Syriac Union Party Co-Chair Goreya: “We, as Syriac women and as a party, have the responsibility to demand our rights and to recognize the Sayfo as well”

ZALIN, Syria — Nazira Goreya, Co-Chair of the Syriac Union Party (SUP) in Syria, spoke with SuroyoTV at the memorial for the 106th anniversary of the Sayfo Genocide in Zalin (Qamishli) in North and East Syria about the role of women in strengthening Syriac (Aramean–Assyrian–Chaldean) society, especially in the wake of the genocide and other massacres committed against their community.

“We, as Syriac women and as a party, have the responsibility to demand our rights and to recognize the Sayfo as well,” said Goreya. “Syriac women play an important role in passing down our culture and history to our children and grandchildren, including through the painful stories of the Sayfo to ensure the history of the genocide is never forgotten.”

“But we, as women, must continue and defend the rights of our people and demand not only recognition, but the restoration of the stolen rights, which have left an impact on our people so far, as our people removed and uprooted from their historical land, their language and culture, and they suffer until this moment from the repercussions of Sayfo.

That is why we, as women in the Syriac Union Party, participate in political life, and deliver our voice to the international community, and we say that Sayfo must be recognized like the recognition of the Armenian genocide, and our people must be remembered because we shared the same massacre, which killed more than 0.5 million from our people.

The Syriac people are still suffering from the repercussions of Sayfo, as they have become displaced and among the minorities in their homeland and historical areas.”