SAYFO

MEDYAD, Turkey — On the 110th anniversary of the Sayfo Genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire and its Kurdish tribal allies against the Syriac (Aramean–Assyrian–Chaldean) people, the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (Halkların Eşitlik ve Demokrasi Partisi, DEM Party) and the Democratic Regions Party (Demokratik Bölgeler Partisi, DBP) organized a…

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…

By Muzaffer İris | Writer and academic The word Sayfo, meaning “sword” in Syriac, is rarely heard in and around the city of Adiyaman, Turkey. The events of Sayfo are not widely known here, largely because the Syriac language is scarcely used in the towns and villages where Syriacs reside.…

BRUSSELS — The European Syriac Union (ESU) on Sunday issued a solemn statement commemorating the 110th anniversary of the Sayfo Genocide, the mass killings of Christian Syriacs in the waning years of the Ottoman Empire. In its communique, the ESU described Sayfo as “an act of systematic extermination” carried out…

QABRE HEWORE (Qahtaniyah), North and East Syria — On the occasion of the 110th anniversary of the Sayfo Genocide, perpetrated against the the Syriac people by the Ottoman Empire and allied Kurdish tribes, the foundation stone for the Sayfo Martyrs’ Memorial was laid in the town of Qabre Hewore (Qahtaniyah),…

EUROPE — On the 110th anniversary of the Sayfo Genocide, a series of solemn commemorations was held this weekend across Europe, underscoring both the depth of their loss and their enduring call for recognition of the 1915 genocide.  In Hengelo, Netherlands, more than 50 members of the Syriac community gathered…

BETH NAHRIN — In commemoration of the 110th anniversary of the Sayfo Genocide, the Bethnahrin Patriotic Union Party in Iraq (Huyodo Bethnahrin Athroyo, HBA) held a special dialogue session addressing the genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire and allied Kurdish tribes against the Chaldean–Syriac–Assyrian people. The event took place in…

By Denho Bar Mourad–Özmen | Former Special Educator and Advisor at Sweden’s National Agency for Special Education Genocide leaves deep scars beyond physical devastation, inflicting profound psychological, cultural, and structural harm that resonates through generations. This article explores the Sayfo genocide— the systematic extermination of the Assyrian/Syriac people in the…

MIDYAT, TUR ABDIN — Evgil Türker, President of the Federation of Syriac Associations in Turkey (Süryani Dernekler Federasyonu, SÜDEF), asserted that the Sayfo Genocide mark a historic turning point and forms a core part of the identity of the Syriac  (Aramean–Assyrian–Chaldean) people. He urged the Turkish state to stop evading…

By Amine Jules Iskandar | President of the Syriac Maronite Union-Tur Levnon and Head of External Relations of the Universal Syriac Union Party During WWI, between 1914 and 1915, Lebanon witnessed a genocide, rarely ever spoken of. Unfortunately, our schools always taught that the famine that decimated about half of…