Eyeing political gains, Kurds and Syriacs aim to mend old wounds - Al-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Susanne Güsten

Susanne Güsten

Jan 26, 2015

TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY PHILIPPE ALFROY
Priest Gabriel Aktas poses in Kirklar, a Syriac church in Mardin, south-eastern Turkey, on November 17, 2014. The Christian Assyrian community in Turkey, which now numbers no more than a several thousand, has been hit by wave after wave of immigration even since the foundation the modern Turkish state in 1923 out of the ruins of the multi-ethnic Ottoman Empire. But hope has not been lost that a future presence can be continued and memory of the past retained, with som — Gabriel Aktas, a Syriac priest, poses in Kirklar, a Syriac church in Mardin, southeastern Turkey, Nov. 17, 2014. — Getty Images/Ozan Kose

Mardin elects 25-year old Christian woman as mayor

Susanne Güsten

Susanne Güsten

Syriac Christian monks attend a service at the ancient monastery of Mor Gabriel, 15 km (9 miles) away from the town of Midyat, in Mardin province of southeast Turkey January 13, 2009. Tucked amid rugged hills where mosques and minarets are silhouetted in the distance, the fifth century Mor Gabriel monastery stands out as a relic of another era when hundreds of thousands of Syriac Christians lived and worshipped in Turkey. But a land dispute between Mor Gabriel and neighbouring villages is threatening the mo

Syriacs commemorate their massacre

Susanne Güsten

Susanne Güsten

A Syriac Christian monk walks to attend a service at the ancient monastery of Mor Gabriel, 15 km (9 miles) from the town of Midyat, in Mardin province of southeast Turkey January 13, 2009. Tucked amid rugged hills where mosques and minarets are silhouetted in the distance, the fifth century Mor Gabriel monastery stands out as a relic of another era when hundreds of thousands of Syriac Christians lived and worshipped in Turkey. But a land dispute between Mor Gabriel and neighbouring villages is threatening t

Land grab in Turkey's southeast threatens return of minorities

Susanne Güsten

Susanne Güsten

Syriac Christian monks attend a service at the ancient monastery of Mor Gabriel, 15 km (9 miles) away from the town of Midyat, in Mardin province of southeast Turkey January 13, 2009. Tucked amid rugged hills where mosques and minarets are silhouetted in the distance, the fifth century Mor Gabriel monastery stands out as a relic of another era when hundreds of thousands of Syriac Christians lived and worshipped in Turkey. But a land dispute between Mor Gabriel and neighbouring villages is threatening the mo

Turkey’s oldest indigenous culture fears extinction

Ayla Jean Yackley

Ayla Jean Yackley