Statement on the 106th Anniversary of Sayfo

Statement on the 106th Anniversary of Sayfo

On the twenty-fourth of April, every year, our Assyrian people invoke the memory of the genocide (Sayfo) that still lives in the conscience and memory of our people with all their appellations. This crime claimed hundreds of thousands of victims of our people, in addition to one and a half million Armenians and tens of thousands of Pontic Greeks during 1915, which is considered one of the most horrific crimes known to mankind in the modern era, a crime committed against peace loving Christians by the Ottoman leaders. This crime was committed by the leaders of the AL Ithad and Al Taraqi party leaders who controlled the Ottoman Empire in its last years of demise, and with the broad support of some local groups. It was driven by radicalism and extremism, and executed according to a grand design that aimed to uproot an entire population, from their ancestral homeland, for having different identity, Assyrians, Armenians and Greeks that are not of the main stream of the Turkish population. The massacres were not an outcome of a war or an emergency dictated by the circumstances of the First World War, as advocates of denial propagate and claim, on the contrary, their aim is to evade political and legal responsibility for committing the atrocities.

The lack of recognition of Sayfo crime and other crimes against humanity elsewhere in the world for the last hundred years, undoubtedly set the stage for subsequent atrocities, and encouraged tyrants to commit their crimes against people without fear of being held accountable. Crimes and atrocities that have happened and are happening in Syria for more than ten years are not less horrible than

Sayfo’s. These crimes are nothing but an affirmation of the international community’s inaction and contempt in dealing with the perpetrators of these crimes, and inability to subject them to face accountability in accordance with the provisions of international laws.

It is a well-established in the international law that crimes of genocide shall not be subject to the statute of limitations, to the extent it includes the victims’ rights and reparation; it provides the governments and states where the crimes took place, an opportunity and incentives to heal the wounds of the past in order to establish a more humane future. The Turkish state being the legal heir to the Ottoman Empire, since its inception, has suffered from the repercussions of this dossier, internally and externally, in conjunction with annually raised the question of responsibility, and the growing number of countries recognizing the crimes committed, have publicly made it clear that it is officially responsible for these crimes and consequently have contributed to deepening the imbalance and the straining of their relations with their people, and with neighboring countries, as well as the international community.

Therefore, we in the Assyrian Democratic Organization, see that the growing Turkish role in the region and in the world requires its government to undertake an initiative to turn the page on the past, and reconcile with its history and people by recognizing the (SAIFO) crimes and apologize; as a necessary entry point to achieve security and stability, and to open a new page between the people and the countries of the region to build trust and cooperation to meet and resolve all the challenges it faces.

A tribute to the martyrs of Sayfo and the martyrs of Syria

Syria 4/24/2021

Assyrian Democratic Organization

The Executive Committee.