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For Immediate Release
Contact: Johny Messo
Syriac Universal Alliance (SUA)
messo@home.nl
Turkey not ready yet for EU admission
The Hague, October 4 –
On October 6, the EU will publish a report evaluating Turkey’s latest
reforms in order to assess whether or not the country qualifies to the EU
requirements. Whilst recent improvements of the Turkish government have
been widely praised, little attention has been paid to the issue of
practical implementations of the legal changes, which, reasonably enough,
require a process of time before passing a fair judgement on the Republic.
In principle, the Syriac Universal Alliance does not
reject the idea of Turkey becoming a full EU member state. On the
contrary, we even acclaim this notion under certain conditions.
First, the Christian massacres during World War I
should no longer be denied by Turkey. Rather, the Republic should openly
admit this black episode in her history, which was already recognized as
“genocide” in an EU resolution of 18 June 1987. Contrary to earlier
reports, we expect the Syriacs and Greeks also to be included in the
context of the “Armenian genocide.”
Second, it is incongruous that the indigenous Syriacs
officially are still not recognized and it also proves how little has been
changed as regards the question of human rights and minority rights in
particular. It is known that because of this negligence, the Syriacs never
enjoyed any rights at all, have experienced discriminations and their
primary needs continue to be ignored.
Third, as the majority of the Syriacs have migrated
from their ancient land, due to worsened circumstances and/or
persecutions, lately some of them willing to return have faced several
difficulties. The main impediments are the lack of safety measures, the
presence of malicious village guards and the poor socio-economic
conditions in the Southeastern regions of Turkey.
Verily, Western countries have granted Turkey billions
of dollars of financial aid over the past decades. Yet, as the Syriac
people and their Aramaic heritage are an essential part of Turkey, which
gives Turkey the inevitable duty to sustain this ancient people, the
Syriac Universal Alliance regrets the fact that the Syriacs have never
received any substantial monetary support from Turkey to protect their
unique national heritage (e.g., through education). Nor has the Turkish
government seriously invested in Southeast-Turkey – in antiquity the
illustrious habitat of various Aramean principalities and later on a
bulwark of Aramean Christendom.
We cherish little hope that after Turkey’s nearing
entry, our appeals will ever be honoured. Since patience is a virtue, the
Syriac Universal Alliance recommends that Turkey’s period of assessment
can plausibly enough be prolonged by the EU for another five years. Thus,
Turkey can seriously prove whether or not its latest reforms will have any
practical impact and if the Republic of Turkey earnestly aspires to share
the moral values of the European community.
The Syriac Universal Alliance is a worldwide
umbrella organization of all secular Syriac/Aramaic confederations and is
also an international Non-Governmental Organization in Special
Consultative Status with the Economical and Social Council of the United
Nations |
