Turkey’s Assyrians Condemn ISIS Attack

Turkey’s Assyrians assembled yesterday in Midyat located in the southeastern province of Mardin and protested the ISIS campaign to capture villages along with Khabur River in Syria, a military action initiated in mid-February. 

Demonstrators initiated a march along with slogans. The meeting was also supported by local politician Erol Dora from Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). 

Criticizing the silence of EU and UN to the situation, Dora urged all Assyrians to raise a resistance from everywhere in the world. 

Yuhanna Aktaş and Tuma Çelik from Seyfo Committee read the statement written Assyrian and Turkish. 

The statement urged the coalition forces to start a military operation to stop the ISIS aggression in Khabur Region as well as to send technical aids to those [YPG and other Kurdish] militia located in Gozarto-Rojava canton. Turkey’s Assyrians also urged the Turkish government to remove the ambargo and open a humanitarian corridor to Gozarto-Rojava cantons as well as to confront the ISIS aggression against Assyrian people. 

What happened?

There are estimably 34 Assyrian villages in Haseke region of  Cizîrê canton in Syria’s Rojava Region. The aforementioned villages are located along with Khabur River. Prior to the ISIS aggression, the region was populated by 30,000 people.  

On February 23, ISIS made its first attack on 12 villages located in the southern part of the region.  

It is reported that around 220 to 400 Assyrians fled. According to a UK based human rights association, only 19 out of 220 Assyrian Christians were released in the region of Haseke. (NV/BM)

* Click here to read the article in Turkish.