TURKEY Christian, Jewish and Yazidi cemeteries desecrated by minors and extremists

In mid-July they destroyed Jewish graves and tombstones in Haskoy, a suburb of Istanbul. Several Christian cemeteries in Mardin and Van had previously been targeted. They exhumed bodies of Yazidi worshipers and reburied them according to Islamic tradition. Some of the authors of the desecrations are very young, between 11 and 13 years old. Armenian deputy: a mentality that has “filled children with hatred”.

Istanbul () – Abuses and attacks for religious reasons in Turkey do not spare even the dead, as confirmed by the increasing cases of vandalism in cemeteries of religious minorities, especially Christians, Jews and Yazidis. From Mardin to Van, Christians have in the recent past denounced the desecration of graves and tombstones and even the macabre scattering of the bones of the dead. The latest episode affects the Jewish community, further evidence of growing hatred and intolerance against non-Muslims.

The events occurred on July 15, but the news only came out a few days ago. Members of the Jewish minority in the Istanbul suburb of Haskoy reported severe damage to the local cemetery as a result of an attack led by extremist groups. The vandals, according to some sources, desecrated 81 graves, exhumed the coffins and left the place strewn with destruction and chaos. According to some witnesses, among the perpetrators of the attack there are also young people under the age of 18, who acted on the instructions of a gang of adults.

The police have detained some minors for questioning, but few are convinced that the investigations will clarify what happened and justice will be done. HDP opposition deputy Garo Paylan, of Armenian origin, referred to the age of the (alleged) perpetrators: “The fact that the attack on the Jewish cemetery – he wrote on Twitter – was carried out by children between 11 and 13 years old. it does not alleviate the situation but rather aggravates it. Who and what mentality filled those children with hatred against the Jews?”

Interviewed by the Jerusalem News Syndicate (JNS), a news portal that has given extensive coverage to the attack on the Jewish cemetery in Istanbul, the Assyrian journalist David Vergili explains: “In the last two months they have attacked and destroyed the graves of the Syriac and Graves and holy places of the Armenian community have also suffered similar attacks in the past”. These attacks, continues the expert, have “racist and religious motivations” because they are directed against groups and targets that “do not participate in Turkish ideology and islamic”

For many observers, what happened in mid-July at the Jewish cemetery is part of a broader picture of persecution and violence against minorities, including Christians. On June 29, on the occasion of the feast of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, unknown persons desecrated a cemetery in the Yemişli neighborhood, Midyat district, in the southeastern province of Mardin, the scene of episodes of intolerance in the recent past. Upon awakening, the faithful found devastated ancient Assyrian tombs and bones scattered throughout the area. Another example concerns the Yazidis, who customarily bury the dead with their backs turned towards the sun. The chronicles give an account of cases of desecrated graves and corpses relocated in the direction of Mecca, according to the dictates of the Islamic faith, which considers the Yazidis a heretical sect that must be punished (and reconverted), as happened in Iraq under the State Islamic.

An institutional source for had called for a rapid investigation to identify and capture those responsible, but there have been no relevant developments yet and the perpetrators remain unpunished. The desecration of cemeteries, as has occurred in recent months both to the detriment of Christians and the Jewish community, are symptoms of an aversion, if not true hatred, of a part of Turkish society towards all those who do not profess the Muslim faith and do not embrace the ideology of nationalism and Islam imposed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. And as long as this policy, which includes a radical component, continues to be fed, attacks on cemeteries, as well as on churches and other places of worship, goods and properties, will continue to be part of the daily chronicle.