TURKEY

ANKARA — International human rights watchdog Freedom House indicated that Turkey is one of the most repressive countries in the world in its most recent report on international repression. Turkey witnessed the worst arrest campaign in its history against political opponents of the government, especially those groups and individuals opposed…

WASHINGTON, D.C. — By a vote of 244-179, the U.S. House of Representatives approved an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that limits the transfer or sale of F-16s or F-16 upgrade kits to Turkey. The amendment throws a hurdle in front of U.S. President Biden’s plans to…

MIDYAT, Turkey — This week, the Federation of Syriac Associations in Turkey (Süryani Dernekler Federasyonu, SÜDEF) organized a lecture on the Syriac civilization and heritage. The lecture was delivered by Syriac academic Abdul Masih al-Saadi at the SÜDEF headquarters in Midyat in Tur Abdin, a historically Syriac (Aramean–Assyrian–Chaldean) region in…

NEHNA is a new dynamic online platform for Arabic-speaking Christians from southeastern Turkey. This centuries-old community of Orthodox Christians is not very well known. Mostly centered in Antioch (Antakya) and its environs, this centuries-old Orthodox Christian community goes by different names: Antioch Orthodox, Greek Orthodox of Antakya, Arabic-speaking Greek Orthodox,…

TUR ABDIN, Turkey — Desecrated graves and missing bones. That was the scene Syriacs (Arameans–Assyrians–Chaldeans) of Anhil (Yemişli), Mardin, Turkey, were presented with on Wednesday, 29 June, when they arrived at Mor Fetrus and Mor Favlus Chapel to pay homage to the dead saints. Villagers of Anhil – which is…

NORTH AND EAST SYRIA — Forty-one Syrian and international human rights, community, and women’s organizations sent a joint letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres calling on the international community to put an end to the Turkish encroachments in North and East Syria and place the areas…

NORTH AND EAST SYRIA — The negative reactions to the Turkish threat of invasion against North and East Syria were not only limited to the Democratic Autonomous Administration (DAA) institutions, parties, organizations and active clans but have extended to international actors following the announcement of the Turkish–NATO deal clearing the…

ANKARA — On the 107th anniversary of the Sayfo Genocide, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (Halkların Demokratik Partisi, HDP) in Turkey published a statement in which it commemorate the martyrs of Syriac (Aramean–Assyrian–Chaldean) people. To this day, read the statement, the rights of the Syriac (Aramean–Assyrian–Chaldean) people are violated and they…

TUR ABDIN, Turkey — On the 107th anniversary of the Sayfo Genocide, social and religious organizations in Turkey demanded its official recognition. The Sayfo Genocide was committed by the Ottoman Empire and allied Kurdish, Arab, and Circassian forces in the early 20th century against the Syriac (Aramean–Assyrian–Chaldean) people and occurred…

By Marcus Yalcin Beth Shao On 10 December 2020, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made the following statement during a military ceremony in Baku celebrating the victory in the Karabakh war: “Today, may the souls of Nuri Pasha, Enver Pasha and the brave soldiers of the Caucasus Islam Army rejoice.’’…