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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

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