Abdin, many of these Syriacs spoke other languages.[16]

Under the leadership of thePatriarch of the Church of the East,based inQudshanis,Assyrian tribesruled theHakkarimountains (east of Tur Abdin, adjacent to theOttoman–Persian border) withaşiretstatus—in theory granting them full autonomy—with subordinated farmers.[12]Hakkari is very mountainous with peaks reaching up to 4,000 metres (13,000 ft) separated by steep gorges, such that many areas could only be accessed by footpaths carved into the side of mountains.[17]The Assyrian tribes sometimes fought each other on behalf of theirKurdishallies.[18]Church of the East settlement began to the east on the western shore ofLake UrmiainPersia,in the town ofUrmiaand surrounding villages; just north, inSalamas,was a Chaldean enclave. There was a Chaldean area aroundSiirtinBitlis vilayet(northeast of Tur Abdin and northwest of Hakkari),[19]which was mountainous but less so than Hakkari,[17]but the bulk of Chaldeans lived farther south, in modern-day Iraq and outside of the zone that suffered genocide during World War I.[19]

Republic of Turkey[edit]

After 1923, local politicians went on ananti-Christiancampaign that negatively affected the Syriac communities (such asAdana,Urfaor Adiyaman) that had not been affected by the1915 genocide.Many were forced to abandon their properties and flee to Syria, eventually settling inAleppo,Qamishli,or the Khabur. TheSyriac Orthodox patriarchatewas expelled from Turkey in 1924, despite its declarations of loyalty to the new Turkish government.[20]Unlike Armenians, Jews, and Greeks, Assyrians were not recognized as a minority group in the 1923Treaty of Lausanne.[21]The remaining population lived in submission to Kurdish aghas, and were subjected to constant harassment and abuse which pushed them to emigrate.[22][21]Turkish lawsdenaturalizedthose who had fled and confiscated their property. Despite their actual citizenship rights, many Assyrians who remained in Turkey had to re-purchase their own properties from Kurdish aghas or risk losing their Turkish citizenship.[22]Some Assyrians continued to live in Tur Abdin until the 1980s; this was the last substantial Christian population in Turkey living rurally in its original homeland.[23]Some scholars have described ongoing exclusion and harassment of Syriacs in Turkey as a continuation of theSayfo.[24]

Mor Hananyo Monasteryis an importantSyriac Orthodoxmonastery inTur Abdin,Turkey.[14]

Unlike other persecutedChristian groupslike theGreeksandArmenians,the Assyrian community of Turkey managed to sustain its numbers after theAssyrian Genocidebut they had many hardships nevertheless. In the 1960s, it became increasingly unsafe for Assyrians/Syriacs inMidyat,the regional centre ofTur Abdin.Muslims incited violent anti-Christian protests as a response to events unfolding inCyprus.This led to many Assyro-Syriacs not seeing a future for themselves in their ancestral homeland.[4]By the 1980s the Assyrian population of Turkey was around 70,000 people,[25]although down from the 300,000 or so in total who survived after the genocide. The currently diminished number of 28,000 Assyrians today was caused largely due toKurdish insurgenciesin the 1980s and the bad state of most of the Middle East, along with the forever looming issue of Turkish governmental discrimination.[26]By the end of the conflict in the late 1990s, less than 1,000 Assyrians were still inTur Abdinor Hakkari, with the rest living in Istanbul.

In 2001, the Turkish government invited Assyrians/Syriacs to return to Turkey,[27]but some speculate that the offer was more of a publicity stunt, as a land law passed a short time before caused Assyrians who owned untilled farms or land with forests on them (which a large amount did, as those in diaspora could not till or maintain the properties they owned while living elsewhere) to have the land they owned confiscated by the state and sold to third parties. Another law made it illegal for non-Turkish nationals to purchase land in Mardin province, where most Assyrians would have immigrated to.[26]Regardless of those laws a few did come, such as those who still had their citizenship and could buy property and managed to avoid having their land taken – but many more who could have come back could not due to the laws passed.

Mor Ephrem Syriac Orthodox Church,the first church built since the foundation of the Republic of Turkey

Some Assyrians who have fled fromISILhave found temporary homes in the city ofMidyat.A refugee center is located near Midyat, but due to there being a small Assyrian community in Midyat, many of the Assyrian refugees at the camp went to Midyat hoping for better conditions than the refugee camp had. Many refugees were given help and accommodation by the local Assyrian community there, perhaps wishing that the refugees stay, as the community in Midyat is in need of more members.[28]

In 2013, Assyrians were allowed to open the first school operating in their mother tongue since 1928. The same year, 55 Syriac churches, monasteries, and cemeteries inMardin Provinceconfiscated by the Turkish state were returned to them. On 8 October 2023, theMor Ephrem Syriac Orthodox Churchopened, the first church built since the foundation of the Republic of Turkey.[29][30]As of 2023, the Syriac community owns 113 properties registered in the name of community foundations.[7]

Language[edit]

Unlike Armenians, Jews, and Greeks, Assyrians were not recognized as a minority group in the 1923Treaty of Lausanneand could not open schools teaching their language.[31][32]The last Assyrian-language school was closed in 1928.[33][34]

On 18 June 2013, the Ankara 13th Circuit Administrative Court ruled in favor of Assyrians' right to use their mother tongue as stated in the Treaty of Lausanne.[35][36]The Ministry of Education accepted the decision and a first kindergarten opened in 2014.[37][38][39]In 2023,Recep Tayyip Erdoğanannounced the opening of a new Assyrian school, funded by the government.[40]

Classical Syriac and modernSuraytare taught areMardin Artuklu University.[41]

In a 2017 survey, 64% of Assyrians in Istanbul declared "Assyrian" as their mother tongue, while 27% declared Turkish.[31]

Religion[edit]

Syriac Catholic Churchin Istanbul

The Assyrians are an ethnic group divided into a variety of different Christian churches, and those churches vary dramatically in liturgy and structure, and even dictate identity (seeTerms for Syriac Christians). The predominant Christian denomination among Assyrians in Turkey is theSyriac Orthodox Church,with their 15,000–20,000 followers being calledSyriacs.[42]Due to migration, the Syriacs' main residential area in Turkey today isIstanbul,where between 12,000 and 18,000 live.[42]Between 2,000 and 3,000 Syriac Orthodoxs still live inTur Abdin,and they are spread among 30 villages,hamlets,and towns.[42]Some of these locations are dominated by Syriacs while others are dominated by the Kurds.[42]Additionally, there are a few Syriac Orthodox Christian communities inİzmir,Ankara,İskenderun,Diyarbakir,Adıyaman,Malatya,Elazığ,and a few other places.[42]As part of the return movement some Syriac Orthodox returned toTur Abdinvillages fromGermany,SwedenandSwitzerland.[43][44][42]

The second largest denomination is theChaldean Catholic Church in Turkey,which has around 7,000–8,000 members who live primarily inDiyarbakir,Mardin,Sirnak province,and Istanbul. In 2016 it was estimated that there were about 48,594Chaldean Catholicsin Turkey.[45]Diyarbakir was the city in which the Chaldean Catholic Church was founded when itseparated in 1552from theAssyrian Church of the East.Prior to theSayfothere was also a large community of Nestorians, or followers of theAssyrian Church of the East,and Syriac Catholics. TheNestorianTribeslived in theHakkarimountains on the southeastern edge of Turkey's border, which is now part of the modern daySirnakandHakkari provinces.[42]Additionally, the Patriarch of the Nestorian church had hisSeeuntil mid-1915 based in a village in that region known asQodshanisafter he and his followers settled there in the 1660s, making Turkey the center of their church structure.[46][47][48]

TheSyriac Catholic Churchhad their See inMardinduring the 1800s after being driven out ofAleppodue to oppression by the Syriac Orthodox Church. A large community lived in the southeast in theTur Abdinregion until they were massacred and forced to flee during theSayfoto Lebanon, where the See was reestablished. There is still a tiny Syriac Catholic community that lives inMardinand Istanbul,[42]but most Syriac Catholics now live inIraq,Syria,andLebanon.Syriac Protestant Churches exist in Turkey as well.[42]

References[edit]

  1. ^"2018 U.S. Department of State International Religious Freedom Report: Turkey".Archivedfrom the original on 2020-04-25.Retrieved2020-05-20.
  2. ^Hooglund (2008),pp. 100–101.
  3. ^B. Furze, P. Savy, R. Brym, J. Lie, Sociology in Today's World, 2008, p. 349
  4. ^abLundgren, Svante (15 May 2019).The Assyrians: Fifty Years in Swedenq.Nineveh Press. p. 14.ISBN978-91-984101-7-4.
  5. ^DHA, Daily Sabah with (2019-01-10)."Assyrians community thrives again in southeastern Turkey".Daily Sabah.Archivedfrom the original on 2019-01-10.Retrieved2020-05-20.
  6. ^"Cumhuriyetin ilk kilisesi açılıyor… Süryani Ruhani Lideri'nin ilk röportajı CNN Türk'te".www.hurriyet.com.tr(in Turkish). 2023-10-06.Retrieved2023-10-07.
  7. ^ab"President Erdoğan inaugurates Türkiye's 1st post-republic era church".Daily Sabah.2023-10-08.Retrieved2023-10-09.
  8. ^Gauntet al.2017,pp. 18–19.
  9. ^Gaunt 2015,p. 86.
  10. ^Nisan 2002, p.188: "The wild Christian tribes of Hakkari, whither no Government of any sort has ever extended, still pay tribute to their Patriarch for transmission to the Sultan; and not taxes through the tax collector."
  11. ^John Joseph,Muslim–Christian Relations and Inter-Christian Rivalries in the Middle East: The Case of the Jacobites in an Age of Transition,State Univ of New York Press, 1983,ISBN0-87395-600-1
  12. ^abcGaunt 2015,p. 87.
  13. ^Üngör 2011,p. 13.
  14. ^abÜngör 2011,p. 15.
  15. ^Gauntet al.2017,p. 19.
  16. ^Gaunt 2020,p. 57.
  17. ^abGaunt 2020,p. 58.
  18. ^Gaunt 2020,p. 59.
  19. ^abGaunt 2015,pp. 86–87.
  20. ^Gaunt 2020,p. 88.
  21. ^abBiner 2019,p. xv.
  22. ^abBiner 2011,p. 371.
  23. ^Gaunt 2020,p. 69.
  24. ^Biner 2019,pp. 14–15.
  25. ^"The Assyrians of Turkey are a remnant population of the formerly large Assyrian Jacobite faction. They number about 70,000 souls."http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/assyrians-in-iran#pt3Archived2015-02-04 at theWayback Machine
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  30. ^"Türkiye's 1st Orthodox church built in post-republic era set to open".Daily Sabah.2023-10-04.Retrieved2023-10-05.
  31. ^abArikan, Arda; Varli, Ozan; Kürüm, Eyüp Yaşar (2017-05-01)."A Study of Assyrians' Language Use in Istanbul".Sustainable Multilingualism.10(1): 56–74.doi:10.1515/sm-2017-0003.
  32. ^Sabah, Daily (2019-08-26)."Last 17 years a golden era for minority communities, witnessing period of increased rights".Daily Sabah.Retrieved2023-10-21.
  33. ^"Türkiye'de modern tarihin ilk Süryani Kilisesi için temel atıldı".euronews(in Turkish). 2019-08-03.Retrieved2023-10-21.
  34. ^"'Syriac Orthodox church gives Istanbul new richness'".www.aa.com.tr.Retrieved2023-10-21.
  35. ^Akbulut, Olgun (2023-10-19)."For Centenary of the Lausanne Treaty: Re-Interpretation and Re-Implementation of Linguistic Minority Rights of Lausanne".International Journal on Minority and Group Rights.-1(aop): 1–24.doi:10.1163/15718115-bja10134.ISSN1385-4879.
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  37. ^"Government's Move Expected to Help Save Assyrian Language".www.aina.org.Retrieved2023-10-21.
  38. ^Köseoğlu, Ayman (2018-08-06).The Assyrian case: The impact of the European Union on Turkey`s minority rights concept(masterThesis thesis). Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü.
  39. ^Erdem, Fazıl Hüsnü; Öngüç, Bahar (2021-06-30)."SÜRYANİCE ANADİLİNDE EĞİTİM HAKKI: SORUNLAR VE ÇÖZÜM ÖNERİLERİ".Dicle Üniversitesi Hukuk Fakültesi Dergisi(in Turkish).26(44): 3–35.ISSN1300-2929.
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  42. ^abcdefghiGiesel, Christoph (2017).Religious Minorities in Turkey: Alevi, Armenians, and Syriacs and the Struggle to Desecuritize Religious Freedom.Springer. p. 169.ISBN9781137270269.
  43. ^Çaglar (2013), p. 122
  44. ^Güsten (2016), p. 11
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Sources[edit]

See also[edit]

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External links[edit]

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