Scandinavian Syriac Churches Union announced that they won’t be silent in the face of their property being seized, and that they will continue their struggle until the properties are returned. Liberal Party MP Robert Hannah submitted a written inquiry and took the matter to the Swedish Parliament for the third time.

Scandinavian Syriac Churches Union Chairperson Aydın Zette Chelma stated that after the Mardin Governorate’s decree to seize the lands, Syriacs in the US, Australia and European countries met with embassies and demanded the decree to be reversed.

“WILL WE BE RENTING OUR OWN PROPERTY?”

Aydın Zette Chelma said: “A couple of days ago, the Mardin Governorate offered to ‘rent the properties’ to the Syriacs in Mardin. Whose property are they renting out? They first seized our property, and now they are telling us to rent it. I know very well that there is no law and no justice in the country, but this is too much. It is shameful.”

Chelma is also the chairperson for Swedish Syriac Churches Union, and said they prefer to resolve the issue through dialogue and that they continue their attempts to ensure that. Chelma also said that if the AKP doesn’t take steps, they will take the matter to the European Court of Human Rights if necessary, and added: “This is when the chips are down. We say enough. We are not going to be silent any longer, and we will act with all our might. The AKP and Erdoğan want us to forget about the Sayfo Genocide, they don’t want us to voice it for the world. As we refuse to be silent, they want to punish us by seizing our properties. We will never be silent. We experienced a genocide. They need to accept that, and dress the wounds. They can’t achieve anything with denial. Now they seize our property to tell us, ‘leave these lands for good, we don’t want you here’. The monasteries and cemeteries that have been seized have spiritual value. These are our places of worship, our life and our honor. We won’t allow them to be touched.”

“WE WANT TO LIVE THERE AND DIE THERE”

Chelma said there are still 2100 Syriacs around Midyat, mostly elderly people, and added that they have had to leave their lands due to the pressure and the attacks, but that they want to live and die there.

“We don’t dare return to our lands,” said Chelma and added: “If they don’t return our grabbed lands, we will organize boycotts against Turkey around the world, we will hold mass demonstrations and marches.”

ALL REPRESENTATIVES GATHERED

Representatives from Syriac churches working in various countries came together in Switzerland last week. The Syriac Patriarch was also present in the meeting where it was decided for the churches to play an active role and initiate attempts to have Turkey return the lands they have seized. Chelma said all the Syriac federations, organizations and associations in Sweden act in unison and added: “We are not the old Syriacs anymore. We have woken up. We are aware of our rights. We will never accept the seizure of our property. What has been done is shameful, Turkey needs to return our property.”

THIRD INQUIRY

The land grab for the Syriacs’ property has been taken to the Swedish Parliament for the third time by Liberal Party MP Robert Hannah, following inquiries by Social Democratic Workers Party MP Yılmaz Kerimo and Christian Democratic Party MP Robert Halef.

Hannan stated that the Turkish regime has imposed an intense Turkification practice on the Syriacs who managed to survive the genocide and added that even though it has been more than a century since, it is still forbidden to speak the truth and that the churches are left empty due to the systematic oppression by the Turkish state.

Hannah criticized the silence the outside world and the Swedish government has shown in the face of the Turkish state taking the last step in the genocide by seizing Syriacs’ property, and asked Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström if they had any plans to condemn the seizing of Syriac lands in Mardin.

Wallström is expected to answer all three inquiries by the end of this month.