The Assyrian Democratic Organization
Quite regrettably, in early October, jounalists from a major Turkish newspaper, Hurriyet, interviewed an Assyrian (Syriac) priest from St. Mary’s Syriac Orthodox Church in Diyarbakir with the hope of eliciting a Christian denial of the 1915 Holocaust. Rather than succumbing to the escalating hysteria of threats and intimidation within Turkey, Pr. Yusuf Akbulut instead confirmed the Armenian genocide and insisted that Assyrians (Syriacs) had also been similarly victimized. Pr. Yusuf added that Kurds had also been willing accomplices in the killing and that the holocaust was an undeniable historic fact. Pr. Yusuf defiantly asserted that Bet Nahrain (Mesopotamia) is the land of the Asssyrians (Syriacs) and that irrespective of U.S. Congressional action, „we will have our voices heard throughout the world.“
The Turkish response was predictably swift and brutal. On October 4, the Hurriyet newspaper carried an article with a photograph of Pr. Yusuf entitled „icimizdeki hain“ meaning „A Traitor Amongst Us“ with a subheading quoting Pr. Yusuf as saying „Not only Armenians were killed, Assyrians (Syriacs) were also killed.“ The outrage from within Turkey led Turkish millitary security agents to arrest Pr. Yusuf on October 6 from his church in Diyarbakir. Although earlier reports had stated that Pr. Yusuf had been freed, in reality he remains imprisoned and charged with treason. Pr. Yusuf’s court date is scheduled in military court on December 21, 2000. Under Turkish law, the charge of treason, if sustained, is punishable by death.
There is grave concern for Pr. Yusuf’s physical well being while he remains in Turkisch custody. The vitriolic Hurriyet newspaper headline labeling Pr. Yusuf as a traitor to the Turkish nation is believed intended to stir passions and lead to vigilante or extrajudicial attacks against Pr. Yusuf by fundamentalists or security forces. Moreover, there is reason to believe that Pr. Yusuf is being physically and psychologically mistreated as he awaits word on his possible execution if he is found guilty of treason. Thus far, Pr. Yusuf has not been allowed visitors or adequate legal defense.
The Turkish government has likewise increasingly threatened other members of the Assyrian (Syriac) community into condemning Pr. Yusuf’s statements. Some clergy terrified at the prospects of the renewed campaign of persecution against the remaining few thousand Assyrian (Syriac) Christians in southeastern Turkey have acquiesced in the face of thes mounting threats.
The arrest of Pr. Yusuf and the subsequent threats against the Assyrian (Syriac) community in southeastern Turkey underscore Turkey’s insecurity in dealing with ist bloody past and with ist presend day Assyrian (Syriac) Christian minority. Now clamoring to join the European Union, Turkey continues to demonstrate a primitive, draconian approach to historial and political debate with a penchant for brutality and intolerance. Despite universal and continuous international criticism of ist behavior, Turkey continues to show a perverse disdain for any semblance of civility. Still more, despite the international community’s insistence on grater openness and tolerance, Turkey still steadfastly refuses to show any procitvity towards respect for even the most basic of human rights.
We of the Assyrian Democratic Organization demand that Turkey immediately and unconditionally release Pr. Yusuf Akbulut and end the menacing intimidation of the Assyrian (Syriac) vommunity. We also demand Turkey’s acknowledgment of ist role in the Assyrian-Armenian-Greek Holocaust.
Augsburg, 20.11.2000
Assyrian Democratic Organization
U.S.A., Canada, Europe and Sweden
