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There's No One Christian View on
Turks and Kurds
Adapted from an article in the 24 Octobert 2019 issue of Christianity Today
by Jayson Casper
 Clergy representing minority communities in Turkey gathered in a
monastery in southeastern Turkey to pray for Turkish soldiers fighting in the cross-border operation against Syrian Kurdish
fighters.
As reports circulated that Turkey had
violated its five day pause in operations against the Kurds on the Syrian border, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's rhetoric
intensified. If Kurdish fighters did not withdraw from their positions, as agreed between Erdogan and President Donald
Trump, Turkey would "crush their heads."
The front now appears quiet as Turkey has secured its "safe
zone" in cooperation with Russia.
In America, as reported in the press, Christian opinion has been almost
universal in its condemnation [of Turkey]. But the Christian landscape in the Middle East, home to the oldest and some
of the most enduring persecuted traditions in the faith, offers a complex array of responses.
Christianity
Today has previously covered anti-Turkish sentiment from the Syriac, Assyrian, and Protestant communities of the region.
But there is an under-reported -- and contested -- pro-Turkey and anti-Kurdish contingent as well.
Arameans
"President Trump is right on Syria!" stated Johny Messo, president of the World Council of Arameans, in
a press release. "These 'heroes' have oppressed vulnerable Arameans, taken their innocent lives, Kurdified their
lands, and still use a tiny Christian group as their mouthpiece."
The Arameans, though an ancient expression
of Christianity, represent a 20th-century revival of identity tied to the ancient biblical land of Aram. Communities
exist in Syria, Turkey, and elsewhere in the region, and have been recognized by Israel.
While the West has rallied
behind the democratic Syrian enclave that permits religious freedom, Messo says what it commonly called Kurdistan is actually ancient Christian territory, taken over [by Kurds].
When Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces enter a village, they raise the flags of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK),
(defined as a terrorist entity by the United States). They have kidnapped Christians and seized their lands, says Messo.
And by provoking Turkey, they are bringing additional suffering upon everyone -- including local Christian communities.
"As the indigenous people of Southeast Turkey and Northeast Syria, we call upon the PKK to end its violent struggle
for independence," Messo stated, "so that Arameans, Kurds, Arabs, and Turks can work together in a mutually-enriching
coexistence between different ethnicities, religions, and languages."
Syriacs and Assyrians
The Syriac-Catholic
archbishop of Al Hasakah-Nisibi, one of the cities where fleeing Christians have taken refuge, agrees with Messo's anti-Kurdish
stance.
"For years, I have been saying that the Kurds are trying to eliminate the Christian presence in this
part of Syria," Jacques Behnam Hindo told Aid-to-the-Church-in Need last year. His particular concern
was the Kurdish effort to change the curriculum of local Christian schools -- in operation since the 1930s -- or to shut them
down, as happened in three cities in 2018.
Syriac has traditionally been associated with language and liturgy,
rather than ethnicity. Also, based in Turkey and Syria, some Syriacs identify as Arameans, others as Assyrians.
This latter group is strong in Iraq, and also has communities in Iran.
From Iraq, where the constitution grants
Kurds an autonomous region in the north (bordering Syria, Turkey, and Iran), one influential voice perfers not to take sides.
"We don't want Turks, we don't want the PKK, and we call for international protection," said Ashur Eskrya,
president of the Assyrian Aid Society.
"The Turks will make things unstable, and Christians will flee.
But the PKK will change the demography and not allow us to live with our heritage."
Historically, Turkey has
been blamed for the Armenian genocide that took place more than a century ago, and many other Christian communities have complained
of its roots in the Ottoman Empire and its nationalist beginnings. And back then, the Turks were allied with the Kurds.
"The Kurds do have a hnistory of genocidal acts towards Assyrians and that needs to be recognized," said
Peter Burns, government relations director with In Defense of Christians. "But that does not mean we should simply
side with whomever is pointing guns at Kurds in the moment, because in some cases the Kurds align with Christian interests
against common enemies."
The Assyrians are a "passionate" sect within regional Christianity, Burns
wrote in an analysis for Providence, a Christian foreign policy journal. They trace their ancestry to the biblical
Assyrian Empire, and their faith to the preaching of Thomas and Thaddeus, Jesus' disciples.
But other Christian
subgroups -- such as Chaldeans and Syriacs -- chafe at Assyrian insistence on a Christian homeland, preferring not to get caught up in Assyrian nationalist political ambitions.
And, according to Burns, Aramean is a controversial term created in modern times to encompass the broader Christian community in
the region. Most Christian sects do not embrace it as their ethnic identity.
In the fight against ISIS, some Christian militias,
such as the Nineveh Plains Guards, have aligned with the Kurds. But one in particular, the Babylon Brigades, has preferred
Iran.
Official Leaders of Christian Confessions in Turkey
Crossing into Anatolia -- the biblical Asia Minor -- other ancient Christian
confessions have come out in favor of the Turkish incursion. While citizens of Turkey, many Christians there identify
with their historic ethnic and church affiliations.
"We pray that Operation Peace Spring, which aims to end
terrorism and ensure the security of the borders, will continue in accordance with its purpose, and establish peace and security
as soon as possible," Sahak Masalyan, head of the Armenian Patriarchate of Turkey, told the state-run Anadolu Agency.
"Unfortunately, it's not possible to establish peace with a peacrful path every time."
Along with the
Armenians are foundations representing the Syriac and Assyrian churches in Turkey, which released an almost identical statement.
"We support Operation Peace Spring launched by our country, and the security of the people living in Syria,"
it stated. "Our soldiers are fighting at the expense of their lives, and we hope they will return to their country
unharmed."
Mustafa Akyol, senior fellow on Islam and modernity at the Cato Institute, shares many Western
concerns about the Turkish incursion. He thought the Turks would not target Christians, though he expressed doubt about
Turkey's aligned Islamist militias.
But the PKK is Turkey's biggest terrorist problem, he said, and the Kurdish
militias on the Syrian border are clearly linked.
Within this cauldron, he had clear advice for regional Christians.
"Stay as apolitical as possible," Akyol, author of The Islamic Jesus, told Christianity Today.
"Otherwise, Christians will easily fall victim to the wrath of the various groups fighting each other, often without
any clear 'good side'."
This includes the Turkish state, said Pinar Tremblay, visiting scholar of political
science at California State Polytechnic University -- Pomona, California. She told Christianity Today that
the pronouncements of support, while not inauthentic, were unlikely fully free.
"I do not think any
relilgious figure is independent in Turkey -- and that includes Muslim scholars as well, " she said.
"The
state flexes its muscles over religious leaders' statements routinely, and anyone who doesn't support the operation could
face legal and social consequences.
The Associated Press reported that 500 people were investigated and 121 detained
for social media posts critical of the operation, according to Turkey's Interior Ministry. Reuters reported that 24
people were arrested.
And in the southeast of Turkey, where there is a Kurdish-majority, five mayors were jailed and two others were detained, accused of links
with the PKK.
But whereas the Syrian
Observatory recorded that 224 SDF forces, 183 Turkish-backed rebels, and 72 civilians were killed in fighting so far,
Tremblay believes it was the Christian deaths that worried the government.
"Ankara was particularly concerned
that news of Christian casualties would anger the White House," said the Al-Monitor columnist, to which she
attributed the statements. "Turkey desperately needed to boost its image."
Anonymous Christian
Leaders in Turkey
But that doesn't mean the sentiments were untrue. Christianity Today
spoke with three Turkish Christian leaders, each of whom requested anonymity.
"Turkey has the right
to protect its own borders," said the first.
"We are praying for the protection of our soldiers, and
I am outraged at Trump's letter," said the second, referring to the American president's personal missive warning Erdogan
"don't be a fool."
The third put it plainly: "The prisons of Turkey are filled with authors
and reporters who have written down their opinions freely. If my answers are revealed to be my own opinions, my imprisonment
without trial or inquiry will be a certain future."
The Committee to Protect Journalists states Turkey is
the world's worst jailer, with 68 reporters imprisoned.
Once source said the real reason behind the Syria incursion
is Erdogan's recent electoral setbacks and the declining economy. Another said that "killing Kurds" helps
Erdogan's nationalist agenda. And the other called it an "invasion" that will result in suffering for many
innocent lives.
All three said they were against the war.
"Turkish Christians know very well that
war is a bad thing and that id does not serve God," said one. "For this reason, they take every opportunity
to say that they are praying for the war and the bloodshed to stop."
"Most Turkish Christians around
me are against this war," said another. "We are praying for peace and for this war to end."
The other said there was a lot of confusion in the churches, as Christians feel like they are walking on eggshells.
"There are so many things we know very little about, and there are big games being played," the source said.
"This is how evil is operating."
One leader in Turkey worried that peaceful protest would not be possible,
and all Christians can do is to pray.
In this regard, Masalyan's official statement of behalf of the Armenian
church may be most poignant.
"We are also praying for Syrians, who were tortured, oppressed, and forced to
leave their country becaue of terror, for them to live in peace and look forward to a brighter future without losing faith
in justice, peace and good days," he stated. May the Lord inspire our leaders and commanders with the spirit of
wisdom, compassion, and common sense."
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