On Sunday 14 June, members of the local Assyrian community gathered for the emotional unveiling of a new monument dedicated to the victims of the 1915 Seyfo genocide. The memorial stands in Enschede-Zuid, tucked behind the Mor Kuryakos Church, a location chosen not out of initial preference, but as a triumphant resolution to years of fierce local debate.
For the roughly 20,000 Assyrians living in the Dutch Twente region, the trauma of 1915 remains an open wound, passed down through generations. Yet, finding a public space to collectively mourn those who never received a proper burial proved to be a grueling political battlefield.
For years, the "Comité 1915" had campaigned to erect a permanent memorial in Enschede’s public Volkspark, where annual commemorations take place. While municipal authorities initially signaled their approval, the plans quickly ignited deep-seated geopolitical and social tensions. The local Turkish community fiercely opposed the initiative, echoing Ankara's official stance denying that a genocide took place. The controversy escalated to a diplomatic level when the Turkish Consul General met with Enschede’s Mayor, Roelof Bleker, to voice concerns over the sensitivity of the word "genocide." The Dutch government has still not officially recognized the Assyrian genocide as a state. Fearing community polarization and arguing that a "broad social consensus" was lacking, the municipality ultimately revoked its support for the public monument. Internal disagreements among various Assyrian factions regarding the exact terminology and symbols to be displayed on the stone further complicated the mediation process.
Faced with a bureaucratic impasse, the Assyrian community decided to take matters into their own hands. By shifting the project to private church grounds, they bypassed the need for municipal backing. A second, identical monument was also unveiled at the Mor Efrem monastery in nearby Glane to serve the wider regional community.
