Patriarch's visit to Turabdin marks normalized relations
The Assyrian church leader's visit is yet another positive sign for the Turabdin Region.
The head of the Syriac Orthodox Church, Patriarch Aphrem II, began his first official visit to the Turabdin Region in southeastern Turkey on Thursday, 28 August. The Patriarch arrived in Mardin early in the morning to begin his week-long stay until September 5, during which he will be touring the region and its many villages and towns.
His first official meeting was with Mardin’s governor, Tuncay Akkoyun, where the Patriarch delivered a speech on the historical presence and role of the Assyrian people in the region and thanked the Turkish government for its support of the churches. He then proceeded to the ancient Mor Hananyo Monastery (Deyrulzafaran), which served as the seat of the Patriarchate for nearly eight centuries.
The Patriarch himself hails from a family with roots in the village of Ehwo in the Turabdin Region, one of the remaining villages in the mountainous Izla area still inhabited exclusively by Assyrians to this day.
A sign of geopolitical alignment
The timing of the visit of the Assyrian church leader reveals the changing dynamics in the region. While relations between Bashar al-Assad’s Syria and Turkey were openly hostile, the two countries are now much closer, as the new power holders in Damascus were part of groups supported by Turkey against al-Assad. A visit to Turkey during Assad’s rule would not have been viewed favorably by Damascus, which likely prevented the Patriarch from visiting Turabdin since his consecration in 2014.
The significance of the visit
As Turkish policy toward minorities, and especially Assyrians, began to change around the year 2000, the community has developed significantly. The Turabdin Region is now experiencing a revival, with new investments in the form of businesses and homes by Assyrians. The visit by the Patriarch is likely to have an additional positive effect on the morale of Assyrians in Turkey in general and in Turabdin in particular. It is yet another signal that Assyrians are accepted in Turkey today and that Turabdin, with its deep roots in Assyrian Christianity, both remains and regains its significance as an Assyrian region.
