ARAMEANS SEND LETTER TO PRESIDENT, PM DEMANDING RIGHTS

Today’s Zaman
May 5 2009
Turkey

The Turabdin Solidarity Committee (Solidaritattsgruppe), an umbrella
organization for the diaspora Arameans from Turkey, sent a letter
to President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
about the situation of Arameans in Turkey and asked to be treated in
accordance with the Lausanne Treaty and auspices of the state.

In the letter, the Arameans also noted that the Prophet Jesus spoke
in Aramaic and the state should give the permission and financial
support for Aramaic language courses. The letter also underlined the
concerns of the Arameans regarding the ongoing trial over the Mor
Gabriel Monastery, which was constructed in A.D. 397.

The row began when the Turkish government land officials redrew the
boundaries around Mor Gabriel and the surrounding villages in 2008
in order to update the national land registry as part of a cadastre
modernization project in compliance with EU instructions. The monks
say the new boundaries have turned over large plots of land that the
monastery has owned for centuries to the villages, and it designates
the monastery’s land as a public forest. Christian groups believe
the officials want to ultimately stamp out the Aramean Orthodox
monastery. Their allegations come as the EU has demanded that the
ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government do more
to promote religious freedom along with its liberal economic and
political reforms.

Meanwhile, three neighboring villages — Candarlı, Yayvantepe and
Eglence — have complained that the monks have engaged in "anti-Turkish
activities" and alleged that they are illegally converting children
to Christianity, that the Mor Gabriel Community Foundation settles
wherever it chooses –without having the requisite permits — and that
it violates the Unity of Education Law. The villagers also have accused
the monastery of taking the land the villagers need for cattle. The
hearings in the dispute will be held this month.

The letter reiterated the importance of the Mor Gabriel Monastery for
Christian history and claimed that the cases against the monastery were
directly linked with the basic rights and problems of the Christians
in Turkey.

"Accordingly, these problems were raised because most of the Aramean
villages in Turabdin [Aramaic name for a part of the Mardin and
Å~^ırnak] are facing similar problems and struggling against them. In
short, the status and the minority rights of Arameans is the issue,"
the letter said.

The Turabdin Solidarity Committee also claimed that the number
of Arameans still living in the area is around 2,000, but "their
existence is in danger due to the growing hostility against them."

The letter suggested that since the establishment of the republic,
the Arameans were not recognized as a religious nor ethnic minority
and were not able to enjoy the rights granted by the Lausanne Treaty,
which was signed in 1923 and served as the founding agreement for the
Turkish Republic. The treaty organizes the rights of the non-Muslim
citizens of Turkey — without indicating specific group names — but,
practically, these rights are applied only to the Jewish, Greek and
Armenian minorities of Turkey, according to a recent report of the
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV).

The letter underlined that within this framework, the Arameans demand
the recognition of their culturally rich existence and want the special
auspices of the state. The letter also demands: "the monasteries and
churches that belong to the Arameans should be preserved by the state
without taking them away from their owners, religious freedom, not
only the permission to open religious schools, but financial support
for them and permission to teach language courses."

The letter claimed that if these demands were met, then the Arameans
of Turkey will be able to plan their future freely and contribute to
the development of Turkey.