SE TURKEY: SYRIACS CELEBRATES NEW YEAR, BUT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 002388

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/27/2015
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM TU OSCE
SUBJECT: SE TURKEY: SYRIACS CELEBRATES NEW YEAR, BUT
LAMENT VILLAGE PROPERTY DISPUTE

REF: A. 04 ADANA 127

B. 04 ADANA 105

THIS CABLE IS FROM AMCONSUL ADANA.

CLASSIFIED BY POLITICAL COUNSELOR JOHN W. KUNSTADTER FOR
REASONS 1.4 (B) & (D).


1. (SBU) Summary: Representatives of the Syriac community
in Mardin province expressed to poloff satisfaction about a
first-ever (for Turkey) Syriac New Year celebration held on
April 1. At the same time, they expressed concern about a
property dispute brewing in Bardakci village of Mardin, where
contacts say 50 Syriac homes have been destroyed, one of two
Syriac churches converted to a mosque, and church lands
confiscated and put up for sale. The Bardakci case provides
an example of the property problems facing religious minority
groups, and illustrates the challenges related to achieving
returns to the Southeast, even to places where some village
infrastructure still exists. End summary.

Celebrations and Returns
--------------


2. (C) During poloff's visit to a Syriac Christian
monastery in Midyat on April 14, the Syriac Bishop there and
members of his lay staff expressed satisfaction about the
Syriac New Year celebration held in Midyat on April 1. They
told us that more than 3000 people from Europe, Iraq and
Syria had attended the event, being held for the first time
in Turkey. The celebration was reportedly broadcast by a
diaspora television station recently established in Sweden
and afterwards, according to the Bishop, callers from Iraq
phoned the monastery claiming they hadn't even known there
were Syriacs in Anatolia. "Participants asked themselves,"
said the Bishop, "'Am I in Turkey?'" In addition to feeling
ecstatic about celebrating the event in Turkey, visitors who
had been away for years told our contacts they were heartened
by last year's resolution of property disputes in the village
of Sarikoy (reftels),and stories of approximately 16 houses
being constructed by Syriacs in Elbegendi village, just south
of Midyat.


3. (C) The Bishop himself did not attend the celebration as
he was in Damascus at the time, but he related (to our
surprise) that the entire event had been organized in one
week's time. Apparently initiated by a member of the Syriac
diaspora in Europe - who must have received the "green light"
from the government first, according to the Bishop - the
event was authorized and attended by the Mardin Governor.
(Note: In a March 22 press release, a diaspora group claimed
the government "forcefully" changed the name that had been
proposed for the event, but the Bishop played down that
claim, stating that organizers were able to feature exactly
the formulation they preferred - Syriac New Year - on a large
banner at the event, if not on the invitation. End note.)
The Bishop stated that he had had some concerns
about the event going forward so soon after the Mersin flag
incident and the ensuing nationalist sentiments, but that his
concerns proved to be unfounded.

Property Problems Remain
--------------


4. (C) This positive development notwithstanding, Syriac
contacts are troubled about another property issue brewing in
Bardakci village of Mardin province (Note: Bardacki is
called "Bote" village by the Syriacs.) Contacts state that
more than 85 Syriac Christian families lived in the village
in 1978, but that now only six families remain (in Midyat and
Istanbul) after the majority fled to Europe in the mid-1980s.
Since 2000, approximately 50 Syriac homes in the village
have been destroyed, according to the Syriacs, and contacts
at the monastery offered us a photograph of the community
taken when the houses still existed. (Note: The Syriac
diaspora group claims the houses were destroyed by bulldozers
"with the order of the state" but post cannot confirm that at
this time. End note.)


5. (C) Moreover, contacts allege that land associated with
one of the community's two churches in the village was
confiscated by the government in 2000, by means of local
officials who conspired to change property records. Recently
the land was reportedly offered for sale -- at a total price
of approximately 100,000 Euros, we were told -- by the State
Treasury. (Note: Land registration is incomplete, at best,
in this region; the absence of property deeds adds to the
difficulty in solving such issues. End note.) Another dispute
in the village involves the conversion of one of two Syriac
churches into a mosque; monastery lay staff say this was done
without consultation with the Syriac Community in Midyat.

Headman Guards the Key to One Church...
--------------


5. (C) Despite these issues, representatives of the
monastery in Midyat regularly visit the village, with
apparently little interference, as they have been renovating
the larger of the two churches in the village (the one not
converted into a mosque) since 2002, with funds raised by
members of the Syriac community in Europe. The current
headman of the village safeguards the key to this church for
the monastery lay staff members, and appears to have at least
a polite relationship with monastery representatives, unlike
his predecessor, who used the grounds of the church as a
stable until being forced to leave the property by a previous
Sub-Governor.

...While Another is used as a mosque
--------------


6. (C) Poloff visited the large and impressive church being
renovated (said to date back 1,500 years),and had an
opportunity to see the other smaller church building, to
which an aluminum minaret has been attached. We also saw
traces of houses that were allegedly destroyed by bulldozers,
though post cannot confirm the circumstances of the houses'
destruction. Our contacts told us that in August 2003, both
Syriac and Muslim (ethnic Kurdish) members of the community
had met to search for an amicable resolution to some of the
conflictive issues. Despite some initial agreement on how to
move forward, there have been no practical results. More
recent visits to the current Sub-Governor of Midyat, contacts
said, have also been unproductive to date.


7. (C) Comment: Syriac contacts in Mardin - unlike more
confrontational diaspora representatives - are reluctant to
give the appearance to the government that they are
"complaining too much," despite their apparent skepticism
about the government's sincerity on issues relating to
religious minorities' rights. They are savvy about using
international interest to their advantage, but also work
local channels of communication with officials quietly as
they seek solutions to their issues, as they did in the case
of Sarikoy.


8. (C) Comment, cont'd: It appears that ethnic Kurdish
residents of Bardakci, many of whom are likely village
guards, as well as local officials, were more than happy to
assume the departure of the Syriac Christian families from
the village, and indeed, the region, was permanent. The
recent notice of sale of the church lands seems to have been
the straw that broke the camel's back, and put the village's
plight more prominantly on the agenda of the Syriac
community. The government's and State's approach to this
dispute will be another important test of Ankara's commitment
to supporting displaced persons' return to southeast Turkey
and, as important, its commitment to religious tolerance and
diversity.
EDELMAN