Assyrians observe sacred Easter feast with pro-Kurdish HDP members

Assyrians marked the sacred Easter feast in the eastern province of Mardin together with members of the pro-Kurdish opposition Peoples Democratic Party (HDP) on Sunday.

The religious ceremony was held at the Assyrian Ancient Mar Behnam Church, in Turkish “Kirklar Kilisesi”, with the HDP delegation witnessing the celebration.

Mar Benham Church priest Gabriel Akyuz welcomed the HDP group including the newly elected Mardin co-mayors Ahmet Turk and Figen Altindag, HDP lawmaker Mithat Sancar, at the entrance.

He later cracked the colorful Easter eggs with the guests, symbolizing the resurrection of Christ from the dead.

Syriac Orthodox Christians attended the ceremony led by Samuel Aktas, the metropolitan bishop of Tur Abdin and the abbot of the Mor Gabriel Monastery. The worshippers held the ceremony for Easter by praying and lighting candles.

Some other Easter celebrations were held in several provinces of Turkey, including Hatay, Diyarbakir, and Edirne on Sunday.

What is Easter?

Easter is a Christian festival, the most important day in the Christian calendar for commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Christ died on the cross on Good Friday, which this year was on April 19. Good Friday is celebrated on different dates each year, between March 21 and April 25, depending on when a full moon appears in Spring.

Assyrians suffering various problems

According to Sait Susin, chairman of the Syriac Orthodox Foundation in Istanbul, around 20000 Syriac Christian citizens living in Turkey, with some 3000 residing mainly in rural areas where the land registry system was very poor.

Tens of thousands have immigrated to Europe over the last few decades due to armed  fighting between the Turkish military forces and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Many churches, monasteries and community buildings are thus not even registered.

For the first time in Turkish history, their property deeds have been returned, due to judicial amendments on March 27, 2018.

Fifty-five official property deeds of historic Syriac properties, many predating Ottoman times, were delivered to their original owners, representing nearly half of their ancient church properties in the southeast region of Turkey which had been confiscated by the state.

Kuryakos Ergun, chairman of the Mor Gabriel Foundation said the returned deeds have created great joy among the Syriac Christians, considerably reducing property ownership problems of southeast Turkey’s Syriac community.

However, they still have a legal dispute over ownership of lands belonging to the community. The recovery of various Syriac monasteries, village churches, and cemeteries, some 70 vineyards, gardens, and lands attached to them, is still pending in the local courts.

Tuma Celik, an activist fighting for the interests of the Syriac Orthodox society declared that only a minority of Assyrians are fluent in Aramaic. Celik estimates that around 3,000 people in Istanbul speak the language, while only about 200 can read and write it.

A Syriac foundation had therefore submitted a request to open a kindergarten with instruction in Aramaic.

“You are not a minority; therefore you cannot teach your children a foreign language,” responded the Turkish ministry of education.

Though Syriac Orthodox Christians should have been benefiting from the minority rights stipulated in the Lausanne Treaty of 1923, Turkey has granted these rights thus far only to Greeks, Armenians, and Jews with numerous infringements.

Greece to give citizenship to Western Thrace Turkish minority

 

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from IPA NEWS https://ipa.news/2019/04/29/assyrians-observe-sacred-easter-feast-with-pro-kurdish-hdp-members/