Minority foundations demand extra time for property return
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News/VERCIHAN ZIFLIOĞLU
Minority foundations are request extra time for the return of their properties, saying that the one year period given to minorities to demand the return of their property is not long enough due to bureaucratic obstacles
Sveti Stefan Church is located in the historic Balat neighborhood of Istanbul is one of the returned properties.
The one year period given to minority foundations for the return of their property has expired, but complaints are still ongoing. The council members of various minority foundations have underlined that the process has gone well for a year, but that a one year period is not enough for them to receive back their property and extra time is needed.
Speaking to the Hürriyet Daily News, Harutyun Şanlı, a member of the coordination committee of the Armenian Foundations Solidarity Platform, or VADIP, said they had met Foundations General Director Adnan Ertem in early August.
“Adnan Ertem said we had 600 properties, but were not working hard enough to take them back.
Foundation heads are all amateurs. A serious examination is required to reveal properties. Some of our lands are occupied, some had highways constructed on them. Such cases must be detected,” Şanlı said. “However, bureaucratic procedures and the indifference of some foundation heads make it difficult. We have neither sufficient data nor the 1936 declaration.”
Following the Lausanne Treaty, a law was passed in 1936 that suggested the recording of all minority foundations. Apart from the property recorded in the declaration, the foundations were prevented from obtaining new properties. With the Foundations Law enacted by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government in 2008, it became possible for properties belonging to minorities to be returned to them.
“Extra time should be given, and the elections [of foundation heads] should be open to the whole of Istanbul. New legislation should be introduced to prevent the misuse of authority, so that foundation heads will not just act as they wish,” Şanlı said.
Within the one-year period, Armenian Foundations received some of their most important foundations back in Istanbul, including the historic Surp Haç Tıbrevank High School in the Üsküdar district, the Selamet Han in Eminönü, which belongs to the Yedikule Surp Pırgiç Hospital-Foundation in Zeytinburnu.
Controversial Mor Gabriel case
Meanwhile, the Mor Gabriel Monastery in the Midyat district of the southeastern province of Mardin - one of the most important monasteries in the Syriac world - has been engaged in a lawsuit since 2008.
The head of the Mor Gabriel Monastery Foundation Kuryakos Ergün said the time limit was too short and that during the one year period given none of the properties belonging to foundations in the southeastern region had been re-possessed.
“The southeastern region was declared an emergency region because of terrorism. In 2008, the Land Registry Cadastre Office registered all of our property under their name and they also sued us. For trivial reasons, the Supreme Court of Appeals considered us squatters on our own property, and our appeal to take back one of our lands was suspended for three months,” Ergün said.
Hagia Dimitrios Church Foundation Head Dimitri Zotos said they experienced great difficulty in obtaining the land title records, and were trapped in the obstacles of bureaucracy. “We could not receive back even one of our foundations. We had taken this for granted, but each foundation has a different condition,” Zotos said.
August/31/2012
31 Ağustos 2012 Cuma
30 Ağustos 2012 Perşembe
Church asks Christians in fear to stay in Syria
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News / VERCIHAN ZIFLIOGLU
Syriac clerics call on Christians in Middle East, especially those in Syria, to avoid leaving their homelands amid harsh violence. Justice in Syria can only be achieved by meaningful dialogue between all belligerent elements, they say
Pope Benedict XVI waves at the end of his weekly audience from his summer residence in Rome. Pope will attend a meeting in Lebanon on September in which all the Christian spiritual leaders in the Middle East are expected to attend.
The Syriac Orthodox Kadim Patriarchate Synod in Damascus called on Christians not to leave the Middle East after a meeting the on escalating tensions in the region ahead of Pope Benedict XVI’s critical visit to Lebanon.
The Syriac Orthodox Kadim Patriarchate Synod met Aug. 24 to discuss current high tensions in the Middle East and the condition of Christian communities within the region.
“We refuse all kind of immigration as a response to the recent crisis in the Middle East and strongly condemn all propagators, instigators and provocateurs who call to Middle Eastern Christians to migrate,” the second provision of a seven-provision declaration read. The declaration, which was issued with the signature of H.E. Mor Gregorios Yuhanna Ibrahim, metropolitan of the Syriac Orthodox Archdiocese of Aleppo, will be presented to Pope Benedict XVI during his visit to Lebanon in September.
The Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic Churches in Turkey also backed the call for Christians to stay put. Heybeliada Halki Seminary Archpriest and Metropolitan of Bursa Elpidophoros Lambriniadis said the Fener Greek Patriarchate also announced a similar declaration on their official website though it does not clearly mention the Middle East. Lambriniadis said they supported the declaration and added that it was very important for Christians to remain in the region.
“Above all, it should not be forgotten that the Middle East is the place where Christianity was born. So it has a great spiritual importance,” Lambriniadis said. Likewise, acting Patriarch Archbishop Aram Ateşyan, the religious leader of Turkish Armenians, outlined the importance of Christians staying in the Middle East. “If they presented the declaration to us, we would also support it without hesitation,” Ateşyan said.
Accepting the other
Pope Benedict XVI will attend a meeting called the “Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation of the Special Assembly for the Middle East of the Synod of Bishops” in early September as part of a program that was arranged last year. All the Christian spiritual leaders in the Middle East are expected to attend the meeting and discuss the situation Christians in the region are currently facing, especially in Syria.
“We reiterate our convection and belief that the only path to achieving justice, peace and the rebuilding of our homeland is through the love, co-operation and accepting of the other,” the declaration read. “This can only be achieved by constructive and meaningful dialogue between all belligerent elements of our country,” the sixth provision of the declaration read. Christians constitute 10 percent of the population in Syria. However, Armenians, Syriacs, Chaldeans, Arameans and Greeks are leaving Syria due to the high tension prevailing in the country. Members of Syria’s Armenian community who have fled to Armenia due to the ongoing violence in Syria fear the possibility that the Muslim Brotherhood may seize power there if the regime falls. “If the Muslim Brotherhood takes over in Syria all Christians will have to leave the country,” said Narbey N., a Syrian Armenian who recently fled to Armenia.
Refrain from violence
The fifth provision of the declaration addresses all people in Syria and the Middle East. “We call on all people with conscience to refrain from all types of violence against their fellow human beings. We also call for meaningful reform and to stand by and enable law and order, justice and peace,” the provision read. The seventh provision calls on peace advocates and humanitarian organizations from all over the world.
“We urge all peace lovers and humanitarian organizations to seriously endeavor to provide all possible means of humanitarian and medical relief to those innocent Syrians who were caught in the vicious spiral of violence, badly affected, displaced by the current conflict and underwent internal and external relocation and emigrations. They are currently suffering an unprecedented harsh summer temperature and expected to endure severe winter conditions,” the provision read. Before the patriarchate’s declaration Syriac, Assyrian and Chaldean intellectuals from all over the world also issued a statement in July about the Christians latest situation in the region.
August/30/2012
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News / VERCIHAN ZIFLIOGLU
Syriac clerics call on Christians in Middle East, especially those in Syria, to avoid leaving their homelands amid harsh violence. Justice in Syria can only be achieved by meaningful dialogue between all belligerent elements, they say
Pope Benedict XVI waves at the end of his weekly audience from his summer residence in Rome. Pope will attend a meeting in Lebanon on September in which all the Christian spiritual leaders in the Middle East are expected to attend.
The Syriac Orthodox Kadim Patriarchate Synod in Damascus called on Christians not to leave the Middle East after a meeting the on escalating tensions in the region ahead of Pope Benedict XVI’s critical visit to Lebanon.
The Syriac Orthodox Kadim Patriarchate Synod met Aug. 24 to discuss current high tensions in the Middle East and the condition of Christian communities within the region.
“We refuse all kind of immigration as a response to the recent crisis in the Middle East and strongly condemn all propagators, instigators and provocateurs who call to Middle Eastern Christians to migrate,” the second provision of a seven-provision declaration read. The declaration, which was issued with the signature of H.E. Mor Gregorios Yuhanna Ibrahim, metropolitan of the Syriac Orthodox Archdiocese of Aleppo, will be presented to Pope Benedict XVI during his visit to Lebanon in September.
The Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic Churches in Turkey also backed the call for Christians to stay put. Heybeliada Halki Seminary Archpriest and Metropolitan of Bursa Elpidophoros Lambriniadis said the Fener Greek Patriarchate also announced a similar declaration on their official website though it does not clearly mention the Middle East. Lambriniadis said they supported the declaration and added that it was very important for Christians to remain in the region.
“Above all, it should not be forgotten that the Middle East is the place where Christianity was born. So it has a great spiritual importance,” Lambriniadis said. Likewise, acting Patriarch Archbishop Aram Ateşyan, the religious leader of Turkish Armenians, outlined the importance of Christians staying in the Middle East. “If they presented the declaration to us, we would also support it without hesitation,” Ateşyan said.
Accepting the other
Pope Benedict XVI will attend a meeting called the “Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation of the Special Assembly for the Middle East of the Synod of Bishops” in early September as part of a program that was arranged last year. All the Christian spiritual leaders in the Middle East are expected to attend the meeting and discuss the situation Christians in the region are currently facing, especially in Syria.
“We reiterate our convection and belief that the only path to achieving justice, peace and the rebuilding of our homeland is through the love, co-operation and accepting of the other,” the declaration read. “This can only be achieved by constructive and meaningful dialogue between all belligerent elements of our country,” the sixth provision of the declaration read. Christians constitute 10 percent of the population in Syria. However, Armenians, Syriacs, Chaldeans, Arameans and Greeks are leaving Syria due to the high tension prevailing in the country. Members of Syria’s Armenian community who have fled to Armenia due to the ongoing violence in Syria fear the possibility that the Muslim Brotherhood may seize power there if the regime falls. “If the Muslim Brotherhood takes over in Syria all Christians will have to leave the country,” said Narbey N., a Syrian Armenian who recently fled to Armenia.
Refrain from violence
The fifth provision of the declaration addresses all people in Syria and the Middle East. “We call on all people with conscience to refrain from all types of violence against their fellow human beings. We also call for meaningful reform and to stand by and enable law and order, justice and peace,” the provision read. The seventh provision calls on peace advocates and humanitarian organizations from all over the world.
“We urge all peace lovers and humanitarian organizations to seriously endeavor to provide all possible means of humanitarian and medical relief to those innocent Syrians who were caught in the vicious spiral of violence, badly affected, displaced by the current conflict and underwent internal and external relocation and emigrations. They are currently suffering an unprecedented harsh summer temperature and expected to endure severe winter conditions,” the provision read. Before the patriarchate’s declaration Syriac, Assyrian and Chaldean intellectuals from all over the world also issued a statement in July about the Christians latest situation in the region.
August/30/2012
29 Ağustos 2012 Çarşamba
Armenians in Syria fear likely Muslim Brothers’ rule
YEREVAN - Hürriyet Daily News - Vercihan Ziflioğlu
Syrian Armenians who fled to Armenia says they fear that the Muslim Brotherhood could seize power in Syria. ‘If the Brotherhood takes over in Syria, all Christians will have to leave the country’ says a member
Members of Syrian Armenian community who fled from violence in Syria gathered for a Sunday service in the garden of the Armenian Mother See’s Holy Echmiadzin Cathedral, 20 kilometers from the Armenian capital of Yerevan, on Aug 19.
Members of Syria’s Armenian community who have fled to Armenia due to the ongoing violence in Syria fear the possibility that the Muslim Brotherhood may seize power there, if Bashar al-Assad’s regime falls.
“If the Muslim Brotherhood takes over in Syria, all Christians will have to leave the country,” Narbey N., a Syrian Armenian who recently fled to Armenia, told the Hürriyet Daily News. He also said that rebels in Syria shouted slogans such as: “Alawites [members of the Muslim sect to which al-Assad belongs] to coffins, Armenians to Beirut.”
The Daily News spoke to a group of Syrian Armenians gathered for a Sunday service in the garden of the Armenian Mother See’s Holy Echmiadzin Cathedral, 20 kilometers from the Armenian capital of Yerevan, on Aug. 19. They did not want to give their surnames to protect their safety.
The migrants are anxious about the future of Syria, but say they have left behind their family members and property, and insist that they will return to the country despite the dangers awaiting them. Armenians regard Syria as their second homeland after Anatolia, and their greatest anxiety stems from the possibility of the al-Assad regime falling and the Muslim Brotherhood coming to power.
“I hope the al-Assad regime does not fall, and that the country will not be taken over by the Muslim Brotherhood. Currently there are no attacks aimed at the Christian population, but their coming to power would be a catastrophe for Christians. In that case, all the Christian communities, including Armenians, would have to leave Syria. The U.S. and other Western states have already lost their Christian values and do not care about us, in the face of such political issues,” Narbey N. said. He believes the Armenian community is experiencing a second catastrophe that could possibly equal the 1915 tragedy, when hundreds of thousands were massacred or forced to migrate by the Ottoman Empire.
‘Alevites in Syria also under threat’
Not only Christians, but also Alawites, are under threat, said Harutyun S. “An inevitable Sunni-Alawit conflict is impending. Turkey supports al-Assad’s fall, but also does not want an independent Kurdish state. But al-Assad’s fall will make the founding of a Kurdish state inevitable. The Armenian community does not want Syria to be divided,” he said.
Narbey N. said he and his family had arrived in Yerevan via Turkey and Georgia, after a difficult journey lasting 40 hours, using a car with an Armenian license plate. Many Syrian Armenians have been fleeing Syria using similar vehicles, he said.
“When the insurgents ask for passports, we show them Armenian passports. Everyone does. After passing the Turkish border, [they] head to Georgia without trouble, and arrive in Yerevan that way,” he said, adding that the conflict in Syria had grown more intense in the last 15 days, with explosions generally taking place during the evening hours, despite everything seeming normal during the daytime.
Despite the dilemma of the Syrian Armenians, Armenia’s Diaspora Ministry does not have a clear-cut policy on those fleeing Syria, and has not announced an official number of the amount of people who have arrived in the country. Despite this, Syrian Armenians have not experienced problems obtaining residence permits.
August/29/2012
YEREVAN - Hürriyet Daily News - Vercihan Ziflioğlu
Syrian Armenians who fled to Armenia says they fear that the Muslim Brotherhood could seize power in Syria. ‘If the Brotherhood takes over in Syria, all Christians will have to leave the country’ says a member
Members of Syrian Armenian community who fled from violence in Syria gathered for a Sunday service in the garden of the Armenian Mother See’s Holy Echmiadzin Cathedral, 20 kilometers from the Armenian capital of Yerevan, on Aug 19.
Members of Syria’s Armenian community who have fled to Armenia due to the ongoing violence in Syria fear the possibility that the Muslim Brotherhood may seize power there, if Bashar al-Assad’s regime falls.
“If the Muslim Brotherhood takes over in Syria, all Christians will have to leave the country,” Narbey N., a Syrian Armenian who recently fled to Armenia, told the Hürriyet Daily News. He also said that rebels in Syria shouted slogans such as: “Alawites [members of the Muslim sect to which al-Assad belongs] to coffins, Armenians to Beirut.”
The Daily News spoke to a group of Syrian Armenians gathered for a Sunday service in the garden of the Armenian Mother See’s Holy Echmiadzin Cathedral, 20 kilometers from the Armenian capital of Yerevan, on Aug. 19. They did not want to give their surnames to protect their safety.
The migrants are anxious about the future of Syria, but say they have left behind their family members and property, and insist that they will return to the country despite the dangers awaiting them. Armenians regard Syria as their second homeland after Anatolia, and their greatest anxiety stems from the possibility of the al-Assad regime falling and the Muslim Brotherhood coming to power.
“I hope the al-Assad regime does not fall, and that the country will not be taken over by the Muslim Brotherhood. Currently there are no attacks aimed at the Christian population, but their coming to power would be a catastrophe for Christians. In that case, all the Christian communities, including Armenians, would have to leave Syria. The U.S. and other Western states have already lost their Christian values and do not care about us, in the face of such political issues,” Narbey N. said. He believes the Armenian community is experiencing a second catastrophe that could possibly equal the 1915 tragedy, when hundreds of thousands were massacred or forced to migrate by the Ottoman Empire.
‘Alevites in Syria also under threat’
Not only Christians, but also Alawites, are under threat, said Harutyun S. “An inevitable Sunni-Alawit conflict is impending. Turkey supports al-Assad’s fall, but also does not want an independent Kurdish state. But al-Assad’s fall will make the founding of a Kurdish state inevitable. The Armenian community does not want Syria to be divided,” he said.
Narbey N. said he and his family had arrived in Yerevan via Turkey and Georgia, after a difficult journey lasting 40 hours, using a car with an Armenian license plate. Many Syrian Armenians have been fleeing Syria using similar vehicles, he said.
“When the insurgents ask for passports, we show them Armenian passports. Everyone does. After passing the Turkish border, [they] head to Georgia without trouble, and arrive in Yerevan that way,” he said, adding that the conflict in Syria had grown more intense in the last 15 days, with explosions generally taking place during the evening hours, despite everything seeming normal during the daytime.
Despite the dilemma of the Syrian Armenians, Armenia’s Diaspora Ministry does not have a clear-cut policy on those fleeing Syria, and has not announced an official number of the amount of people who have arrived in the country. Despite this, Syrian Armenians have not experienced problems obtaining residence permits.
August/29/2012
2 Ağustos 2012 Perşembe
Syriacs get land title after 25-year-old legal struggle
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News/Vercihan Ziflioğlu
The General Directorate of Foundations has agreed on the return of the patriarchate building in Gümüşsuyu to the Syriac Catholic community, the community learned during a meeting with President Abdullah Gül.
The Syriac community had taken the case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), but said the directorate’s move was a “nice gesture,” and that they would consider withdrawing the compensation case from the ECHR if no obstacles occurred.
A lawsuit has been in process for 25 years between the Syriac Catholic Community and Turkey, and after exhausting domestic remedies the community took the case to the ECHR four years ago.
The Syriac Catholic community received the good news during a meeting in which President Abdullah Gül hosted the leaders of minority foundations at the Huber Köşk in Tarabya on July 27. Speaking to the Hürriyet Daily News, Syriac Catholic Foundations head Zeki Basademir said the director general of foundations, Adnan Ertem, announced during the meeting that the land title of the disputed building would be delivered to the Syriac Catholic community.
Basademir said the building used to belong to Latin Catholics, but that with a government initiative in 1986 the Syriac community had signed a contract to rent the ruined building for 99 years. “Despite this, the General Directorate of Foundations opened a legal case against us in 1988. They said the building belonged to them. When we understood that the problem could not be solved through national legal procedures, we took the case to the European Court of Human Rights four years ago,” Ertem said.
‘Nice gesture’
Basademir said they expected the decision of the ECHR soon. “I welcome the decision as a nice gesture, if an obstacle does not come up at the last moment we are planning to withdraw the compensation case. Turkey is our homeland; we don’t want to demand compensation from our homeland.”
The director general of foundations has requested the files, including the contract made in 1986, in order to initiate procedures. “Actually, we didn’t expect such a result from the meeting with the president. What is more, we will have the land title,” Basademir said.
Basademir said the building was almost ruined when they bought it from the Latin Catholics, and that the Syriacs had restored it with the community’s limited means.
“It is offensive to feel like a parasite in a building we have used all of our means to restore,” he said.
The church in the patriarchate building has a 200-person capacity and the population of the Syriac Catholic community living in Istanbul is 2,000, Basademir said.
“We don’t have any other requests for now, maybe we will in the future. We are currently holding our crowded wedding ceremonies in Latin Catholic churches,” Basademir said after being asked whether they would appeal for another church in the near future, as the Syriac Kadim community had done. The Syriac Kadim community currently has no church, although their population in Istanbul is around 15,000, so they conduct religious ceremonies in other churches that they rent. The community demanded land from the state to build a new church, but procedures have continued for two years.
August/02/2012
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News/Vercihan Ziflioğlu
The General Directorate of Foundations has agreed on the return of the patriarchate building in Gümüşsuyu to the Syriac Catholic community, the community learned during a meeting with President Abdullah Gül.
The Syriac community had taken the case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), but said the directorate’s move was a “nice gesture,” and that they would consider withdrawing the compensation case from the ECHR if no obstacles occurred.
A lawsuit has been in process for 25 years between the Syriac Catholic Community and Turkey, and after exhausting domestic remedies the community took the case to the ECHR four years ago.
The Syriac Catholic community received the good news during a meeting in which President Abdullah Gül hosted the leaders of minority foundations at the Huber Köşk in Tarabya on July 27. Speaking to the Hürriyet Daily News, Syriac Catholic Foundations head Zeki Basademir said the director general of foundations, Adnan Ertem, announced during the meeting that the land title of the disputed building would be delivered to the Syriac Catholic community.
Basademir said the building used to belong to Latin Catholics, but that with a government initiative in 1986 the Syriac community had signed a contract to rent the ruined building for 99 years. “Despite this, the General Directorate of Foundations opened a legal case against us in 1988. They said the building belonged to them. When we understood that the problem could not be solved through national legal procedures, we took the case to the European Court of Human Rights four years ago,” Ertem said.
‘Nice gesture’
Basademir said they expected the decision of the ECHR soon. “I welcome the decision as a nice gesture, if an obstacle does not come up at the last moment we are planning to withdraw the compensation case. Turkey is our homeland; we don’t want to demand compensation from our homeland.”
The director general of foundations has requested the files, including the contract made in 1986, in order to initiate procedures. “Actually, we didn’t expect such a result from the meeting with the president. What is more, we will have the land title,” Basademir said.
Basademir said the building was almost ruined when they bought it from the Latin Catholics, and that the Syriacs had restored it with the community’s limited means.
“It is offensive to feel like a parasite in a building we have used all of our means to restore,” he said.
The church in the patriarchate building has a 200-person capacity and the population of the Syriac Catholic community living in Istanbul is 2,000, Basademir said.
“We don’t have any other requests for now, maybe we will in the future. We are currently holding our crowded wedding ceremonies in Latin Catholic churches,” Basademir said after being asked whether they would appeal for another church in the near future, as the Syriac Kadim community had done. The Syriac Kadim community currently has no church, although their population in Istanbul is around 15,000, so they conduct religious ceremonies in other churches that they rent. The community demanded land from the state to build a new church, but procedures have continued for two years.
August/02/2012
1 Ağustos 2012 Çarşamba
Racist terms set to be excluded from books
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News - Vercihan Ziflioğlu
The Turkish Ministry of Education announces they have edited and removed some problematic descriptions used for Syriacs and Armenians in textbooks. Syriacs earlier complained of terms such as ‘back-stabbing rebels’
The Turkish Ministry of Education has announced that it will remove a number of discriminatory terms for ethnic groups, including Armenians and Syriacs, from history books used in high school classes.
In a written statement announced by the Board of Education and Discipline, the Ministry said phrases such as “Syriacs betrayed their country” were not actually used in course books, however adding that there were some problematic descriptions in the texts.
“There is no expression saying ‘Syriacs betrayed the state’ in the history books of primary, secondary and high schools. In a text titled ‘The Situation of Syriacs in Ottoman Empire,’ in The National Education Ministry’s 10th grade history books, the expressions used for Syriacs and Armenians have been edited and [the changes] will be represented in the new edition, which will be printed in 2012,” the statement read.
Offensive terms
The offensive terms to be removed include descriptions of these groups as “back-stabbing rebels,” “puppets of European states,” and “stooges.”
Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) Mardin deputy Erol Dora, who is of Syriac ethnic origin, had earlier met with Education Minister Ömer Dinçer regarding the books in question, which were published in 2009.
In the meeting, Dora expressed his discomfort with the language used in the books, and requested that the hostile terms be removed. Dinçer told Dora that the books had not been published during his term in office, and that he was also uncomfortable with some of the language used.
Board of Education and Discipline head Professor Emin Karip worked to resolve the issue, and the Education Ministry announced its decision to remove the offensive terms on July 20.
An official document obtained by the Hürriyet Daily News says that phrases such as “Syriacs betrayed their country” were not actually used in course books.
However, the document does state that a text titled “The Situation of Syriacs in the Ottoman Empire,” included in 10th-grade high school history books, is problematic. The expressions found in it, as well as others, will be removed for the next school year, the document states. The document has also reached Dora’s office, he said, speaking to the Daily News, but he added he did not want to comment on the subject before seeing the new books.
“All citizens of the Turkish Republic must be equal,” Dora said. “If we want equality in the strict sense, we must raise our children as individuals who are respectful of human rights and have a sense of justice. This is possible through school education.”
Although Turkey faces many democratic problems, including minority issues and the Kurdish problem, it has made great progress on these issues, reaching a point incomparable to the situation of 15 years ago, Dora said.
“The world is changing, and it is impossible for Turkey to lag behind these changes. Positive changes are occurring; a new platform of discussion has emerged. Also, demands for democracy and human rights are being clearly expressed,” Dora said.
Board of Education and Discipline head Karip, meanwhile, declined to comment on the announcement.
August/01/2012
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News - Vercihan Ziflioğlu
The Turkish Ministry of Education announces they have edited and removed some problematic descriptions used for Syriacs and Armenians in textbooks. Syriacs earlier complained of terms such as ‘back-stabbing rebels’
The Turkish Ministry of Education has announced that it will remove a number of discriminatory terms for ethnic groups, including Armenians and Syriacs, from history books used in high school classes.
In a written statement announced by the Board of Education and Discipline, the Ministry said phrases such as “Syriacs betrayed their country” were not actually used in course books, however adding that there were some problematic descriptions in the texts.
“There is no expression saying ‘Syriacs betrayed the state’ in the history books of primary, secondary and high schools. In a text titled ‘The Situation of Syriacs in Ottoman Empire,’ in The National Education Ministry’s 10th grade history books, the expressions used for Syriacs and Armenians have been edited and [the changes] will be represented in the new edition, which will be printed in 2012,” the statement read.
Offensive terms
The offensive terms to be removed include descriptions of these groups as “back-stabbing rebels,” “puppets of European states,” and “stooges.”
Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) Mardin deputy Erol Dora, who is of Syriac ethnic origin, had earlier met with Education Minister Ömer Dinçer regarding the books in question, which were published in 2009.
In the meeting, Dora expressed his discomfort with the language used in the books, and requested that the hostile terms be removed. Dinçer told Dora that the books had not been published during his term in office, and that he was also uncomfortable with some of the language used.
Board of Education and Discipline head Professor Emin Karip worked to resolve the issue, and the Education Ministry announced its decision to remove the offensive terms on July 20.
An official document obtained by the Hürriyet Daily News says that phrases such as “Syriacs betrayed their country” were not actually used in course books.
However, the document does state that a text titled “The Situation of Syriacs in the Ottoman Empire,” included in 10th-grade high school history books, is problematic. The expressions found in it, as well as others, will be removed for the next school year, the document states. The document has also reached Dora’s office, he said, speaking to the Daily News, but he added he did not want to comment on the subject before seeing the new books.
“All citizens of the Turkish Republic must be equal,” Dora said. “If we want equality in the strict sense, we must raise our children as individuals who are respectful of human rights and have a sense of justice. This is possible through school education.”
Although Turkey faces many democratic problems, including minority issues and the Kurdish problem, it has made great progress on these issues, reaching a point incomparable to the situation of 15 years ago, Dora said.
“The world is changing, and it is impossible for Turkey to lag behind these changes. Positive changes are occurring; a new platform of discussion has emerged. Also, demands for democracy and human rights are being clearly expressed,” Dora said.
Board of Education and Discipline head Karip, meanwhile, declined to comment on the announcement.
August/01/2012
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