Turkey´s Ongoing Colonization, the Aramaeans, the Kurds, the Armenians, Pan-Arabism and Islamism

Few can accuse me for Anti-Turkish or Anti-Turkic feelings and stance. But to what extent does the Turkish state represent the interests of all the populations than inhabit the territory between Edirne and Yuksekova?

To what extent does the Turkish state understand the wealth of all its components, the contributions of all the varied cultures that shaped Modern Turkey?

To what extent have arrogance and self-contentment led establishments to misperceptions and disasters?

Yet, it is one of the World History´s best lessons that when powerful establishments get engulfed in arrogance and disregard politically and economically weak but culturally and morally strong ethno-religious groups, decay comes fast.

If the Armenians have been manipulated by the French and the Russians during the last century of the Ottoman Empire, and if the Arabic speaking populations of the Ottoman Empire were left by the Sultan and his administration as prey for the Anglo-French colonials, the Aramaean Christians did not ask for secession, did not ally themselves with any Anti-Ottoman (and later Anti-Turkish) force, and did not harm in any sense either the Empire or the Republic.

Targeted by the Anglo-French colonials and the Vatican for no less than 450 years, the Aramaeans have been thoughtlessly disregarded by Republican Turkey. Yet, the Aramaean Cultural and Historical Heritage is the main historical foundation that gives Modern Turkey authority in the Middle East.

If Turkey wants to convince the world that the 1915 – 1916 massacres were mainly due to colonial machinations, Turkey has to embrace the endangered Aramaeans who face threat of historical extinction machinated by the colonial regimes of England and France under the mask of Assyrianism.

The enemies of the Aramaeans are the evil forces that, by raising the Islamist paranoia of Erdogan, attempt to colonize Turkey, turning the independent country of Kemal Ataturk to a puppet useful for the implementation of Anglo-French policies in the Middle East. (How Turkey is Gradually Being Colonized - http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/92835)

The secular establishment of Turkey should immediately make a great political opening toward the Aramaeans of Midyat and Tur Abdin, inviting to a great national debate the Aramaean Diaspora as well.

The combined threats of Pseudo-Kurdish Nationalsim, Armenian Irredentism, Assyrianism, Pan-Arabism, and Islamism are geared to be lethal for both, Turkey and the Aramaeans. Politically powerless, the Aramaeans possess a formidable historical – theoretical arsenal that serves Turkey´s national interests in the Middle East, while at the same time being the only guarantee for Peace in the wider area between Turkey, Yemen and Pakistan.

I republish here a dramatic Aramaean complaint from the website of the leading Aramaean NGO Aram Nahrin. In a forthcoming article, I will complete the publication of the comprehensive plead that is more important for the Turks to read than for the Aramaeans to publicize.

Turkey, Kurds, the Aramean Monastery St. Gabriel in Tur Abdin and Worldwide Aramean Protest

http://www.aramnahrin.org/English/Turks_Kurds_Aramean_monastery_St_Gabriel_28_2_2009.htm

The Kurds as pawns in the hands of the Turks against the Arameans with the Islam as driving power.

The Aramean Monastery Mor Gabriel in Tur Abdin.

Contents

1. Introduction.

2. What is all about?

3. Worldwide Aramean protests

4. The Kurds, the Turks, the Kurdish Imams and subtle ethnic cleansing of Arameans of Tur Abdin.

4.1 The Kurdish Imams, uncircumcised dogs, Turkish Army

4.2 Discrimination, extortion, exclusion do not help much…… therefore kill the leaders….

4.2.1 1979: Andraus (Andreas) Demir from the village Karboran, southeastern Turkey.

4.2.2 The head of the Aramean village of Hah, Mr. Hanna Aydin, was blown up on 19-11-1993

4.2.3 17 June 1994 Mr. Sukru Tutus, the mayor of Idil (Hazach) was killed by the Kurdish Islam extremists.

4.2.4 December 1994: Dr. Edward Tanriverdi was killed.

5. Incidents

5.1 The Aramean priest Melke Tok from the village of Midun abducted by the Hezbollah fundamentalists on 9-1-1994.

5.2 December 2000: The Aramean priest Yusuf Akbulut from Diyarbekir was arrested because of hate speech.

5.3 On Wednesday 28-11-2008 the Aramean monk Daniel Savci was abducted.

6. Why…. Why…. and again….. why?

6.1 The monastery Saint Gabriel: They have defiled my Temple says the Lord

6.2 Money has become god in the St. Gabriel monastery…..

6.3 Bishop Samuel Aktas and Isa Gulten threat the Aram-Nahrin Organisation- criminal families from Bote.

7. Bishop Polycarpus Aydin visits Verhagen.

8. Everything written in ancient times was meant to……

1. Introduction

The lawsuits since November 2008 against the Aramean monastery St. Gabriel in South-eastern Turkey in the Aramean Enclave Tur Abdin, initiated by the Turkish government and the three surrounding villages, not only caused a overwhelming Aramean respond but also attracted the international attention.

The Aramean people, including "Assyrians" and "Chaldeans", are the indigenous nation of Aram-Nahrin, which became known as Mesopotamia.

The monastery St. Gabriel is established in 397 AD and is situated in Tur Abdin, Souteastern of Turkey, the Upper – Aramnahrin, in the indigenous Aramean land "Paddan-Aram". Tur Abdin means "mountains of the servants of the Lord" and is a part of the Biblical Paddan-Aram, the Indigenous land of the Aramean nation.

According to the Aramean indigenous traditions, the first inhabitants of Tur Abdin were Arameans. From this primal- or proto-land Tur Abdin, the Arameans started to gradually expand all over the Middle-East. The Aramean nation, also made known as "Assyrians" or Chaldeans, factually are the original inhabitants of this area.

For this reason it is a humiliation and painfully to the Arameans to observe that the Turkish government as well as the surrounding villages do not respect the Aramean presence for thousands of years in this area. In stead, both peoples try to present themselves as the legitimate owners of this part of the world, while the rights of the Aramean nation completely are being neglected and violated.

2. What is all about?

All this started when E.U. demanded from Turkey, in the framework of the accession negotiations, to make a new map of the area. This included a new land register to get an overview, such as borders of villages, boundaries of estates and number of inhabitants.

And this was picked up by the Turkish government and the three Kurdish villages (Yayvantepe, Eğlence, Çandarlı), as good "lawful" excuses, to start law-suits against the monastery.

In December 2008 three hearings on the borders of the monastery were planned, namely on 19-12-2008, 24-12-2008 and 21-12-2008. During the hearing of 19-12-2008 it was decided to postpone the lawsuits to 16 of January 2009. Upon the hearing of 16th of January 2009 it was decided to handle all the cases together on 11th of February 2009.

During the session of 11th of February the court decided to adjourn the case to 4th of March 2009 and 6th of April 2009. The Turks as well as the Kurds come up with the most ludicrous complains against the monastery. The three surroundings Kurdish villages claim that the monastery has confiscated their land and the government on turn claims that the monastery has confiscated forestland. The last absurd claim of Turkish government is that the Aramean monastery St. Gabriel would has been built on an ancient mosque.

Really, it is shameful what the Turks together with the Kurds are doing with their gamut of harassments against the Aramean nation in Turkey, also known as "Chaldeans" or "Assyrians". Furthermore, the three Kurdish villages would impossible themselves have initiated the law-suits without the help of Turkish government. The present Turkish government perhaps wants to forge unity between the Turks and the Kurds using Islam as "glue" and to torment and rag the Aramean Christians (not to be confused with ´Armenians´) and to say them "sod off, you have nothing here".

Because of struggle between PKK and Turkish army, many officers have been killed. Therefore, the government is perhaps using the Islam as glue to take the wind out of the sails of PKK.

The Turks as well as the Kurds are relatively newcomers in this area. The Arameans however are presence since thousands of years in this area, it is their indigenous land. That the Kurds and Turks do claim the lands of this ancient Aramean monastery is just ridiculous and outrageous.

3. Worldwide Aramean protests

Aramean protests in Sweden

Aramean protests in Switzerland

Aramean protests in Austria

Aramean protests in Germany

As a respond to battings of Turks and Kurds, the Arameans demonstrated their dismay worldwide by means of peaceful rallies in various countries. On 12th of October 2008 a rally was organized in Sweden where more than 5.000 people attended. On 17th of December 2008 a rally was organized in Belgium. On 10th of January 2009 a rally was organized in Swiss where more than 6.000 people attended. In Austria a rally was organized in January 2009 where thousands of people attended. On 25th of January 2009 a huge rally was organized in Germany where 20.000 people attended.

4. The Kurds, the Turks, the Kurdish Imams and subtle ethnic cleansing of Arameans of Tur Abdin

The Kurds as pawns in the hands of the Turks against the Arameans with the Islam as driving power.

Perhaps it would be worthwhile to provide the reader with some background information to get a more comprehensive picture on these law-suits. These law-suits dear reader are not a unique phenomenon in itself, they merely are peripheral phenomenon of a much larger problem.

There are in Turkey between 10 and 15 million Kurds. The majority of these Kurds are extremely suspicious towards Turkey. Since 1980 the PKK is waging a bloody war with the Turkish army for independence causing thousands of deaths.

The only thing the Kurds and Turks have in common with each other is the Islam. And here the problem starts for the Aramean Christians in Turkey. In the past the Turks have used the Islam more than once as a powerful ´glue´ to coin ´love´ and ´brotherhood´ with the Kurds. In general this ´covenant´ was the start of persecutions, harassments and killings of the Christian minorities, mainly Arameans, which at the end resulted in that they were forced to leave their indigenous lands of their forefathers they inhabited for thousands of years, and were expelled, thus a subtle manner of ethnic cleansing.

The created problem of last months around St. Gabriel monastery since November 2008 by Turkey is a example of this technique whereby the Kurds of the surrounding villages are mobilized by the government.

4.1. The Kurdish Imams, "uncircumcised dogs", Turkish Army

An important pawn in the hands of the Turks are the Kurdish Imams. The Imam education in Turkey is in the hands of government. The Imams are being paid by the Turkish state. The Kurdish Imams were very effectively used by the Turks to not only carry out the genocide of 1915, but also to expel, in sophisticated way, those who survived the genocide of 1915 out of country. The Turkish secret service has used this recruited spiritual leaders and laymen to bring the Arameans in such a state of hopelessness, lawlessness and desperation that the only choice they had was to leave their indigenous lands for the West. And the Turks of course could always say to the West: Look, it was not our fault, the Kurds did it.

The hatred preached by the Kurdish Imams and many Turkish Imams was experienced intensively by our nation and it consisted amongst others out of:

A Christian is uncircumcised, thus he is unclean and that is why the non-Muslims in Turkey are designated as "Gaour", that is to say: godless, wild beast, without standards and values. A sad message for the Westerners is this: If you say that you are "neutral", you make the situation even more worse for yourself, because in the middle-east it is preferable to say that you ´believe" in something.

I addition to the word "Gaur" to designate non-Muslims, also the word "Kitapsiz" is used, mainly in Turkish speaking areas of Turkey, that means something like: without (holy) book, without standards and values, not human being.

That is why it is permissible to rob Christians, to damage or take their lands, their grain-fields and their vineyards.

If you abduct a Christian woman by force and make her your wife, you have done something very good and you receive a reward in the heaven (There are indeed some known cases where the Kurdish aga took a married Christian woman and no body could stop him).

If you take the daughter of a Christian and marry her, you will receive heavenly and earthy reward, namely: 1) You have converted a godless one to the Islam and 2) you spared yourself a considerable amount of money which you normally had to pay to the family of the bride.

Because a Christian is unclean, you should not shake his hands, in particular not after prayer.

In court a Christian has no rights compared to a Muslims, the mercy of his opponents is what counts.

In the Turkish army the Aramean and non-Aramean Christians were severely discriminated against. Though the army is carrying a secular policy, yet the fanatical Islamists had unlimited freedom to terrorize and torment the Aramean and other Christians. Many Aramean Christians had horrendous experiences with the Turkish during their military service. This included:

1. Battings in the form of discrimination, exclusion and scolding by their colleagues.

2. Some Christians were undressed and the battalion (of 600 men) was spitting at them, because they were uncircumcised.

3. Some were forced to follow Ramadan.

4. Some were severely tortured that they did not survive.

5. Some had to make a "Sahadat". This meant to curse Jesus Christ and glorify Mohammad.

6. As a Christian it was not wise to complain, you would be beaten.

7. etc.. etc... etc...

Because of desire of Turkey to join European Union, the last years many things has been improved, unfortunately too late, because the major part of our nation has already left their indigenous fatherland. On the other hand, the Turks are extremely inventive in applying the most sophisticated methods to get rid of ´unwanted´ and ´unclean´ ones.

4.2. Discrimination, extortion, exclusion do not help much…… therefore kill the leaders….

In spite of the terrible sufferings as second class citizens the survived Arameans had to face, for they are not recognized as ethnic minority and in spite of ceaseless discrimination in daily life; yet the Arameans managed, although under miserable circumstances, to keep their head above water.

Because in southeastern of Turkey families with 6-10 children were very common, the Turks became extremely nervous. And therefore they asked themselves: How can one get rid off of these "unwanted ones" and "unclean ones?" The answer was very simple and effective: You can achieve this by killing prominent members of the nation and people will leave their Aramean ancestral lands.

Indeed, from time to time, leading individuals of the Aramean Christian nation were killed and the result was indeed staggering. As from the years eighties the Arameans gradually started to leave their proto-land Tur Abdin. Thirty years ago, there were around 40-60.000 Arameans in Tur Abdin while today their number is reduced to but 2.000 people. The ethnic cleansing is very effective as long as you kill the prominent leaders and apply the appropriate tactic, the people will do leave their lands. Factually this is also being applied in Iraq by fanatical forces.

To give you an impression, below a few examples will be presented of the Arameans who were killed in Tur Abdin in order to scare the nation and make them leave. In addition to this, a few examples will be given concerning the physiological battings to discourage the Aramean people.

4.2.1. 1979: Andraus (Andreas) Demir from the village Karboran, southeastern Turkey

Karboran is a large village in Tur Abdin which originally consisted out of 500 Aramean families. Because of continues discrimination and terror many Arameans fled to the West. Mr. Demir and 6 Aramean families were still in Karboran. Mr. Andreas Demir was a prominent Aramean in Tur Abdin who was much respected by the people. Because Andreas Demir was fighting for the interests of the Arameans of Karboran he was killed by a Kurd.

The Aramean nation was completely paralyzed. After the killing of Mr. Demir the remaining Arameans left Karboran for the West and the village was ethnically cleansed.

4.2.2. The head of the Aramean village of Hah, Mr. Hanna Aydin, was blown up on 19-11-1993.

The village of Hah is much known Aramean village in Tur Abdin. According to tradition the Church of Hah was built by the three wise men who visited Jesus when hen was born. On their way back they built the church of Hah in honoring Jesus.

The minibus in which Mr. Aydin and others were driving for Midyat was blown up by a car bomb between Midyat and Hah. The bomb attack was carried out by the Kurdish Hezbollah Movement which was established by the Turkish Secret Service.

When PKK became active in 1980 and onwards in southeastern of Turkey, the Turkish secret service started to recruit Kurds to fight against PKK. As from 1991 the government again resorted to the Islam religion and established the Hezbollah Movement, consisted out of Kurds, to fight the PKK. For this Islamic fanatics the Aramean Christians were a much wanted victims. Needless to say, the government did not do anything against. The killing of Mr. Aydin brought about a shock and distress within the Arameans of Tur Abdin.

4.2.3. 17 June 1994 Mr. Sukru Tutus, the mayor of Idil (Hazach) was killed by the Kurdish Islamic extremists.

Mr. Sikri Tutus (born 1939) was a prominent Aramean leader in Idil (Hazach). As from 1967 to 1979 he was the mayor of Idil. He was so much successful, that the Turks and Kurds became highly nervous. The Turkish secret service again called for the help of their Kurdish Islamic brothers. The first assassination on him took place in 1973 which he fortunately survived.

He was so much respected and beloved that he easily won the election of 1979 as the mayor of Idil.

This of course was unacceptable to the Turks. And for this reason they denied his election and installed a Islamist in his place as the mayor of Hazach. However Mr. Tutus was not discouraged and continued to defend the right of the Arameans of Idil.

In spite of many threats and attacks, he tirelessly defended the right of the Aramean indigenous people. On 17th of June 1994 the Kurdish Islamist Extremists, most probably under supervision of the secret service, succeed to kill him on a distance of 200 meter from the church with couple of bullets in his back. The Aramean people was shocked and paralyzed.

Who did it? The Turks will always say: The Kurds did it. This is the way how to clean the country of the ´unwanted" and "unclean" ones.

4.2.4. 18 December 1994: Dr. Edward Tanriverdi was killed.

Dr. Edward Tanriverdi (born 1938) was a prominent Aramean and a much known physician in Midyat (since 1976). Mr. Tanriverdi was killed on 18th of December 1994 in Midyat by the Kurdish Hezbollah Movement. Tanriverdi left behind his wife and four children.

As usual the government said: The Kurds have killed and "forget" to mention that it was they who had established the Hezbollah Movement.

Needless to say: Of course nothing was done to try to trace the perpetrators, they came from ´nothing´ and all sudden ´disappeared´ in nothing. This will happen to you if you are being marked as "unwanted" and "unclean" ones.

There are of course many more Arameans killed by the Turks and Kurds, however the aforementioned four examples resulted in a extraordinary psychological effect. Very briefly we mention the following:

On 1st of May 1990 four heavy armed men attacked the Aramean family Bulut in Enhil (Yemisli) and caused a bloodbath. The 49 years of age Mr. Bulut died due to heavy injuries and his 18 years old son Samiel died two days later.

On 2nd of June 1990 the Aramean family Aykil in the village of Arnas was attacked by unknown persons. The father and mother Aykil (both 28 years of age) were shoot dead before the eyes of their children. Ms. Aykil was pregnant for 8 months.

On 26th of august 1991 the fanatical Kurdish Islamists attacked the village of Enhil (Yemishli) and killed two Arameans.

On 13th of January 1993 two minibuses were attacked with machine guns whereby 6 Arameans were killed.

On 16th of February 1994 Mr. Yakup Mete, the head of a village, was shoot dead in Midyat,

The previous examples give a impression of how the Turkish secret service, together with their Kurdish Islamic friends, have expelled the Arameans and ethnic cleansed Tur Abdin.

5. Incidents

In addition to the killing of prominent Arameans, from time to time a incident is being orchestrated in Tur Abdin and elsewhere to remember the Arameans that they definitely are unwanted. Below we will enumerate a few examples:

5.1. The Aramean priest Melke Tok from the village of Midun abducted by the Hezbollah fundamentalists on 9-1-1994.

On 9-1-1994 the Aramean priest Melke Tok from the village of Midun in Tur Abdin was abducted by the Kurdish Islamists. An enormous international pressure was exercised.

The priest was released and it became clear that local commandant of the Turkish Army was involved in the abduction. The Kurdish Hebzollah as well as the local commanded wanted to diddle money for his release, which they did not succeed.

5.2. December 2000: The Aramean priest Yusuf Akbulut from Diyarbekir was arrested because of hate speech.

On 4th of December 2000 a article was published in the Turkish newspaper "Hurriyet" titled "Traitor among us" including a photo of the Aramean priest Yusuf Akbulut from Diyarbekir.

In the article Akbulut says that not only Armenians have suffered under the genocide of 1915, but also Arameans (in Turkey Arameans are known under the name "Suryani", which means Syrians).

The publication of the article caused a huge tumult in Turkey. Akbulut had to appear several times before the court. He was charged with hate speech because he had told that also Arameans had suffered under the genocide of 1915. Because of international pressure, in particular the desire of Turkey to join the European Union, Akbulut was cleared of the charge.

5.3. On Wednesday 28-11-2008 the Aramean monk Daniel Savci was abducted.

On 28th of November 2008 the Aramean monk Daniel Savci of St. Yakob Monastery in the village of Salah (Tur Abdin) was abducted by five Kurds. They wanted ransom.

It is of out of the question that these Kurds themselves have prepared the abduction of monk Savci without the help of others, for the secret service is present in the whole area and even a "mouse" cannot move, so to speak, unnoticed. Probably the whole scenario has been orchestrated under the guidance of the secret service.

Monk Daniel was released without paying ransom, probably because of the enormous interest of the Turkish and foreign press.

And the last of these battings is now the law-suits against the St. Gabriel monastery. These law-suits since November 2008 against this Aramean monastery are probably meant to signal the Aramean nation, namely "We are here the boss and we can do whatever we want. Nobody can help you. You better obey us. And stop with your absurd talks on "human rights", "recognition of your rights", "recognition of your language, Aramaic" and absolute not about genocide"

6. Why…. Why…. and again….. why?

Many within our nation worldwide never consider the question: Why? Why were the Aramean people expelled from the lands of their forefathers which they had been inhabited for thousands of years? Why were their estates, vineyards, fruit threes, lands, homes and properties ruthlessly assumed by their enemies? How is this possible? Why were their daughters raped and abducted and their sons killed? Why do they live in Turkey and other countries of middle-east as second class citizens? Why do they not have any rights? Why were their women dishonored by the Kurds and Turks after which they were killed? Why were their young men and elderly people slaughtered in a most ruthless way? Why were their women and children killed by thousands and thrown away in ravines and wells? Why do they not enjoy respect by their neighbors and being dishonored and trampled by them? Why do they live as refugees at the other man´s door and oppressed under the yoke of other peoples? How is this possible? Why happens like it is? Why do this blind nation not ask themselves what is happening to them? And above all what is the reason for this?

Everybody knows that the recent law-suits in Turkey against the Aramean monastery are just ridiculous. But why are the Kurds and Turks doing this to our nation?

As far as some people deal with these questions, in general they are very fast with their answer and blame Islamic fanaticism for all this. Bu dear reader, is it correct that all their problems are being inflicted upon them by the Turks, the Kurds, Arabs and fanatical Islamists? Is it really true that always others have to be blamed for their problems and persecutions? Do they ask the question that possibly they themselves are responsible for all their misfortune?

Let´s take as a example the Copts of Egypt. They suffer under horrible bloodthirsty form of fanaticism. They are being killed, their churches burned, their women attacked and spiritual leaders terrorized. However in the middle of this misery they indeed ´walk on snakes and scorpions" and convert many bloodthirsty fanatical Islamic spiritual leader to Christianity. How is this possible dear reader?

Contrary to the Arameans, the Coptic blood and suffering is not cheap, it results in enormous church growth! How should we understand this? Why did not the unholy Jesus of the West succeed to fragmentize the Coptic nation and incite them against one another, while the Copts courageously withstood all the hateful, zealous and wicked divide and rule politics of the Western missionaries? Why did not succeed the horrible Jesus of the West to fragmentize the Copts in various denominations with exotic names? Why did he succeed with the Arameans to implement division and hatred? Yes, the Copts are being persecuted for centuries by the hands of horrible people whose dictionary lacks words like "mercy". However, they are still in their lands, they have still their churches and real estate. Why is that so?

The answer to all these questions is very simple: You cannot mock the Lord God! Below we will explain what we mean.

In Job 1:6-12 we read, "When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord, Satan was there among them. 7 The Lord asked him, "What have you been doing?" Satan answered, "I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth." 8 "Did you notice my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil." 9 Satan replied, "Would Job worship you if he got nothing out of it? 10 You have always protected him and his family and everything he owns. You bless everything he does, and you have given him enough cattle to fill the whole country. 11 But now suppose you take away everything he has--he will curse you to your face!" 12 "All right," the Lord said to Satan, "everything he has is in your power, but you must not hurt Job himself." So Satan left.

From this we understand the following:

1. Satan cannot do anything to the faithful, unless he gets permission from the Lord God.

2. Satan also cannot torment the faithful endless; his power is also restricted by the Lord God.

How is it possible dear reader that Satan gets freedom and space from the Lord God to terrorize the Aramean nation by Turks, Kurds and others in this region? Jesus says, "And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth" (Matthew 28:18)

If Jesus Christ has all the authority on heaven and on the earth, how is it possible that He has allowed horrible events like this to happen, namely:

After this, the Kurdish groups appeared like wild animals, armed with deadly weapons such as axes, hooks, swords, daggers, sticks and sickles. Oh, what bitter, sadness it is, which cannot be solaced, to see how the babies at the breast of their mothers were snatched and their blood was mixed with milk, how the mothers were raped before the eyes of everybody, and that there was nobody who could prevent or put a stop to that. (Page 90)…………..

The soldier took the gold dinar and put it in his pocket; after that he took the child away and smashed it against a rock before him, so that he died immediately before the eyes of the mother.

(See for more: http://www.aramnahrin.org/English/ArameanPhysicalGenocide.htm)

How could this happen? Who is to be blamed for this? Why does He allow such horrible events to take place? The powerful God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob says, "I am everywhere -- both near and far, 24 in heaven and on earth. There are no secret places where you can hide from me" (Jeremiah 23:24)… ,, I am the Lord; there is no other god" (Isaiah 45:5)

This means that nothing and nobody can escape the Lord God, He sees everything, including the law-suits in Turkey against the Aramean monastery Mor Gabriel. Why then does He allow these things happen dear reader?

Why did He not intervene when our people were slaughtered by the Turks and the Kurds? Why did He allow Satan to torment and persecute our people for centuries and finally to expel them into the Diaspora?

The answer to all these questions dear reader is that our people have brutally offended the Lord God and trampled His Holiness, as He complains ," They have disgraced and insulted me in the worst possible way (Ezekiel 8:17)…..

And what is the result of all this? Well, the Lord says, ""Shouldn't I punish them for these things and take revenge on a nation such as this? I will send enemies…. (Jeremiah 5:9-10)

I will send them "Enemies" says the Lord! Yes indeed, these enemies have burned their churches, have assumed their real estates, vineyards, lands and homes, raped their daughters, killed their sons and expelled them into the Diaspora.

Again the question, why did the Lord send them these enemies? Well, very simple, ""Therefore know this day, and consider [it] in your heart, that the Lord Himself [is] God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; [there is] no other. 40 "You shall therefore keep His statutes and His commandments which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong [your] days in the land which the LORD your God is giving you for all time." (Deutronomy 4:39-40)

Our people did not understand much of the severe consequences of accepting Jesus Christ, who is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. You impossible can be a Christian and act "neutral". You impossible can be a Christian and remain " passive". Calling yourself a "Christian", means you are putting a heavy burden of responsibility on your neck. Calling yourself a " Christian", means you have to give yourself completely to the Lord God, it is not without obligations, certainly not.

Our nation have suffered for centuries terrible persecutions, pogroms and deprivations, yet the most remarkable thing is that they are not aware of anything and act completely dumb as if nothing happened! And how do the leaders act? Well the same as the people, if not worse. "Everyone is greedy and dishonest, whether poor or rich. Even the…. priests cannot be trusted. All they ever offer to my deeply wounded people are empty hopes for peace" (Jeremiah 6:13-14)

The Lord God many times warned them by means of wars and genocides until the point they went into the Diaspora. And even in the Diaspora they do not ask themselves why they are expelled from their indigenous lands of their forefathers which they had inhabited for thousands of years, which is now assumed and occupied by strangers. They do not ask themselves why they now are wandering as strangers at other man´s doors. They have been fallen in a very deep sleep without being aware of what is happening to them. They are completely bewitched by the luxury life in the West and do not want to hear about unpleasant things which they will be faced with in the future.

Note

Picture: Mar Gabriel Aramaean monastery in Midyat, SE Turkey

Online editions of Prof. Dr. M. S. Megalommatis´ book on the "Turkish – Greek Relations and the Balkans" are available here:

http://community.webshots.com/user/turkeygreecemegalommatis (in Turkish) and http://community.webshots.com/user/greeceturkeymegalommatis (in Albanian)