TURKEY

ANKARA — In a landmark move that signals a potential turning point in Turkey’s decades-long conflict with its Kurdish, Alevi, Armenian, Syriac, and Greek population groups, the Turkish Grand National Assembly has officially announced the formation of a new multi-party body tasked with guiding the country toward a peaceful resolution…

ANKARA — Speaker of Turkey’s Grand National Assembly Numan Kurtulmuş on Friday announced the formation and the composition of the new “Peace and Democratic Society Commission.” It will consist of 51 members from all political parties. The new multi-party parliamentary commission comes after the Turkish state made a major U-turn…

QANDIL, Beth Nahrin — Despite the rapid developments in the conflict between the Turkish government and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which announced its dissolution, disarmament, and the beginning of a democratic peace process based on a message sent by the PKK’s imprisoned leader, Abdullah Öcalan, the party’s steps of goodwill…

ANKARA — The Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (Halkların Eşitlik ve Demokrasi Partisi, DEM Party) issued a strong response to recent accusations and calls for its dissolution by Mustafa Destici, leader of the Great Unity Party (Büyük Birlik Partisi, BBP), a member of the ruling coalition led by the Justice…

By Evgil Türker | President of the Federation of Syriac Associations in Turkey (Süryani Dernekler Federasyonu, SÜDEF)  The 2013–2015 Peace Process in Turkey failed. Everyone knows what a grim situation the failure of the process has led to: arrests, clashes, deaths … For the last 10 years, not only the Kurds,…

ISTANBUL — As part of his pastoral trip to Istanbul, Syriac Catholic Patriarch Mar Ignatius Joseph III Younan visited the newly constructed Syriac Orthodox Mor Ephrem Syriac Church. The Patriarch was accompanied by Patriarchal Vicar in Turkey Archbishop Orhan Şanlı, Monsignor Habib Murad, Father Jimmy Sarkis, and Mr. Ibrahim Khabout.…

QANDIL — In a televised interview with Sterk TV last Friday, Cemil Bayik, senior leader in the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and co-chair of the Executive Council of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), issued a stark warning to Ankara: unless Turkey enacts political and legal reforms to address systemic discrimination…

EDIRNE, Turkey — In a significant political gesture amid renewed discussions surrounding peace in Turkey, the Co-Chairs of the People’s Equality and Democracy Party (Halkların Eşitlik ve Demokrasi Partisi, DEM Party) visited Selahattin Demirtaş, the former Co-Chair of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (Halkların Demokratik Partisi, HDP), at Edirne Prison. Following…

ANKARA — People’s Equality and Democracy Party (Halkların Eşitlik ve Demokrasi Partisi, DEM Party) deputies and officials charged with supervising the “Peace and Democratic Society Process” to come to a formal multi-party peace commission in Turkey’s Grand National Assembly, met yesterday with Turkish Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç, Future Party leader…

ANKARA – Deputy leader of the IYI Party (“Good Party”) MP Buğra Kavuncu announced today that the ‘slanderous’ remarks of Syriac Member of Turkish Parliament for Merde (Mardin) George Aryo have been removed from the minutes of the Turkish Grand National Assembly at the request of his party.  A couple…