TURKEY

IWARDO, Turkey — Residents of Iwardo village in Tur Abdin, southeastern Turkey, gathered at the historic Virgin Mary Church to commemorate the victims of the 1915 Sayfo Genocide. The ceremony reflected on the atrocities committed against the Syriac (Aramean–Assyrian–Chaldean) community during that period.  The Virgin Mary Church, once a strategic…

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.…

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…

BETH NAHRIN – Under the banner “Our Struggle to Raise Awareness of the Sayfo Genocide Continues,” the Presidency of the Bethnahrin National Council (Mawtbo Umthoyo d’Bethnahrin, MUB), today released a formal statement commemorating 110 years since the Sayfo massacres of 1915. The MUB asserts that, by embracing the legacy of…

VIENNA — The documentary titled Asadur, focusing on the Armenian Genocide and the ongoing struggle for cultural identity, is set to screen on Thursday, June 19, at the Admiral Kino theater in Vienna, Austria.  Recognizing art as a powerful lens through which the suffering and resilience of communities can be…

By Fehmi Vergili | Co-President of the European Syriac Union Among the peoples who have borne the heaviest burdens of the prolonged conflict between the Turkish state and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the Syriacs occupy a primary place. The armed clashes and long-standing security policies in Turkey have not…

TUR ABDIN — Fires erupted once again in the lands of Syriac (Aramean–Assyrian–Chaldean) villages in the region of Tur Abdin in southeastern Turkey after lightning struck an agricultural field on Wednesday. Residents acted swiftly to extinguish the flames, preventing further devastation. Heavy rains and severe thunderstorms, accompanied by strong winds,…

TEL AVIV / ANKARA — US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria Thomas Barrak met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials during a visit to Israel, while Turkish Defense Minister Yaşar Güler reaffirmed Ankara’s position against withdrawing its troops from Syrian territory.  Barak’s visit…