Erdogans envoy to Assyrians and Yazidies: "Our differences are our riches"
President Erdogan's envoy to the Turabdin Region in connection with the patriarch visit held a series of meetings with Assyrians and Yazidies.
Zafer Sırakaya, a high-ranking member of President Erdogan's AK Party, has been on tour in the Turabdin Region in connection with the visit of Patriarch Aphrem II of the Syriac Orthodox Church.
In addition to holding an extended meeting with the patriarch and a number of bishops accompanying him, Sırakaya also met with Assyrians and Yazidis in Midyat as well as in local villages.
"We all don't have to agree. Our differences are our riches. We believe that our cultural richness comes from thinking differently. But we share a common opinion on one issue, and that is our flag. We have one flag, only one state. We lived together, and we will continue to live together," he was quoted as saying in Turkish media to a group of Assyrians and Yazidis in Midyat.
He went on to emphasize that the local authorities provide equal services to all citizens without any discrimination, something he said local Assyrians and Yazidis he met praised.
"We observe that many of our Yazidi and Assyrian brothers who left these lands in the past have come back, directed their investments here, and rebuilt their houses. I think this is related to Turkey's last 20 years of democratization and reform," Sırakaya said.
Turkey changed its policy towards the indigenous Assyrians around the year 2000, embarking on what can be described as a charm offensive to lure back members of the growing and affluent Assyrian diaspora with roots in the Turabdin Region. Analysts interpret this pivot as part of a wider Turkish strategy to curb further Kurdification of the area by strengthening the indigenous Assyrian population.
