Opening and Consecration of the Mor Yacoub & Mor Barsawmo Church in Kafro, Tur Abdin

On Sunday 25 August in the presence of clergy, Tur Abdin locals and guests from all over Europe consecrated the church of Mor Yacoub & Mor Barsawmo in the village Kafro in Tur Abdin, Bethnahrin. The service was led by Mor Timotheus Samuel Aktaş, bishop of the Tur Abdin region residing in the Mor Gabriel monastery.

Kafro village is in the Tur Izlo region and is one of the Syriac villages in the region which was emptied during the 1990s because of security reasons which further compelled the local population to emigrate to Europe. During the 2000s, after the start of the Turkish-European Union accession negotiations and the strengething of national awareness amongst Syriac people in the diaspora, villagers of Kafro in the diaspora decided to reconstruct their village church.

Speaking at the opening ceremony Syriac HDP-Member of Parliament for Mardin Tuma Çelik, highlighted the importance of the event and said that the new church shows the strong will of our Syriac people in the Tur Abdin region, a region where we have deep historical, cultural and social roots.

Kafro village has a population of 20 homes and is an appreciated destination for local and foreign tourists. Kafro village suffered heavily from the recent forest fires in Tur Izlo region.