Syriac Society Mardin, Adiyaman, Sirnak 2007 - 2015

Syriacs are a society whose origins go back 5000 years. They are the heirs of the ancient Mesopotamian peoples, that is, a deep-rooted structure, that played an important role in the development of civilization in Mesopotamia. These people mostly in Iraq and Iran, "Assyrians" of recognizing the name, Syria and Turkey for the same people in "Syriacs" name is used. The word Syriac became widespread especially after Christianity and refers to the Christian people of Upper Mesopotamia. The word "Assyrian" is used for the people of Upper Mesopotamia before Christ. More than 17,000 Syriacs are living in Turkey; 15,000 of them is in Istanbul. Others live in Mardin, Mersin, Diyarbakir, Adiyaman, Elazig, Ankara, Izmir, Malatya, Sanliurfa, Gaziantep, Antakya, Antalya and Adana. Having an important place in Syriac history, Turabdin (Mardin-Midyat region) hosts communities with different ethnic and religious bases today. Syriacs belong to the Christian religion. However, they are divided into various sects within themselves. The vast majority of them belong to the Orthodox sect. In addition, there are Syriacs who are affiliated with Chaldean, Catholic and Protestant sects. There are 5 million Syriacs in the world today. 3 million live in India. Most of them went from Urfa in the 4th century. 

I met Syriacs during my handicraft photography project. In 2017 I went to Mardin and Midyat to photograph their work called Telkari made of thin silver wires and a woman making handmade designs to fabric. The lady, whose name was Nasra, was doing a profession inherited from her father despite her advanced age. She was the only person doing this job. She passed away in 2016 at the age of 92. In the following years, I photographed the Easter ceremonies in Adiyaman, their lives in the villages of Sirnak, and a wedding ceremony. I was a guest in their village. I visited and photographed their monasteries and churches. Since the 1970s, I visited their abandoned villages due to migration to Istanbul and European countries. A congregation member I met in Adiyaman Church in 2014 was looking for a solution to take the body of his mother, who died in Europe, to his village in Sirnak and bury it there. His village was in a politically risky area. How can these people be described their devotion to Anatolia better?