Not Quite Persecution: Christians in Tur Abdin, Southeast Turkey

Christians in Tur Abdin are a tiny minority; not quite the smallest (Yezidis), but as non-Kurds they see themselves as under pressure, and as non-Muslims they are particularly concerned about the pressure to conform. It is more complex as many Kurds are less obsessive about their religion as the AKP government would like; but the high number of women in society who wear headscarves (in a particular fashion) has been a sign of a more aggressive conservative Islam.

Thus the Syriac Christians find themselves living as a non-Kurdish minority in a mainly Kurdish region, while the Kurdish part of Turkey is itself a minority area in a mainly Turkic country.

The present AKP government in Turkey is deeply sectarian, encouraging a narrow historical view yearning for the glories of the Empire but portraying minorities as devious, immoral and dangerous, none more than Christians. School students in Turkey are required to complete the “Religious Culture and Moral Knowledge Course.” The course is rooted in Islamic principles and non-Muslim students from the Lausanne Treaty communities—Greek Orthodox, Jewish, and Armenian Orthodox—may be exempted from the course. Members of other faith groups, including Alevis, Yezidis and Syriacs, are not permitted exemption.

The Sayfo as the 1915 Genocide is known in Syriac, is a significant area of tension. The diaspora uses it as a point of definition, much as Armenia uses the same event, and Israel the Holocaust. The Syrian government when it feels attacked by Turkey, encourages the Syrian based patriarch to make an issue of the Sayfo, which leads to Ankara accusing the Syriac Christian Turkish community of being disloyal. Similarly, the frequent representations made in European and other capitals on the same issue brings down the wrath of Ankara. The more people talk about the Sayfo, the harder it is for the leaders of Tur Abdin.

Although there have been incidences of what might be government oppression of Christians in terms of land ownership, the most significant problem is simply the pressure to conform. Young men are required to do military service. For the more confident, this is no problem, but the less confident, especially those whose Turkish language is weak find it very difficult. Ironically Turks who befriend Christians in the army discover that Christians are not the wicked people displayed on Turkish television.

It is not all gloom. A downturn in international tourism has led to an increase in internal tourism and Deir al Zafaran in Mardin is frequently overwhelmed by huge numbers of Turkish Muslims, and the local Christian guides have an opportunity to inform their visitors of a different narrative from the official one, and of course many more secular minded Turks have great sympathy for their Christian fellow citizens.

It needs to be stressed that the present Turkish government is deeply sectarian. Christians being an almost insignificant proportion of the population receive less attention than groups like the Kurds, Yezidis or Alevis, or even secular Turks. The clear stance of the tough Bishop of Tur Abdin means he is seen by other communities as a leader; the international links give the Syriac Christians a sense that they have support outside in a way that the other minorities do not. This means that while tiny in numbers, and feeling oppressed by a myopic regime, native Christians in Turkey have a wide network. I am not sure that their own narrow world-view allows them to use that network well.