Syrian Christians Discouraged by Ongoing War
ICC Note: Turkey is home to millions of Syrian refugees who have fled the civil war, which has now entered its eighth year. Syrian Christians fled early on during the war, and have no intention of ever returning. Many have settled in Mardin (Turkey), a historically Christian area although the authorities have attempted to suppress the free practice of faith. Even so, Turkish Christians have opened their doors to help the Syrians in need.
05/20/2018 Turkey (Al-Monitor) – Walking along the narrow roads of Gul Mahallesi (literally translated as the Rose Neighborhood), one of the central districts of the southeastern city of Mardin, one stumbles upon a small church called Mor Petrus and Mor Pavlus Church. This rectangular building is relatively obscure in this city known for its many churches, from Syriac Catholic to Protestant, most of them centuries old.
Neli Haddid opens the large, wooden door of the church, which has been attacked with paint blocking its name, to visitors. Haddid, a 48-year-old refugee who has fled from the civil war in Syria, arrived in Mardin in 2016 with her husband, two sons and a daughter. With the help of Christian Syriac relatives in the city, they took refuge in the church, where she now works as a cleaner and helps out with the ceremonies. It is the first job this homemaker from Aleppo has ever had.
“We fled from the war; we had no other choice. We came to Mardin that was both close to home and had schools for my children, who were teenagers. We also have relatives here, which made it easier. It has been two years now. I do not think we will ever be able to go back,” she told Al-Monitor.
Haddid and her family live in a small house with two rooms in the churchyard. She does not receive a set salary for her work, and the family gets by with the help of the Syriac community. Haddid’s husband, Sami Hannush, works in temporary jobs for small sums of money. Her daughter is married and one of her sons is still in high school.
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