The Syriacs of Turkey: A Religious Community on the Path of Recognition
Author: Erol Su
Publisher/Publication: Archives De Sciences Sociales Des Religions
Volume/Issue: 60(171)
DOI/ISBN: https://www.jstor.org/stable/24740949
This article examines from a historical perspective the identity politics and the survival strategies adopted by the Syriac community in Turkey, which is still not an officially recognized community. It analyses the framework within they operated in the Ottoman Empire, and their passive contemplation of the Turkification efforts in the early Turkish republic. With the help of diaspora activism, along with the pressure from the Turkish intelligenzia for democratization and minority rights, the author concludes that the Syriac community is at least theoretically recognized and it has reached an unprecedented level of political participation in Turkey.
