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Assyrians struggling for a primary school in Istanbul Turkey

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The new school year has started this month in Turkey, but Assyrian Christians, otherwise known as Syriacs or Chaldeans, still do not have a single primary school in the country where they could learn their native language and culture.

The Istanbul-based newspaper Agos reported that the activists of the Syriac community applied to the Ministry of National Education in 2012 to get its permission and support to open a Syriac kindergarten in Istanbul. When their application was rejected, they took on a legal struggle and were finally able to open the Mor Efrem kindergarten without any economic support from the government.

The Mor Efrem kindergarten currently has 50 students and will be open for the fourth semester this year, but unfortunately, there is not a Syriac elementary school in Istanbul where its graduates would be able to enroll.

The Virgin Mary Ancient Syriac Church Foundation in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul is still struggling to open a Syriac elementary school in the city. The officials of the foundation stated that it is impossible for them to open an elementary school without governmental support.

Sait Susin, the head of the foundation, said: “We started our preparations for the school but we are faced with a huge financial burden. It is impossible for us to overcome it, not even with donations. We do need economic support.”

Susin added that their most important need is a building and if the government provides it for them, they will be able to afford other costs. “We have applied to the ministry for that, but we still haven’t received a result,” said Susin.

Assyrians are a Christian people indigenous to the Middle East. Istanbul has an Assyrian community, estimated in around 15,000, but the number is only an approximation. The Turkish government does not officially recognize Assyrians as a distinct ethnic community, so it does not conduct a census on them.

However, in the Ottoman Empire in 1913-1914, there were 2,580 schools belonging to non-Muslims, 29 were Assyrian schools. The last Assyrian school in Turkey, which was located in the city of Mardin, was closed down in 1928 and afterwards, Assyrians were not allowed by Turkish governments to open a primary school where they would be educated in their native language for the next 90 years.

The Assyrian people have inhabited the region since the beginning of recorded history and for 300 years, Assyrian kings ruled the then largest empire of the world. A stateless people today, Assyrians have been continuously brutalized by Muslims in the territory – Turks, Kurds, Arabs, and Persians. The greatest systematic violence against Assyrians and their civilization took place before, during, and at the aftermath of WWI at the hands of the Turkish regimes in what is now Turkey.

According to a report by the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights (CGHR) of the Rutgers University–Newark,
“The Assyrian people have been repeatedly victimized by genocidal assaults over the past century. They first suffered, along Ottoman Greeks and Armenians, from Turkey’s simultaneous genocides during and immediately after World War I… Massacres, rapes, plundering, cultural desecrations, and forced deportations were all endemic. Around 750,000 Assyrians died during the genocide, amounting to nearly three quarters of its prewar population. The rest were dispersed elsewhere, mostly in the Middle East.”

After the 1914-1923 genocide, Assyrian Christians were left out of the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, which set the boundaries of republican Turkey and became the defining document for the rights and freedoms to be provided for the non-Muslim minorities.

However, the rights of Assyrians were not even mentioned in the treaty. And ever since, not a single Turkish government has carried out democratic reforms to change this situation and finally grant Assyrians their rights. As a result, Assyrians still do not have schools or other government-funded institutions in the country.

The persecution of Assyrians such as the plundering or expropriation of their properties continued after the Turkish republic was established in 1923 and is still going on.

In late June, for example, the Turkish government seized dozens of properties belonging to Assyrian Christians − such as churches, monasteries and cemeteries − and transferred them to public institutions.

On July 15, the Syriac monthly paper, Sabro, reported that,
“In the Sur district of Diyarbakir, a historic church belonging to Syriacs-Chaldeans as well as 12 shops and 2 homes belonging to the church foundation have been expropriated with a cabinet decree.”

In the meanwhile, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported on September 13:

“In the 15 years since St Hurmizd was founded, the Assyrian primary school in Western Sydney has grown from a cohort of 85 students, to more than 700. All of the students come from non-English speaking, Assyrian backgrounds, and nearly 200 are new refugee arrivals. Many were welcomed to Australia as part of the Government’s intake of 12,000 Iraqis and Syrians earlier this year.”

If the Australian government can provide Assyrian refugee children with a primary school, why does the Turkish government, a member of NATO and perpetual candidate for EU membership, not do the same for the indigenous Assyrian children in Turkey?

It seems that Turkey’s Assyrian community is going through the latest stage of genocide. US officials should immediately urge the Turkish government to respect the Assyrian right to education as well as their religious liberty. For the Assyrian civilization to survive, the religious and cultural values of Assyrians – and particularly their native language – should be freely used, learnt, and preserved by the community.

But it would not be very realistic to assume that the Turkish government, which is busy with seizing Assyrian properties, would soon provide Assyrians with basic human rights. Hence, it appears to be the ethical and urgent responsibility of Christian leaders in the US and across the world to support the dwindling Assyrian community in Turkey economically as well as psychologically. For if they do not do that, nobody else will. And if the current community plundering and a lack of cultural rights continue, yet another native Christian community in Turkey will eventually be extinct.

Uzay Bulut is a Turkish journalist and political analyst formerly based in Ankara.

Source: https://philosproject.org/assyrians-primary-school-istanbul/

Assyrians struggling for a primary school in Istanbul

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By Saturday, September 30, 2017

The new school year has started this month in Turkey, but Assyrian Christians, otherwise known as Syriacs or Chaldeans, still do not have a single primary school in the country where they could learn their native language and culture.

The Istanbul-based newspaper Agos reported that the activists of the Syriac community applied to the Ministry of National Education in 2012 to get its permission and support to open a Syriac kindergarten in Istanbul. When their application was rejected, they took on a legal struggle and were finally able to open the Mor Efrem kindergarten without any economic support from the government.

The Mor Efrem kindergarten currently has 50 students and will be open for the fourth semester this year, but unfortunately, there is not a Syriac elementary school in Istanbul where its graduates would be able to enroll.

The Virgin Mary Ancient Syriac Church Foundation in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul is still struggling to open a Syriac elementary school in the city. The officials of the foundation stated that it is impossible for them to open an elementary school without governmental support.

Sait Susin, the head of the foundation, said: “We started our preparations for the school but we are faced with a huge financial burden. It is impossible for us to overcome it, not even with donations. We do need economic support.”

Susin added that their most important need is a building and if the government provides it for them, they will be able to afford other costs. “We have applied to the ministry for that, but we still haven’t received a result,” said Susin.

Assyrians are a Christian people indigenous to the Middle East. Istanbul has an Assyrian community, estimated in around 15,000, but the number is only an approximation. The Turkish government does not officially recognize Assyrians as a distinct ethnic community, so it does not conduct a census on them.

However, in the Ottoman Empire in 1913-1914, there were 2,580 schools belonging to non-Muslims, 29 were Assyrian schools. The last Assyrian school in Turkey, which was located in the city of Mardin, was closed down in 1928 and afterwards, Assyrians were not allowed by Turkish governments to open a primary school where they would be educated in their native language for the next 90 years.

The Assyrian people have inhabited the region since the beginning of recorded history and for 300 years, Assyrian kings ruled the then largest empire of the world. A stateless people today, Assyrians have been continuously brutalized by Muslims in the territory – Turks, Kurds, Arabs, and Persians. The greatest systematic violence against Assyrians and their civilization took place before, during, and at the aftermath of WWI at the hands of the Turkish regimes in what is now Turkey.

According to a report by the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights (CGHR) of the Rutgers University–Newark,
“The Assyrian people have been repeatedly victimized by genocidal assaults over the past century. They first suffered, along Ottoman Greeks and Armenians, from Turkey’s simultaneous genocides during and immediately after World War I… Massacres, rapes, plundering, cultural desecrations, and forced deportations were all endemic. Around 750,000 Assyrians died during the genocide, amounting to nearly three quarters of its prewar population. The rest were dispersed elsewhere, mostly in the Middle East.”

After the 1914-1923 genocide, Assyrian Christians were left out of the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, which set the boundaries of republican Turkey and became the defining document for the rights and freedoms to be provided for the non-Muslim minorities.

However, the rights of Assyrians were not even mentioned in the treaty. And ever since, not a single Turkish government has carried out democratic reforms to change this situation and finally grant Assyrians their rights. As a result, Assyrians still do not have schools or other government-funded institutions in the country.

The persecution of Assyrians such as the plundering or expropriation of their properties continued after the Turkish republic was established in 1923 and is still going on.

In late June, for example, the Turkish government seized dozens of properties belonging to Assyrian Christians − such as churches, monasteries and cemeteries − and transferred them to public institutions.

On July 15, the Syriac monthly paper, Sabro, reported that,
“In the Sur district of Diyarbakir, a historic church belonging to Syriacs-Chaldeans as well as 12 shops and 2 homes belonging to the church foundation have been expropriated with a cabinet decree.”

In the meanwhile, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported on September 13:

“In the 15 years since St Hurmizd was founded, the Assyrian primary school in Western Sydney has grown from a cohort of 85 students, to more than 700. All of the students come from non-English speaking, Assyrian backgrounds, and nearly 200 are new refugee arrivals. Many were welcomed to Australia as part of the Government’s intake of 12,000 Iraqis and Syrians earlier this year.”

If the Australian government can provide Assyrian refugee children with a primary school, why does the Turkish government, a member of NATO and perpetual candidate for EU membership, not do the same for the indigenous Assyrian children in Turkey?

It seems that Turkey’s Assyrian community is going through the latest stage of genocide. US officials should immediately urge the Turkish government to respect the Assyrian right to education as well as their religious liberty. For the Assyrian civilization to survive, the religious and cultural values of Assyrians – and particularly their native language – should be freely used, learnt, and preserved by the community.

But it would not be very realistic to assume that the Turkish government, which is busy with seizing Assyrian properties, would soon provide Assyrians with basic human rights. Hence, it appears to be the ethical and urgent responsibility of Christian leaders in the US and across the world to support the dwindling Assyrian community in Turkey economically as well as psychologically. For if they do not do that, nobody else will. And if the current community plundering and a lack of cultural rights continue, yet another native Christian community in Turkey will eventually be extinct.

Uzay Bulut is a Turkish journalist and political analyst formerly based in Ankara. She graduated from Istanbul’s Bogazici University in 2007 with a BA in Translation and Interpreting Studies. She holds a master’s degree in Media and Cultural Studies at Ankara’s Middle East Technical University.

Source: https://philosproject.org/assyrians-primary-school-istanbul/

Turkey: Independent journalism struggling for survival in Turkey on World Press Freedom Day

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Journalists, joined by some opposition deputies, march on İstiklal Street in downtown İstanbul

Journalists, joined by some opposition deputies, march on İstiklal Street in downtown İstanbul

Turkish journalists marked World Press Freedom Day on Sunday under a cloud of diminishing press freedom in Turkey amid growing threats to their profession as they face unprecedented and constant attacks on their independence and safety.

Observed annually on May 3, World Press Freedom Day is promoted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom and to address current challenges and solutions. The theme of this year’s press freedom day is “Let Journalism Thrive! Towards better reporting, gender equality and media safety in the digital age.”

Far from thriving, free and independent journalism is apparently battling to survive in Turkey as not one day seems to pass without journalists’ facing the most severe forms of repression: A number of them are either in jail, losing their jobs or dealing with legal charges rained down on them by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party).

Turkish journalists face threats and intimidation not only from Erdoğan and the AK Party government but also from their advocates in the media.

On Saturday Cem Küçük, a columnist for the Star daily who is known for his threatening and aggressive language, used his column to call on the authorities to seize or freeze the assets of media outlets owned by people motivated by the ideas of Turkish-Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who inspired the Gülen or Hizmet movement.

Erdoğan and the AK Party government launched a battle against the movement after a corruption probe went public on Dec. 17, 2013, implicating senior members of the government, sons of three now-former ministers and government-affiliated figures. They accuse the movement of establishing a “parallel state” and plotting to topple the government, while the movement strongly denies the charges.

Describing the movement as a terrorist organization despite a complete lack of any evidence substantiating the claim, Küçük wrote that because a terrorist organization would not be allowed to have media outlets, the necessary action needs to be taken.

He called the movement a “clear and present danger,” adding that the bureaucracy needs to take immediate action to seize the media outlets, such as Zaman, Bugün and Samanyolu TV, which are owned by people inspired by Gülen, and to cut their finances. Küçük also cited a number of laws that he claimed would provide the legal basis for such action.

On Sunday, to mark World Press Freedom Day, veteran journalists gathered in the old newspaper neighborhood of Cağaloğlu, İstanbul where they lamented the desperate state of Turkish media due to the oppression enforced by the AK Party that has brought the profession of journalism to a near impossible state.

Various press organizations, including the Press Union of the Confederation of Revolutionary Workers’ Unions (DİSK), the Turkish Journalists’ Association (TGC), Turkish Journalists’ Union (TGS), Freedom for Journalists Platform (GÖP) and Contemporary Journalists Association (ÇGD) convened for Sunday’s conference with veteran journalists such as Doğan Tılıç, Turgay Olcayto, Ahmet Abakay, Uğur Güç and Faruk Eren in attendance.

“Freedom of the press allows the public to be informed, to learn the truth and reality of what is happening, and prevents people from being left in the dark. Journalists are in very difficult positions right now with bans via court decisions, accreditation [issues] and both censorship and automatic self-censorship. Unfortunately, with this the rights of the public are being constrained,” explained TGC President Turgay Olcayto.

TGS President Uğur Güç, who talked about the lack of press freedom in Turkey, said there are currently 21 jailed journalists and hundreds of journalists spending their working hours attending court hearings to give their testimony. “Every day, there are new court cases being filed against journalists,” Güç emphasized.

For his part, DİSK President Faruk Eren accused the government of trying to enforce who can and cannot be journalists.

A statement was released by the Platform for Independent Journalism (P24) on World Press Freedom Day arguing that the day has become a day not to celebrate, but to reflect and mourn. Referring to the journalists who are in jail, the statement said the real victims of the restrictions on journalists are not only journalists but the society they are no longer able to serve.

“By drawing a noose around the media, Turkey is losing the ability to unite, solve its problems and plan ahead. When Turkey emerged from the indignity of martial law in the 1980s, when it developed private television and a freer press, the rallying cry was “konuşan Türkiye” [Turkey speaks] — a nation, able to raise its voice. On May 3, we spare a thought for a nation loosing the ability to converse, even with itself,” it added.

“Journalism in Turkey is in the intensive care unit,” noted P24’s statement.

Crackdown on independent media

There is already immense government pressure on media organs owned by people inspired by Gülen’s ideas. Along with Zaman Editor-in-Chief Ekrem Dumanlı, Samanyolu Broadcasting Group General Manager Hidayet Karaca was taken into custody on Dec. 14, 2014, as part of a government-backed police operation. While Dumanlı was released pending trial, Karaca was arrested and still remains in jail on suspicion of being a member of an armed organization. The charges against him are based on a fictional TV series that was broadcast a few years ago. Despite a court ruling last month, which called for the release of Karaca and 63 police officers arrested, then detained in government-orchestrated operations, they were not released. To compound matters, the judges who ruled their release were suspended and subsequently arrested in an apparent sign of growing political pressure on members of the judiciary in Turkey.

However, it is not only journalists who work for media outlets owned by people inspired by Gülen’s ideas that face prosecution and persecution at the hands of the government and Erdoğan. Dozens of other journalists also face legal action over charges of insulting Erdoğan or government officials in their newspaper articles, or on social media.

Sedef Kabaş, a TV presenter, is facing a prison sentence of up to five years for posting a tweet about a corruption probe involving high-profile individuals. Another journalist, Mehmet Baransu, is being held under arrest for publishing state documents, with the charge of revealing secret documents linked to national security. Columnist Mümtaz’er Türköne is facing legal charges due to his criticism of President Erdoğan and ruling AK Party members. Osman Özsoy was fired from the pro-government Yeni Şafak daily last year due to his critical stance against the government in the wake of the Dec. 17 graft probe. Özsoy announced on his Twitter account last Wednesday that he had been detained by counterterrorism police officers while disembarking a ferry in İstanbul for remarks he had made on a TV show last Tuesday.

Journalists barred from pursuing profession

In addition, some media outlets and journalists in Turkey that are critical of the government or President Erdoğan are subjected to a controversial accreditation ban and barred from covering events attended by any government official or Erdoğan.

There are claims that Erdoğan and the AK Party government aim to avoid being asked tough questions by critical journalists on a range of controversial issues by preventing these journalists from covering events they attend.

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu took the opportunity in a speech he delivered at a General Assembly meeting of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB) of Turkey on Saturday to draw attention to the government’s controversial accreditation practice. The practice was also in place at that meeting, which was attended by Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu and other government members.

Referring to a speech delivered by Davutoğlu at the meeting, in which the prime minister talked about the importance of democracy, Kılıçdaroğlu recalled that the government had barred some journalists and TV channels from covering the event.

“This is not fair practice. There cannot be true democracy in a country whose media is not free. The raison d’être of democracy is the freedom of the media,” Kılıçdaroğlu said in his speech.

Turkey’s poor grades on press freedom

The growing sanctions faced by independent journalists in Turkey and the tightening government grip on the free media have made their way into the reports of international media watchdogs, which have criticized Turkey’s current level of press freedom.

The reports announced ahead of World Press Freedom Day indicate that press freedoms have considerably degraded. Freedom House’s 2015 report referred to Turkey as a country where the press is “not free.” According to the report, Turkey performed worse in this area last year than at any time in the past 10 years. It stressed that many journalists were targeted, threatened and arrested.

A year ago, in the 2014 report, Turkey had for the first time been demoted from one of the “partially free” countries to the “not free” countries. The 2015 report also noted that Turkey is among the countries where the rate of deterioration of press freedoms was the highest. Turkey is now the only country in Europe where the press is not free. The Turkish press is now considered to be more restricted than its traditionally less democratic counterparts in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya.

In the meantime, veteran journalists gathered in the old newspaper neighborhood of Cağaloğlu, İstanbul on Sunday to mark World Press Freedom Day where they lamented the desperate state of Turkish media due to the oppression enforced by the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) that has brought the profession of journalism to a near impossible state.

Various press organizations, including the Press Union of the Confederation of Revolutionary Workers’ Unions (DİSK), the Turkish Journalists’ Association (TGC), Turkish Journalists’ Union (TGS), Freedom for Journalists Platform (GÖP) and Contemporary Journalists Association (ÇGD) convened for Sunday’s conference with veteran journalists such as Doğan Tılıç, Turgay Olcayto, Ahmet Abakay, Uğur Güç and Faruk Eren in attendance.

“Freedom of the press allows the public to be informed, to learn the truth and reality of what is happening, and prevents people from being left in the dark. Journalists are in very difficult positions right now with bans via court decisions, accreditation [issues] and both censorship and automatic self-censorship. Unfortunately, with this the rights of the public are being constrained,” explained TGC President Turgay Olcayto.

TGS President Uğur Güç, who talked about the lack of press freedom in Turkey, said there are currently 21 jailed journalists and hundreds of journalists spending their working hours attending court hearings to give their testimony. “Every day, there are new court cases being filed against journalists,” Güç emphasized.

For his part, DİSK President Faruk Eren accused the government of trying to enforce who can and cannot be journalists.

Source: todayzaman

People in Sinjar struggling to survive winter conditions

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SinjarAt least ten thousand Yezidis, who did not want to abandon their homes, are struggling to survive as winter sets in on Mount Sinjar.

There are many young children who are in danger if urgent aid does not reach them soon. They are trying to resist the cold in summer clothes and wander barefoot. report by Firat

Families who are living together in thin tents say they have survived thanks to aid that has reached them from Rojava, but complain they have not received any airdrops of aid. With the aid corridor having closed they are concerned where aid will come from.

Families add that everyday their children are falling ill, saying they are worried they will not be able to survive the winter in the present conditions.