The date 1915 brings to mind the Armenian Genocide, which was perpetrated by the Committee of Union and Progress, which was in power in the final years of the Ottoman Empire. However, it was not only Armenians who were slaughtered in 1915, but also Greek and Assyrian (Syriac, Chaldean and Aramaic) Christians.

Although the Republic of Turkey refuses to acknowledge this crime against humanity, the Armenian Genocide of 1915 is gaining increasing international recognition. Syriacs in Mesopotamia call the massacres of 1915 ‘Sayfo’ in the Syriac language, which means ‘sword’.

As the Ottoman Empire gradually collapsed, with Christian peoples in the Balkans gaining their independence in 1912, peoples in Africa and Arabia also rebelled. The Ottoman state took advantage of the outbreak of WWI in 1914 to carry out massacres of Christians in the Aegean, Thrace and in Van and Hakkari. In 1915, the Ottomans started a genocide of Syriacs and Armenians in Van, Bitlis and surrounding areas, then extending this to Diyarbakır, Hakkari, Tur Abdin and surrounding areas.

This genocide launched against the Syriac, Armenian and Hellenic peoples of Mesopotamia and Anatolia killed more than a million Armenians, half a million Syriacs and 300 thousand Greeks. Hundreds of thousands of others were displaced or forcibly converted to Islam. In the process, the property of the Christian peoples was seized.

The Peoples and Beliefs Commission of the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) released a statement marking the 110th anniversary of the 15 June 1915 Sayfo genocide against Chaldean-Syriac-Assyrian-Aramean people in the Ottoman Empire. The statement said that acknowledging and confronting the great suffering perpetrated is vital for social peace.

The statement highlighted that Anatolia and Mesopotamia have been a place where different peoples and faiths have coexisted throughout history, but also a region that has witnessed exile, wars, and genocide. It recalled that during the process that began in 1915 and continued in the following years, hundreds of thousands of Syriacs were killed or forcibly displaced, and it their language, faith, and cultural heritage were systematically targeted.

DEM Party emphasized that 110 years later, the Syriac people still await justice and reconciliation. It stated that recognizing the suffering endured, rather than pursuing policies of official denial, would lay the foundation for justice, coexistence, and peace not only for the Syriac people but for all peoples in Turkey.

Speaking on behalf of the DEM Party's Peoples and Beliefs Commission, Deputy Co-Chair Yüksel Mutlu said: “On the 110th anniversary of Sayfo, we share the pain of the Syriac people and respectfully remember those who lost their lives.”