THE ASSYRIAN MONASTERY AND ITS MUSLIM NEIGHBORS
by Nuri Kino
Assyrian International News Agency
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Jan 14 2009
She opened the door quietly and looked at us. Her eyes caught
Linda Asmar, the only woman among the crowd and stepped in the room
cautiously. Adult men suddenly began to raise their voices, shouting
and interrupting eachother. The girl’s face flushed red for a moment
and leaned against the wall. When the men became calmer, she approached
Linda and smiled at me. Her almond shaped blue eyes were so sweet. I
was about to ask her name when the crowd got mad once again.
We were sitting on the floor in a big room of a village house. The
village, "Yayvantepe" was located in the southeast region of Turkey. It
was luckily a sunny day. Otherwise we would surely be cold. The heater
was off, for the headman of the village did not allow the electricity
to be turned on, saying it was costly. The battery in my computer was
almost dead and I persuaded them to turn the electricity on. As Linda
told me later, the women had finally found an opportunity to use the
oven once again. The headman of the village and his fellow men were
introduced as very radical Islamic fundamentalists by the press. I was
intending to find out how bigoted they really were. Many newspapers
wrote that the villagers had been threatening to spoil one of the
most sacred places of Christianity. I asked them what it was all about.
"They are lying. It is the metropolitan and his associates who spread
these unfounded allegations. It is them who invade our lands and they
should face these allegations, not us!", Ismail Caglayan, one of the
oldest shepherds of the village shouted.
"Shut up! You should talk more politely", Ismail Erkal, the headman
shouted back lifting up his hand.
The blue eyed girl, Busra, took Linda’s hand gently and lead her out of
the room. They should have been seated in another room with the other
women. But men kept on yelling at eachother for a couple of hours more.
The date was 20th of December, the day after the trial which had
caused 3 Swedish congressmen and one EU official representative come
to the southeast part of Turkey as observers. The issue which would be
handled during the trial was uncertain until the last minute. Being
a reporter and a kind of "expert in the issue", I attended the
delegation beginning from the early hours of December 18th. In my
childhood I lived in this region and later visited there in several
occaions. Meanwhile, because of my direct relations with some relevant
people including the metropolitan, I had the opportunity to investigate
the fate of the Monastry closely. The delegation which was composed
of Swedish politicians and some representatives of the Assryian
organizations, made meetings with the governor, chief official and
the attorney of the Monastry region. They were trying to figure out
how and why Turkish government would allow some radical Islamic people
threaten to destroy the Monastry with its nearly 30 poor children ve
70 unprotected residents.
When a copy of the crime petition was obtained, the threats became
known publicly. In the petition which was signed by 3 muslims from
the neighboring villages, beside many issues there was also a demand
that the anti-government activities of the monastry be ended. The
crime petition was based on 10 ridiculous topics. One statement in the
petition caused 5000 people from the town of Sodertelje in Sweden to
go out for a protest meeting regardless of the cold weather on 14th of
December. The statement was as follows: "Sultan Mehmet said that anyone
who cut off a branch from his trees would be decapitated". Non-muslims
are being threatened to be killed even if they touch a tree; almost
the same thing is happening in Iraq now. That’s why the residents of
Sodertelje wanted to say "stop" to the persecution, oppression and
murders of the radical Islamic fundamentalists and gathered in the
town square to support the monastry. That is O.K., but why is the
monastry so important after all?
Mor Gabriel: ("Mor" means saint and the monastry is named after a
saint called Gabriel). I am Assyrian. We are also called Syrians and
Chaldeans. The village of "Yayvantepe" is within the administrial
borders of my birthplace Midyat. It is located in the district called
"Turabdin" which means the servants of God. It is also in the North
Bethnahrin, that is the North of Mesopotamia. Many people say this
region is the birth place of civilizations and Christianity started
and took its shape there. Mor Gabriel Monastry is standing in its
place for about 1600 years. Its foundation goes back to 397 A.D. The
language of Jesus Christ is spoken and taught there; we, Assyrians,
are still using a modern version of that language, Aramean, in our
daily life. However, it is now said that 3 muslims are threatening
to destroy the monastry with their petition.
18th of December was both a very busy and emotional day. The delegation
was watched over and protected by the Turkish Intelligence Agency. The
meetings of the day were full of tension. For example, I requested the
governor to read the accusations concerning the monastry aloud. When he
did, I asked his opinion. First he laughed, then he got furious saying
that the allegations were rubbish and full of lies. The chief official
did the same. However, the Cadastre Office reached a problematic
conclusion. According to them, 1 square mile of the 2.8 square mile
area which belonged to the monastry were in fact a property of the
state. The whole area was enclosed with a high wall. Ironically,
everyone, both Assyrian Church and government knew very well that
the wall had been built in order to protect the monastry residents
in the first place.
The attorney, on the other hand, found it almost ridiculous that
Sweden had sent a whole delegation as observers to the trial. Yilmaz
Kerimo, The Swedish congressman from the Democrat Party replied: "Any
threat against the monastry is at the same time a threat against the
democratization of Turkey. Turkey should demonstrate that the intention
to better democratize the country is serious. Words should turn into
action. For example, in this context to ensure the rights of the
monastry would be a good gesture". Helena Storm, the chief secretary
of the Swedish Embassy in Ankara, was also the representative of the
EU. From the very beginning, Storm stated that Sweden had always
been among the greatest supporters of Turkey on its way to the EU
membership and thus very concerned about the application of human and
minority rights according to the Kopenhagen criteria. Turkey did accept
its obligations to protect its minor communities. She indicated that
some countries had been fiercely criticizing Sweden for its support to
Turkey and such threats against the Mor Gabriel monastry were creating
obstacles for Turkey in the course of EU membership. Storm added that
EU would be examining every step throughout the judicial procedure.
It had been a very busy day. Much was said, but it was mostly in
vain. Many decision were made, but they got cancelled later on. But
in the end, the accusations of the villagers somehow seemed to be
vanished. It was as if none of this had happened. The next day,
the trial began. There were nearly 20 people in the courthouse. It
lasted only 10 minutes. The only step was to specify the date of the
next hearing. As we we were walking out of the courthouse, a Turkish
reported asked my opinion about the apologizing campaign which was
started by 200 intellectuals in Turkey concerning the genocide
made against the christians during the First World War. Letting
my emotions control my words, I replied to him, "This campaign is
the least they could have done". It was once again emotions that
dominated the conversations with the monastry representatives and
village headmen. It was now 20th of December. Delegation had returned
home and I was still in the headman’s house.
"The metropolitan should share its land. Monastry does not need all of
this land and could let go some of it. We, muslims are the majority",
a man which was pouring tea into the traditional glasses said.
I asked if someone could reach the 3 men who had signed the petition
by the phone. Although the headman called them a few times, the sign
owners refused to talk to me.
"So, all of you sitting here, do you know what it is written in
that petition?
Looking at eachother shamefully, seven men replied: "No, because we
can neither read nor write"
"What about the sign owners themselves? Are they able to read or
write?"
In the end, it was understood that even they could not read or
write. So the question was: Who actually prepared and wrote the
petition? And why did 3 village headmen sign that petition? The headman
firstly said he did not know who wrote it. When I insisted on asking
him a few more times, he finally replied: "A lawyer working for the
government". I asked what his name was. But the answer was bizarre. The
lawyer suddenly became someone whom the headmen and others accidentally
had met in the marketplace. They were not remembering his name or
his look. The headman and others decisively said that they did not
know what the complaints against the monastry included. I read aloud
all of the 10 topics in the petition. For example, when they heard
that the monastry was being accused of engaging in anti-government
activities, they all agreed and said it was true. But they did not
have any answer to what these activities might have been. It was the
same with regard to other accusation topics.
"The governor thinks you are a bunch of radical village fools. What
do you say about it?", I felt compelled to ask.
"The governor is right, you know. We are indeed a bunch of
fools. Otherwise we would not have let them abuse us that way",
one of them replied.
"What do you mean by "abuse"? Who did abuse you?", I asked.
Looking at the floor, they took a sip from their tea. They were
implying that I should have found out the answer by myself. However,
at the same time, they pointed out that the words of Sultan Mehmet were
still valid stressing that they were ready, at least symbolically,
to cut off the head of anyone who would spoil a muslim’s land. I,
Linda Asmar, our driver and assistant left the village with many
questions and answers in our minds.
I found an answer to one of these questions a few days later after I
came back to Sweden. Suleyman Celebi, a Turkish congressman who was
born in Midyat just like me gave that particular answer. A newspaper,
namely "Evrensel", had made an interview with him. The reporter who
made the interview revealed that Celebi was someone who were making
feudal and bigoted statements. All of the residents of the 3 villages
who want to see the monastry brought down voted for Celebi and his
party in the elections. Celebi is a congressman and member of AKP,
the ruling party in Turkey, which is regarded by some as the defender
of democracy and by others a group trying to lead the country to
radical Islam. In the interview, in spite of all the evidences, Celebi
asserted that non-muslims left Turkey by their free will and they
were lying about the oppression. He also said that his own tribe was
the protector of Assyrians. He alleged that he was speaking unbiased
and accused the monastry of invading land. The interview ends with
the following question: Did Assyrians migrate from Turkey by their
free will? The reporter answers as follows:
"Although the AKP congressman asserts that Assyrians migrated
willingly, the Assyrians of Midyat were firstly massacred or forced
to migrate in 1915. It is also known that they had to migrate because
of the racist attacks which began in 50s and 60s and the oppression
during 1974-75 Cyprus affairs. Due to the September 12th coup tensions
in 80s and the terror environment in 90s, Assyrians were compelled
to evacuate some of their villages which were declared as forbidden
zones until 2000s. Threats coming from Hizbullah were also effective
in their migration. During the martial law period, nearly 50 Assyrians
were assasinated and the murderers could never be caught."
Throughout my life I have always heard that Turkish intellectuals
have been trying to bring down the feudal system. However, it seems
that the feudal system has come back again. And maybe it is stronger
than ever in modern times. AKP, which is struggling to get more
and more votes in the elections, has been choosing representatives
from large families and/or tribes. Of course it may be said that
elections are being made freely and more or less in a democratic
environment. However, this is also a kind of declining. So, Turkey
is once more facing the danger of becoming a country where ignorant
peasants are being abused by educated leaders.
Now there are two more cases left concerning the Mor Gabriel
Monastry. One of them is about whether the wall built to protect the
monastry residents is legal or not. The other one was presented by
the monastry against the Cadastre Office who laid hands on 1 square
mile of the land inside the wall. Undoubtedly, the wall is necessary
for the protection of monastry residents. The Office is claiming
this 1 square mile belongs to the government, saying this portion
is "an unlabored wild forest terrain". This is weird, because the
Monastry has been paying taxes for the land and the forest since 1937,
guarding and saving it for centuries. In other words, the area is in
fact not "unlabored", contary to what it is said. Or else is this a
demonstration of the power of feudal landowners?
On the way home, I visited another historical Monastry, namely the
Deyrulzafaran. There I met a little Christian girl whose name was
Mahbuba. Her eyes were like brown almonds. Her family had recently
escaped from the town of Mosul in northern Iraq because of the
oppression they suffered in the hands of muslims. They took refuge
in the monastry for a shelter. Suddenly, I recalled a conversation
between me and an old villageman. It was about the Islamic oppressions
against the non-muslims in Iraq. The old man said: "You can not put
the blame on us for what is happening in Mosul. The muslims in Mosul
are responsible for it"
But, you took part in a protest meeting in Midyat against christians,
when a caricaturist in Europe drew some pictures of Mohammed, didn’t
you? If the police would not have intervened, things could have been
much worse.
You should know that you must respect our prophet!
Well, then, why should the christians living in the southeast of
Turkey be harassed because of what a Danish caricaturist did?
The old man did not and could not find an answer to this question. He
also could not answer why Assyrians, Armenians and Greeks around
him in Turkey were massacred during the First World War. A childhood
friend of mine who is a muslim took me to the airport by car. He was
born on the same street with me in Midyat. My father and his father
were friends. While listening to the radio on the way, we heard that
Mehmet Kiliclar, the governor who had talked to the delegation, was
assigned to another office. My friend believed that this assignation
was surely related to the monastry cases. I showed my friend photos
of muslim Busra and christian Mahbuba. Two sweet, innocent kids who
may be enemies in the future because of the experiences they are
going through.
http://www.aina.org/guesteds/20090114120558