Tur Abdin: renovated Mor Dimet church in the Syriac village of Zaz consecrated

TUR ABDIN, Turkey – The renovated Mor Dimet Church in the Syriac village of Zaz was (re-)consecrated on September 26, 2021, in the presence of many former Syriac villagers, now living in the diaspora, Syriac Orthodox priests, and independent Syriac Member of Turkish Parliament Tuma Çelik.

There are two more Syriac Orthodox churches in the village of Zaz: the Mor Gabriel Church (in ruins) and the “Yoldath Aloho” or Mother of God Church (built in 1960). The last Syriacs of Zaz left the village in Tur Abdin in the first half of the 1990s. The renovation of the Church of Saint Dimet, who died September 24, 373, was financed by the Syriac diaspora.

Related: Hostel and football field to open in Syriac village of Bsorino

Because Turkish authorities have always shown great respect and love for other ethnicities within the borders of the Turkish Republic, they have changed the name of the Syriac village of Zaz to Turkish Izbirak. Long live the “Tek dil, tek vatan, tek bayrak” or “1 language, 1 nation, 1 flag” policy of the Turkish state. Short live the Syriac (Chaldean-Assyrian-Aramean) people in Turkey…

Ülkelerine geri dönmek isteyen Zaz (Midyat-İzbırak) Süryanilerinin tamir ettikleri Mor Dimet Kilisesi’nin yeniden ibadete açılış ayinine katıldık.
Dönüşün planlarını yaptık…. pic.twitter.com/SVDwwgMBQW

— Tuma Çelik (@tuma_celik) October 2, 2021