Writers, academics and artists, have signed a petition to counter the decision by the Supreme Court of Appeals to hand over the historical Syriac Christian Mor Gabriel Monastery in the southeastern province of Mardin to the treasury.

Writing about the issue, Bianet quoted Tuma Özdemir, head of the Mesopotamia Culture Association, as saying that established in 397 A.D., the Mor Gabriel Monastery bears exceptional significance for Syriacs, as it stands on par with Muslims' "Al Aqsa Mosque" for the Syriac community, trains half of all their clergy and has enabled the survival of the Syriac language.

Prof. Cengiz Aktar, Tuma Özdemir and Tuma Çelik, the owner of the Mardin-based Syriac journal Sabro, came together in Istanbul's Cezayir Meeting Hall to expound on the petition campaign entitled "Turkey is the Syriacs' Homeland, and the Mor Gabriel Monastery is not an Occupier."

The monastery's significance derives not from its material but its spiritual value, Tuma Çelik said.

The Syriac community, writes Bianet, used to have their own schools in Turkey until 1928, but the Syriac Patriarchate in Mardin's Midyat district was forced to move to Damascus in 1930, while Syriacs themselves also had to take refuge abroad in the 1960s, Çelik explained.

Around 20,000 Syriacs are currently living in Turkey. 15,000 of them reside in Istanbul, while the remainder is located in Mardin and its vicinity, the Syriacs' traditional homelands called "Turabdin."

Background

You can visit the website "Beraber Büyüdük Bu Ülkede" ("We Grew up Together in This Country," in reference to an old, popular song) to join the signature campaign.