How do you erase an entire civilization? First you exterminate its members and then.. alter, repurpose or destroy everything they built.
Only a handful of Assyrians are believed to live in Omid (Turkish Diyarbakır) today. The walled town, with a significant Assyrian population since ancient times, has today swelled into a Kurdish-majority city. But here and there are traces of its true origin, like this photograph from the early 1900s, that reveals more than first meets the eye. In the photographs lower right side one sees a stone formation. It was part of the walls of an Assyrian church, the Mor Zuoro church.
The church no longer exists and this photograph is one of the rare visual evidence of its existence where only the stone foundations and debris of the structure can be seen, notes the editor of Cega Media, a local news source. It was located in the wall area near the Double Gate at the beginning of the 20th century. This visual document is considered the only remaining trace of the physical existence of the church.
DISAPPEARED IN URBAN TRANSFORMATION
The complete disappearance of the Mor Zuoro Church took place during the road expansion and zoning works in Diyarbakır in the mid-20th century. The area where the church was located was leveled to make a new road, removing all traces of its existence. Although there is no official decision or date in the sources regarding the destruction of the church, the fact that there is no trace of the structure reveals the physical consequences of this process.
Just like the church was destroyed and eventually leveled completely with no trace, so too were the Assyrians who used to pray there, baptize their children, get married and hold memorial services for their loved ones. It is a powerful and silent testimony of the ethnic and cultural erasure Assyrians have faced on their ancestral lands - not for rebelling or causing any trouble, but for simply existing as Assyrians and Christians.
NAZMİ KAHRAMAN
