ASIA/TURKEY - A "hunger strike" to draw attention on the centenary of the Assyrian Genocide

Thursday, 9 April 2015

Midyat (Agenzia Fides) - To commemorate the genocide of their ancestors during the events of 1915, the members of the Syriac community in the city of Midyat will begin a collective hunger strike on April 20, also to draw the attention of the Turkish public and International opinion on the massacres in 1915 that in Anatolia not only hit the Armenians, but also the Christian Assyrians, Chaldeans and Syriacs. This is what Turkish sources consulted by Agenzia Fides said. The hunger strike will last 100 hours – to represent the 100 years since the massacres that the Syrian Christians recall with the expression "Seyfo" which in Syriac means the Sword - and will end on April 24, to coincide with the initiatives planned around the world to commemorate the Armenian Genocide.
Even Christian Syrians, like the Armenians, claim that the Syriac-Assyrian genocide is recognized by Turkey. "Turkey - said Yuhanna Aktas, president of the Union of Mardin Assyrian in a television interview - has to deal with its past and recognize the Armenian Genocide". In addition to the hunger strike, the inspirers of the initiative have also announced a march to commemorate the Assyrian Genocide, which will be convened during the month of June.
The definition of "Assyrian Genocide" refers to the deportation and extermination of Christians belonging to the Assyrian, Chaldean and Syriac community carried out in Ottoman territory by the government of "Young Turks". The town of Midyat, of Syrian origin, has been for centuries the center of a Christian-Syriac enclave in the southeast of Turkey. Currently located in the province of Mardin. (GV) (Agenzia Fides 09/04/2015)


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