Syriac language

Iraq's shrunken and conflict-scarred Christian community is launching a new television channel as part of efforts to save their dying language, spoken for more than 2,000 years.

Syriac, an ancient dialect of Aramaic, has traditionally been the language spoken by Christians in Iraq and neighboring Syria, mostly in homes but also in some schools and during church services.

Final preparations are almost complete for the opening of Mor Efrem (St. Ephrem) Syriac Ancient Orthodox Church in Istanbul, the first church built in the history of modern Türkiye.

While the church in the Bakırköy district is planned to be opened in two months, comprehensible work is being carried out to eliminate the last deficiencies.

A number of properties belonging to Turkey’s Syriac minority that were controversially handed to the state in recent years will be returned as part of a planned new omnibus bill, daily Hürriyet reported on Feb. 7.

A number of properties belonging to Turkey’s Syriac minority that were controversially handed to the state in recent years will be returned as part of a planned new omnibus bill, daily Hürriyet reported on Feb. 7.
 

A bakery has been converted into a church for the Protestant community in the southeastern province of ?anl?urfa, a city bordering Syria and hosting many Syrian migrants.

A Syriac church dating back to the 4th century in Turkey?s southeastern province of Mardin, has been put for sale on a real estate website for 12.5 million Turkish Liras, while the institutions responsible ancient sites have remained mum on the situation.

A recent attack against a church in Istanbul has raised the fears of the Christian community in Turkey, a leading member of the country’s Syriac community said in a statement on June 27.