The latest scenario is from the 1600 years-old Mor Gabriel Monastery in Midyat - Mardin where the local village officials in order to create enmity between the ethnic groups of the area, (although they have no right to do this), have laid claim on the land that the local people themselves know that it is somehow the property of the monastery since the time of its founding. In fact, these village officials have stated to lay claim to the very land on which the monastery itself was built. It is obvious that they are threatening the existence of the monastery. The monastery is now involved in six different court cases of this kind.

The Mor Gabriel Monastery is an inheritance from the Assyrian history to all of us. Think for how many thousands of years it has witnessed a fraternal life together with difficulties. Mesopotamia has been watered by the shedding of blood, suffering, annihilations, and persecution and it is time for it to produce flowers of peace. The Assyrian people are not trespassers. They should have the right to live in their homeland without fear and as other humans live. We invite those who believe we should not lose yet another shade of colour in this ancient land, to support us as the Izmir Council of Peace, regardless of religious faith, in this campaign for signatures called ‘From Izmir to Mesopotamia’ that we have started.

http://www.norzartonk.org/en/