DEM Party on Sayfo Remembrance Day: Syriacs are still waiting for recognition and justice

ANKARA – The Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (Halkların Eşitlik ve Demokrasi Partisi, DEM Parti) today 15 June 2025, commemorated the Sayfo Genocide of 1915 with, among others, a written statement calling for a social and political confrontation within Turkey with the Sayfo.

The statement, entitled “We share the pain of the Syriac people”, is signed by the co-chair of DEM Party’s Commission for Peoples and Beliefs, Yüksel Mutlu. The statement does not refer to the direct perpetrators (i.e. Ottoman Turks and Kurds) of the Sayfo Genocide and states;

“In the process that started in 1915 and continued in the following years, hundreds of thousands of Syriacs were massacred or displaced, their languages, beliefs and cultural assets were targeted. Churches and monasteries were destroyed, educational institutions were closed, and place names were changed. This period is known as Sayfo, meaning “sword” among the Syriac people.”

The DEM Party expresses grief over what happened 110 years ago and respectfully remembers and commemorates all those Syriacs who lost their lives. It concludes its statement with a call for justice and confrontation with the past;

“Although 110 years have passed since this bitter history, the Syriac people are still waiting for justice and confrontation. Recognition and confrontation of past suffering-instead of denial- is one of the principal steps for justice, coexistence, and social peace. Not only for the Syriacs, but for all the peoples of Turkey.”