TURKS BLOCK INSTALLATION OF ASSYRIAN GENOCIDE MONUMENT IN SWEDEN
Assyrian International News Agency
Nov 28 2007
Sodertalje, Sweden (AINA) — The local newspaper of Sodertalje, a town
just south of the Swedish capital, has been busy covering the unfolding
drama of the Seyfo Monument. Seyfo is an Assyrian word referring to the
1914-1918 Turkish genocide of 750,000 Assyrians, as well as 400,000
Greeks and 1.5 million Armenians. The Turkish state fiercely objects
to any mentioning of genocide of Assyrians and is spending millions
of dollars to promote its official view of Turkish WWI history.
The town of Sodertalje has reluctantly become a battle ground for the
efforts of the Turkish state and the 20,000 strong Assyrians living
there since the mid 70s. The Assyrian community was promised recently
by the municipality of Sodertalje a monument for the remembrance of the
Turkish genocide of Assyrians. But the issue took a new spin as fresh
reports revealed Turkish lobbyists influenced Swedish politicians to
stop the planned monument. A shadowy organization named "The ideas
of Ataturk in Sweden" is suspected to be behind the lobby efforts to
stop the monument.
Prominent members of the Assyrian community have been quoted in the
media vowing to continue their efforts until the monument is installed,
calling the Turkish state to change its position and acknowledge the
genocide of Assyrians. "This is a sensitive issue for every Assyrian
in the world and it is of great importance for several generations
of Assyrians, that is why we will not give up so easily," said Rachel
Hadodo, chairwoman of the Assyrian Federation of Sweden.