Remembering a Forgotten Genocide

New York, April 24, 2018. Today, World is remembering Seyfo, the Year of the Sword, which is the slaughtering of 2 million people mostly Armenians, Syrians, Chalcedon and Greeks by the Ottoman Empire of Turkey. Prior to the year 1915, Turkey was home to an ancient Christian population that included millions of Assyrians, Chaldeans, Syriacs Armenians, Pontian Greeks and others. The Ottoman Empire massacred over 2 million of these minorities and exiled these indigenous Christians from their historic homeland. Turkey, the Ottoman Empire’s successor state, continues to deny that the systematic killing, expulsion and rape of Christians constituted genocide and refuses to accept responsibility for this wrong or attempt to reconcile it through repatriations to survivors. Even today, the current Turkish government's policies are against the remaining Christian Institutions in Turkey and curtailed all freedom to its original people of the land. In July 2017, Turkish authorities seized about 50 properties – monasteries, cemeteries and churches – that belonged to the Syriac Orthodox Church, claiming the ownership deeds had lapsed. Church and community leaders in the southeastern region known as Tur Abdin, which translates to “The Mountain of the Servants of God,” say that among the properties seized were two functioning monasteries built some 1,500 years ago and that their loss will be a crushing blow their culture’s survival. In the Turkish city Trabzon, where few Christians are left, St. Maria Catholic Church has suffered its second attack this year. A gunman attacked the only church in the town on March 6 this year and destroyed everything which was under the watch of the Turkish authorities.

Sadly, Christianity is endangered religion in Turkey. What used to be a large and vibrant Christian community has now been reduced to one-tenth of 1 percent of the population over the past decade. People who grew up in the neighborhood emotionally witnessed the disappearance of Christians from Turkey.

The protection of Christians is also demanded by the European Union. Turkey must fulfill EU demands to travel down the road to EU membership and to support Turkey’s claims that European countries should protect the rights of Turkish minorities and combat Islamophobia. York, April 24, 2018.

Today, the World is remembering Seyfo, the Year of the Sword, which is the slaughtering of 2 million people mostly Armenians, Syrians, Chalcedon and Greeks by the Ottoman Empire of Turkey. Prior to the year 1915, Turkey was home to an ancient Christian population that included millions of Assyrians, Chaldeans, Syriacs Armenians, Pontian Greeks and others. The Ottoman Empire massacred over 2 million of these minorities and exiled these indigenous Christians from their historic homeland. The IRFT called on Trump Administration to recognize these genocides and take action against Turkey hold accountable to the crime against humanity. Turkey, the Ottoman Empire’s successor state, continues to deny that the systematic killing, expulsion and rape of Christians constituted genocide and refuses to accept responsibility for this wrong or attempt to reconcile it through repatriations to survivors. Even today, the current Turkish government's policies against the remaining Christian Institutions in Turkey and curtailed all freedom to its original people of the land. In July 2017, Turkish authorities seized about 50 properties – monasteries, cemeteries and churches – that belonged to the Syriac Orthodox Church, claiming the ownership deeds had lapsed. Church and community leaders in the southeastern region known as Tur Abdin, which translates to “The Mountain of the Servants of God,” say that among the properties seized were two functioning monasteries built some 1,500 years ago and that their loss will be a crushing blow their culture’s survival. In the Turkish city Trabzon, where few Christians are left, St. Maria Catholic Church has suffered its second attack this year. A gunman attacked the only church in the town on March 6 this year.

Sadly, Christianity is endangered in Turkey. What used to be a large and vibrant Christian community has now been reduced to one-tenth of 1 percent of the population over the past decade. People who grew up in the neighborhood emotionally witnessed the disappearance of Christians from Turkey.
The protection of Christians is also demanded by the European Union. Turkey must fulfill EU demands to travel down the road to EU membership and also to support Turkey’s claims that European countries should protect the rights of Turkish minorities and combat Islamophobia. Until a concrete action taken by Turkey, we will hold Turkey responsible for these unforgotten genocides happened 103 years back in Turkey. The IRFT called up on Trump Administration to recognize this genocide and take action against Turkey hold accountable to the crime against humanity.

(Father Joseph Varghese is the Executive Director, Institute for Religious Freedom and Tolerance, New York)