Christians in Turkey | DW Documentary

For a long time, Syriac Orthodox Christians were religiously persecuted in Turkey. Now, more and more are returning to their historic homeland in the southeast of the country. Among them is a nun who wants to revitalize the village where she grew up.
Hatune Dogan, a Syriac Orthodox nun, was born in İzbırak in 1970. The 270 Christian families who still lived in the village back then later fled. That included Sister Hatune, who left her home in the 1980s with her parents and nine siblings. Southeastern Turkey was the scene of a military conflict between the Turkish army and Kurdish PKK militias - with Christians caught between the two sides.
Syriac Orthodox Christians in Turkey are believed to have been one of the earliest Christian communities. Over the centuries, the group - with its own customs and language - came under repeated attacks in a predominantly Muslim region. Most decided to flee.
Around 300,000 Syriac Orthodox Christians now live outside Turkey, primarily in Europe and the United States. Almost half of the diaspora has found a new home in Germany, like the Dogan family. Several years ago, Sister Hatune resolved to return to her home village of İzbırak to fulfill a promise to her dying father and renovate the old family home. She is determined to breathe new life into the village.
Simon Üzel was 17 years old when he and his family fled the Turkish village of Öğündük for southwest Germany in 1990. Now, he's among those contemplating a move back home. Whenever it feels safe to do so, he travels to his old village - a place that is never truly far from mind.
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[@danieltesfay2424]

As an Eritrean orthodox and besides Ethiopia, these are the first foreign communities that i find closest to our culture and religion .i can see myself living with them both culturally and religiously despite the language differences. Amazing people!! May the Lord provide you with an everlasting peace .Thanks, DW, for this wonderful documentary.

[@hanaeshete9388]

Amen amen 🙏 🙌

[@krakatoa_8180]

Habecha you are an old civilization brother in Eritrea and your neighbor Ethiopia then these Christian from Anatolia currently Türkiye are also from an old culture in one of the oldest and most historical area nestled between Mesopotamia and minor Asia I wish them good luck it’s sad to see what happened to these old minority the persecution they endured…… every religion every people should live in peace best regards guys

[@history_repeats8201]

This is just a drop in the bucket. In 1890 there were 5 million Christians in Anatolia. Most put to the sword. Even in 1955, 200,000 Christians were ethnically cleansed from Istanbul. Turks have no tolerance for minorities. Just look what is happening to the Kurds. 20,000 slaughtered Kurds just the last 10 years.

[@user-gz6eb7xy3i]

አሜን ወንድሜ🙏⛪❤

[@tonitoni173]

☦️🙏☦️🙏☦️🙏☦️🙏

[@clattereffect]

Great documentary. Amazing how these Syriac's Christians made an honest and decent life for themselves in Europe and elsewhere after being forced out of their homes, but never forgot their roots and village. May they find peace and God bless.

[@hasmigmardiros3488]

Similarly the Indigenous Armenian Christians who were slaughtered during massacres and Genocide, survivors scattered across the globe. We remember and we hold on to our culture and traditions, despite Turkey’s ongoing campaign of destruction and erasure.

[@citizenofsuperpowerindia4453]

​​@@hasmigmardiros3488Bla Bla Bla. Not Turks, its Romans. Armenians an Ortodoxs, Romans an Katoliks.. Roma Empire desteroyed the Armenian Kingdom before Turks not even arrive, Thats why Seljuk Turks take it So much easy the Middle East.. Stop make Propaganda.. Same think for Costantinpoli, Before Ottoman Empire, Roma already invaded the City, Costantinpoli Lost to much Soldiers on War.. So Tired of the you guys Blame Turks or Someone.. Roma Empire did it.. Learn History before talk..

[@feritgursoy7134]

Mr Hashmi, you talking about destruction, Erasure I’m living now Not in the past. The Christians are welcome in the land where they born.

[@ZekoBeatz]

As a Muslim Turk I need to say that you guys are an enrichment for our country. Welcome back HOME!

[@loneycornel778]

With all respect! Bravo! 👏👏👏All religion are beautiful when we respect each other. From Romania all the best for Turkey!

[@AtarahMata]

Thank you ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥 I love you all thank you for speaking up for us it means so much 🥹🥹🥹

[@Liazeru-Ukhruj-YallahMejjituna]

@ZekoBeatz -- Actually, everyone is best off where they come from, where their roots are. Türkiye has a centuries-old tradition of good coexistence of different nations and religions When the Ottoman Empire fell apart, unfortunately very bad things happened there - but except for these, the life of different religions and peoples in the Ottoman Empire was well regulated... would have needed a bit of readjustment, but on the whole it was Okay -- (especially compared to religious intolerance in Christian countries at that time).

[@th...........7793]

And...Jesus is coming soon...RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH is now coming up

[@aldebaranalazar6529]

As long as they don't betray the Turkiye and in the future say we want to devide and want independence

[@SBasjje]

I'm a Turkish person and I'm really happy to see people of all religions and ethnicities coming back to rebuild and live in peace. It warms my heart to see everyone enjoying a peaceful life in my homeland.

[@Leandro22Martinho]

I'm from Portugal and I got to say that I have a lot of respect for Turkey, I don't care about religion but I don't criticize or bash it either but if I were to choose a muslim country to live in, I would 100% choose Turkey, fantastic country and the people are very friendly and heartwarming, I wished more countries looked at Turkey as a role model on how to manage state affairs and religion affairs, all the best to Turkey 🇹🇷

[@humptydumpty4687]

@@Leandro22MartinhoTurkey is secular my friend, our state has no religion like the people may do

[@Leandro22Martinho]

@@humptydumpty4687 I know Turkey has a secular constitution my friend and like I said I admire your heartwarming attitude towards people 🤝✌

[@user-do1dc3qf3c]

@@humptydumpty4687 When people say Muslim, they mean the Muslim majority

[@ok9gamer65]

No you are not...

[@ceilconstante640]

Great Documentary! God Bless Sister Atuna and all the Syriac Christians returning to their village, roots, culture, family, friends and memories. May they live and prosper in faith, health and peace.

[@history_repeats8201]

This is just a drop in the bucket. In 1890 there were 5 million Christians in Anatolia. Most put to the sword. Even in 1955, 200,000 Christians were ethnically cleansed from Istanbul. Turks have no tolerance for minorities. Just look what is happening to the Kurds. 20,000 slaughtered Kurds just the last 10 years.

[@kosamsani9355]

Lovely people. God bless them. From wonderful Indonesia.

[@seangregory4339]

This documentary gives me hope. I'll pray for my Christian brothers and Sisters. God bless the Syriac Orthodox Church.

[@wg611]

May they prosper and continue their beautiful language and traditions. 🙏

[@ehkbv]

I'm not Syriac but I'm still a Christian Turk. No matter what, I'm honored to be one of God's loved ones. Hallelujah

[@bitter_truth8646]

Is it possible to be a Turk and a Christian? All previous Christians who used to live in Turkey, they islamised and then turkified

[@michaeljcross87]

@@bitter_truth8646 it's possible to be a Christian anywhere in the world if you choose to be one.

[@None-self]

​@@whiteuncleruckusSame thing goes for Armenian, Greeks also. You can not find Armenian, Greek Muslims officially. Even though ethnically still exist

[@dantepr1566]

​@@whiteuncleruckusuhm, thats not true. in older id cards it will be written automatically whatever the religion your parents are but thats not the case anymore as the new id cards bdoes not demonstrate any religion on it.

[@ChadaTurk66]

Syriac ne demek ? Ne hristiyanı bunlar

[@user-kt2ew2zf7h]

Great documentary. Very happy to see these people living peacefully in Türkiye. Greetings to all the Christian brothers and sisters around the world!🙏❤

[@DWDocumentary]

Thank you for watching!

[@YhmsK]

As a Kurdish citizen of Turkey, it brings tears to my eyes to see that some people have had to leave Turkey. I just do feel their pain because I also love my country and am happiest here in Turkey.

[@daglaroglucan]

Kurdish Turkish Assyrian We are all brothers and sisters . This country belong to Us Turks as much as To Kurds and every other minority .

[@4evaavfc]

I think the Kurds should have their own country.The UN needs to get talks going if they can.

[@YhmsK]

@@4evaavfc thanks for your idea but Türkiye is our own home anyway

[@helgaioannidis9365]

So many had to leave or were killed. Think of how many Christians lived in Turkiye in the year 1900 and how many lived there in 1970. Here in Greece the majority of young people have at least one ancestor that had to flee from Turkiye.

[@YhmsK]

@@helgaioannidis9365 unfortunately, the same goes for Muslims living in Greece before the 60s and 70s. We are silly peoples when it comes to realising our cultural diversity and heritage

[@kimbozw1808]

may God protect this persecuted minority.

[@michaelmcfeely6588]

All gods are fiction. People create gods, leprechauns, unicorns, jackalopes and Jedi Knights. People create fiction.

[@TheStockwell]

Well, if he doesn't, I guess that means he doesn't care about them. How rude! I mean, this God fella doesn't seem to be protecting anything. 🙄

[@TheAlchemistZero1]

666

[@historiqueafricaine1225]

God exist and he will be with her❤ hopefully more people will give their lives to Christ in that region of Turkey🙏🏾

[@BinaryBlueBull]

@@michaelmcfeely6588 Excuuuuuse me, all are fake, yes, except for one of course. Let us pray. Our pasta, who art in a colander, draining be your noodles. Thy noodle come, Thy sauce be yum, on top some grated Parmesan. Give us this day, our garlic bread, …and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trample on our lawns. And lead us not into vegetarianism, but deliver us some pizza, for thine is the meatball, the noodle, and the sauce, forever and ever. All hail his holy noodleness, the flying spaghetti monster. R’amen

[@secaattinakyuz6778]

As a Turkish Muslim, I am so happy to see indigenous Syriac Christians coming back to their village homes in Türkiye from all over the world. Good people look for their original birth place and culture. When they see their old good friends, they’ll be so happy. And they talk about good their old times. You all welcome home. We are the pearls of the colorful culture.

[@fontana03]

You are a beautiful person!

[@l.e.i.4111]

God (call him Allah, God, Lord) bless you. I wish more people have the same approache you have. There is place for everybody on this temporary school we call life and we all can live in peace no matter what religion or believe.

[@ij4674]

@@l.e.i.4111 Arab Christians already call God as 'Allah'. You believe Jesus(PBUH) as begoted son of God, we don't - we Muslims only believe him as a prophet and Messiah born to virgin Mary, we too believe in his second coming. I don't like this perennialism approach to religion (which i think you are trying to 'promote'), we are 'different', but we will show 'tolerance' to each others belief, ottomans did it for a good part of most of it's history. Perennialism approach to religion has caused extreme secularization and the emergence of 'wokeness' and other ideologies in the west which are detrimental to stable societies, i don't think neither Christians (actual worshippers) nor Muslims (actual worshippers) want that.

[@TNM555999]

May God bless you the only thing God wants is for us to leave the past behind and unite in peace. May God bless Palestinian people both islamic and Christian. ❤☦️🙏🕯🙏☦️❤️

[@baris7565]

Especially now we are no longer enemies of Russia, all Eastern Christians are welcome in our country, chaos of Cold War is gone and our nation is more multicultural, but you never hear these in Western media, we are always compared to Western European values while nations like Israel gets free pass. Isolationist pro-western foreign policy doesn't work for Turkey, we are a global nation and our roots are rich from Eurasia to Middle East to Central Asia

[@melesegirmaye9682]

We were always rooting for you our Aramaic Orthodox CHRISTIAN ✝️ brothers and sisters. We did not forget you. From Ethiopia 🇪🇹.❤

[@KIa._]

Stop begging Habsshiii

[@canaybar4955]

Thank you brother 🙏🏼

[@denizozdemir3220]

As a Turk, the return of the ancient peoples of Anatolia to Turkey makes me (and most of us) very happy.

[@sunnya4310]

Does that include Armenians too? Also don't Turkish people have ancestry from the ancient Anatolians (before 1000 AD) as well? I feel like they don't claim that part of history compared to that of the Seljuks and Ottomans.

[@robbiejay]

I wish all the historical disputes were resolved between Turks and Armenians. There are Armenians living in Turkiye.

[@user-gd3dx4pd8q]

​@@robbiejayя жила в Баку. Спасибо быть снова беженкой не хочу

[@duyguerzincan6237]

@@sunnya4310 We already know that we are not 100% central Asians :D We don't look like that at all. According to a dna test, for example, I also had Greek-Italian, Arabic, Persian and Armenian influences. We are simply descendants of the Ottoman Empire.

[@saidibrahim5931]

​@@sunnya4310yes Turkey allows all people with ancestors there to return back if they want even before 5000 years ancestors. They also give them a land

[@ElizabethPerez-db1xc]

She is my hero!!! What faith! Bless her!

[@aldonemra2386]

Beautiful documentary. It reminded me of this KZbin video I watched, on Armenian Christians going back to Akdamar Monastery’s Holy Cross Church on Lake Van for Holy Mass. Christians are part of Turkey. Glad to see more Christians returning to their roots and churches.

[@RhiannonSenpai]

God bless and protect the persecuted Syriac Christians 🙏

[@streetsarecold]

every christmas morning via prayer I wish north korean, muslim world and other persecuted christians a merry christmas

[@funkmachine9094]

they're syrianer

[@t_y_2192]

Their existence is guaranteed by Turkish republic

[@pembebulut2781]

@@xodr5???

[@ala_dine2709]

how persecuted?

[@yaseminboran362]

Welcome back home, as a Turk I’m sorry you had to leave

[@mernkanthri3941]

Acceptance is the only way to save Islam. We need to be 100% religion of peace 🕊. I am teaching as much as possible to divert our young men's away from radicalization and help Islam evolve with Modernization.

[@baris7565]

Yes, especially now we are friends with Russia it should help bring back our common values, Eastern Christians are always welcome in Turkey.

[@baris7565]

@@mernkanthri3941 Peace and War has nothing to do with religions its politics, what we need is to put people away from Supremacist views, Supremacy is bad regardless if its Western or Political or Religious. Especially these days, we must unite against common threats

[@eyrusfeker4790]

Protect and bless our Orthodox brother and sister love u from Ethiopia Orthodox Christian❤❤❤❤❤

[@bozkurt3019]

Welcome back to Turkey. I wish for a prosperous and peaceful life for anyone returning. Our country is more beautiful with diverse cultures and people in it.

[@AtarahMata]

Thank you it means so much for you to say that. Please speak up for our community, please work towards kindness. ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥 thank you for your beautiful words ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

[@user-bf6pk6on9w]

Don't wipe them out like you did to the Armenians please

[@ebuleheb5447]

​@@AtarahMataI am an ordinary turkish man.I am happy to see that this community is getting back to us feets

[@saidibrahim5931]

Turkey allows all people with ancestors there to return back if they want and even give them a land

[@ucankartal4819]

@@user-bf6pk6on9w How do you compare this to those who attacked the Turkish army from behind and raided villages during the war? As if there was nothing wrong, the Turks declared war on the Armenians for no reason. Be a little objective.

[@user-wg6nx4zp3s]

Thanks for this documentary. I am an Orthodox Christian from Constantinople/Istanbul. I did not know the detailed stories of Syriac Christians in Syrian border either. Danke.

[@albertoorat4343]

God bless you all our Syrian brothers and sisters may God protect you all the times🙏🙏

[@sklouzoukli]

It s interesting to see similarities and differences between syriac and greek orthodox christian tradition! The monastery is sooo beautiful and hope this energetic and passionate nun achieve her goals. My grandparents lived in Turkey and fled to greece early 20th century. It was touching visiting the places they lived and felt very wellcomed by turkish people i met.

[@lunarbike]

we always welcome you my friend. Turkey is your second country. greetings from istanbul.

[@melesegirmaye9682]

We really hope you protect them from the Jihadis there. It really means a lot.​@@lunarbike

[@foreverunhappy6860]

My family came from greece to turkey at the same time. I hope one Day I Will go to there. I want to visit my ancestors home.

[@sklouzoukli]

@@foreverunhappy6860 if you dont mind me asking, which area in greece? my grandpa lived in Kirkalerli and my grandma in Istanbul. In greece they lived in Komotini which in turkish is Kioumourtsine, if i spell it right.

[@foreverunhappy6860]

@@sklouzoukli selaniko, my all father side relatives *except my grandma* came there

[@toddgibson6817]

I live in İstanbul. We have a sizeable Syriac christian community here in the Şisli Neighbourhood

[@Wolfenstein31]

Thank you for this beautiful documentary ❤

[@michaeljcross87]

Beautiful! I will support them however I can. It is just so heartwarming to see that Christians are returning to the most ancient places where Christianity was founded.

[@nenenindonu]

Christianity wasn't founded in that place, it was imposed as a colonizers religion under Romans until Turks decolonized it

[@Thoughtflux]

​@@nenenindonudecolonized? Turkey is an occupying force. They came from central Asia. This land belongs to the byzantines aka Armenians. Christianity was never imposed here. As a matter of fact, Christians were persecuted in the Roman empire. It's only later it got adopted as the state religion when there were already plenty of Christians. Today how many Christians in turkey?? What have they done to Hagia Sophia??

[@michaeljcross87]

@@nenenindonu this is completely false and utter nonsense. Christianity is native to this area and in fact was NEVER imposed on the people of this region. There is no one who can even come close to denying these claims. In fact, Turkish peoples are not native to modern day Turkey. It was all Greek. One one of the great saints of Christianity, St Nicholas, was a Greek who lived in what is today Turkey. Constantinople or Byzantium was an ancient Roman and Greek city way before Turkish people ever existed . In fact Turks were the ones who colonized Asia Minor and imposed their own religion on the people. The good thing is, Christians are coming back to Turkey and I will be helping them in any capacity that I can. This story is so beautiful and it is wonderful to see that Christianity is coming back and flourishing in Turkey, the ancient homeland of Christians and where the word Catholic came from. Katholicos which means universal was first said of Christians in Turkey.

[@nenenindonu]

@@michaeljcross87 1. It's called conquering and was a norm until WW1 2. Greeks themselves colonized Anatolia as invaders causing the hellenization and extinction of Native Anatolian ethnicities like Luwians, Carians, Lydians,... 3. Christianity is NOT native to Turkey

[@liam2409]

@@nenenindonu Islam is not native to Turkey either though, so how could the Ottomans decolonize? People of Turkey believed in a sky god before Christianity..

[@lunarbike]

As a Turk from istanbul ı am very happy to see you here again. this is OUR Great home. and you are a part of this beautiful home. please come and stay here with us. this country will be richer with you. here is your homeland.

[@yagambaramreddy5212]

Please return and may your community be vibrant. I hope to visit your community soon. Our earliest churches were in Turkey. Beautiful work sister. Thank you Hatuna for keeping hope alive.

[@porus6312]

Love from a pakistani christian, it is hard to live as a christian in a muslim majority country. God protect you all

[@rulerofeternity7910]

I wish you safety and security, love from Syria. - A Syriac Christian

[@chandreshshetty6610]

Same reply

[@ekim886]

It is also difficult for a Muslim to live in a Christian country

[@porus6312]

@@ekim886 You may be right but everyone here in pakistan wantes to go america canada 🇨🇦 or any western country

[@ekim886]

@@porus6312 May Allah SWT help u to go to Christian countries

[@EA...]

Glad you made a documentary on us. I was back here for the 3rd time a little over 2 months ago and it was just as beautiful as the other 2 times. We Arameans, SURYOYE!, are strong❤🦅

[@Player_0000]

Bsheno horo😂😂

[@wg611]

May they prosper and continue their beautiful language and traditions. 🙏

[@ProudPassport]

Turkish Muslim here. Welcome back home. We are incomplete without you.

[@proton8741]

"We are incomplete without you". What a wonderful sentence and feel of humanity that warms heart in this time of harmful communitarianism. Thank you Human / Muslim brother. Have peaceful life

[@funwithbell7207]

Is it Istanbul safe for christian tourist ?

[@humancake115]

​@@funwithbell7207Of course. There are all kinds of people in İstanbul.

[@jaroslav66]

Istanbul su dali zvanje osmanlije a njegovo pravo ime je Konsantipolj i tu su živeli hrišćani pravoslavne vere pre osmanlija.​@@humancake115

[@rahrjiyanin8072]

Great video. I am Kurdish & left my homeland 31 years ago, not by choice. I feel your pain & hope God will help all people live in peace & freedom. My father grew up speaking Kurdish & Aramaic fluently. I still wish one day all the indigenous people can live together in peace. Love to all ❤

[@go4ittt837]

As a Turk, it's great to see our families back in their homeland again. We may have different religions, but we are all children of the same soil. Turkey is our land in the middle of the world, with a rich and diverse culture and wonderful people.

[@Thoughtflux]

I have never heard a Turkish welcome Christians back. I thought Christians were purposely driven out.

[@eddeatilla3865]

​@@Thoughtflux A normal "secular" Turk who's not brainwashed with Islams bad ideology will always welcome everyone. Islam is the problem not the Turk's.

[@nurulhudavijapurwala4936]

​@@Thoughtflux because it's our Sufismic culture , welcome everyone , not like Germans who persicute the Turkish origins

[@297banu]

​@@Thoughtfluxwrong. Ottoman Empire was a multicultural, diverse group of nations that disintegrated because such a diverse group of nations couldn't have lived in peace after the idea of nationalism gained traction especially since they were living on a geopolitically important land with valuable esources. Why would the Jewish intellectuals come to Turkey, a newly formed, war-torn and very poor country after they were persecuted in Germany , if Turks were persecuting people of other religions? Saving Christians from blood-thirsty Muslims is a rhetoric invented by imperialists nations of the 19th century, because starting a war on a poor nation would be frowned upon by the general public especially when if they were going to use their own men to fight that nation.

[@michaeljcross87]

@@Thoughtflux now we are welcoming Christians back to Turkey.

[@yahuniye]

Turkey is a secular unitary nation state by law, so saying that the state does not recognise them as religious minority is misleading since the concept of religious minority does not exist in turkish constitution. Apart from that its a very good documentary. As a muslim turk I send my best regards and wishes to syriac people. Mardin is long cleansed from pkk terrorism and its safe now. As its sait in the video tourism is also booming, I hope they come back and rebuild their ancestral homes

[@scottastell9415]

Amazing. May the peace in the region continue.

[@georgeabraham5532]

Homecoming is such a beautiful experience.. Admire the sister who is creating the required enthusiasm to help everyone with their homecoming.. 🙏

[@carlduplessis31]

One cannot but be impressed with practical people . Lovely documentary.

[@MimiNNyambura]

I pray that God will protect all Christians in the world

[@Bullcutter]

Fantastic documentary, beautiful shot and edited.

[@traviswadezinn]

I remember seeing this - beautiful stories - good to see the return

[@doloresparlato]

I'm not sure when this documentary was originally filmed, but the return home for this woman is very important and very symbolic. The returning to ancestral homes and land is a completion of some kind, there is a fitting back in for this woman into the fabric from which she came. God's blessing on her and those who Christians who have returned, are returning and will return home there in Turkey. God's people have inhabited that land for centuries. Like a plant being planted back in it's original environment, I pray that this community thrives.

[@RhiannonSenpai]

Around 2023, since the middle aged guy's family moved to Germany in 1990 and he said present day was after 33 years, also sister Hatuna said she moved to Turkey for a few years now, and she moved in 2017.

[@history_repeats8201]

This is just a drop in the bucket. In 1890 there were 5 million Christians in Anatolia. Most put to the sword. Even in 1955, 200,000 Christians were ethnically cleansed from Istanbul. Turks have no tolerance for minorities. Just look what is happening to the Kurds. 20,000 slaughtered Kurds just the last 10 years.

[@doloresparlato]

@@RhiannonSenpai Thank you and Merry Christmas.

[@RhiannonSenpai]

Merry Christmas 🎄 to you too,@@doloresparlato !

[@vafflexorza3208]

Thank you so much for your beautiful prayers. 🙏

[@niemand9362]

Many Syrian and Lebanese christians migrated to Brazil

[@krakatoa_8180]

That’s right and Especially in São Paulo they migrated

[@nurulhudavijapurwala4936]

Please come in labanon and turk back

[@batissta44]

Christians from the Middle East migrated to countries all over Latin America.

[@lucillebaltazar910]

Pray that all Syriac Christians will return their homeland 🙏🙏🎄🎄Merry Christmas to all.

[@Peaceman2860]

As a Christian (Indian) I am very much worried about these people who believe in Christ from the early period now undergoing suffering. They are living in other countries loosing their life in their own parents places. Let the Lord give them peace and happiness in their present countries and will give a permanent place in their next life....

[@allenissa6966]

Thank you for this wonderful documentary I hope one day DW make a documentary like this about iraqi Christian whom fled turkey to Iraq and then fled iraq to western Christian countries Greetings from deraboun-zakho

[@uzoejekwumadu7731]

This is beautiful. God bless you efforts 🙏

[@johntezz55]

DW thank you very much for this another documentary.

[@johntezz55]

Turkey is fascinating sometimes. I wish the nun good luck. I also wish Turkiye peace.

[@Persistentdreamer91]

Blessed to be a part of this community. My family still carries the stories of the sad persecution of what happened to them. Crazy to see the physical resemblance from my family in these faces ❤ we’re a small bunch. We’re in 🇦🇺 🇺🇸 🇵🇸🇨🇭now.

[@yagambaramreddy5212]

God bless and may your family also find peace back in your ancestral land. Happy new year.

[@philip6212]

Great documentary. Happy to see the glimpses of old eastern Orthodox Christian ways of life in Turkey. May our Lord bless them all. I too belong to an eastern Church of Malabar in India

[@hanaeshete9388]

May God bless this village 🙏 Christian ✝️ orthodox..

[@mrblurblur2003]

Such beautiful and wonderful feeling of warmth of their traditional values and belonging. Hope it will flourish to it's former glory. 🙏🙏🙏

[@RJ-fg8kw]

Wonderful documentary. Just wonderful. Beautifully told.

[@DWDocumentary]

Thank you very much for your kind comment!

[@freekidsafrica5472]

Greetings from Ethiopia. Your return is great decision, no more valuable than living on your ancestor's village. Stay blessed

[@dwaynejava]

A wonderful documentary about wonderful people. Hopefully there is peace there.

[@mirror4820]

Religion means problem ☹️ Humanity is the only way 👍

[@nadimulislamtonoy9604]

How this is a religious problem. They were Between crossfire war with Kurds. Turkey has no problem with other religion. If they had problem they wounded even able to enter.

[@carlagoncalves531]

Turkish are the most beautiful and warm people I wish peace and freedom to them so i can return to visit again. Last time was in 2013 and lots of things changed there since

[@simyager955]

Yes, but we are a safe country, we are the 6th most visited country in the world, but if you do not like Russians, I do not recommend you to come :D

[@jennypalmer331]

What an amazing experience. I am an Australian and I loved this village and how it is being restored. Sister Atuna is truly amazing. It is lovely to see re building instead of destruction.Thank you for the doco

[@michaelhill7632]

Seems like a peaceful, kind and family oriented folk. God bless them and keep them safe.

[@Selamfrom2022-ur3hz]

We love you❤, Our Brothers & Sisters God bless you. From Eritrean Orthodox Christian.

[@suleymantekin5016]

I was in my ancestral village in sep 2023 with my brother and it was the most amazing experience we had. My parents left for europe 48y ago. Now we will renovate my family house in Qelleth outside Savur wich also was called the paradise of Tur Abdin. We had no problems with anyone and all the people we met where very friendly. Our driver/guide is from Midin ,amazing person. The best experience i had was the visit to Mor Augin monastry. In May i will go back to celebrate eastern in my native country witch draws me back more and more.

[@orlandofabrique7054]

Bless you brothers and sisters in Christ. Catholic from Philippines.

[@CanadianAnglican]

Bless them. They’re so kind. We would love them in Canada.

[@staypostive6611]

Nah, We are Orthodox Christians . What does your name mean... ? LGBTQ??

[@self-possessed]

As an Ethiopian Orthodox, watching the struggles of Christians, especially in the Middle East, is something painful. It is always a question on my mind how ancient Christians have now become stateless and displaced. Yes, of course, God has a plan for everything. But if we were united, it couldn't have happened this way. God bless all humans across the world.

[@tommasotorelli7232]

Beautiful. Good luck and God bless all these good people...

[@ameltsega7062]

My Syriac Brothers and Sisters, Your strength in hard times and deep rooted faith is inspiring. As for the Government of Turkey, Having the oldest Syriac Orthodox Monastery in the world (founded in 4th Century) and not officially recognized by the modern state founded in 1920s is an irony. Do better Turkey! Much love and appreciation to you Syriac Orthodox Brothers and Sisters in Christ from fellow Orthodox brother all the way from Ethiopia! Thank you DW for brining such an incredible story to the light.

[@loverespect8687]

Great documentary❤❤I hope you make more of these videos about Christians in the Middle East❤❤

[@Blueeeeee980]

أعجبني جدا هذا التقرير وانا ايضا جذوري آرامية شكرا للقناة

[@DWDocumentary]

Thanks a lot for taking the time to comment. We kindly ask our viewers to comment on our channel in English so that we can answer questions and encourage dialogue. Thank you and all the best, The DW Documentary Team

[@mernkanthri3941]

Acceptance is the only way to save Islam. We need to be 100% religion of peace 🕊. I am teaching as much as possible to divert our young men's away from radicalization and help Islam evolve with Modernization.

[@gri_adam]

Türkiye is a secular country. There is freedom of religion. I respect people who believe in different religions. After all, there is only one God.

[@georgep1358]

Bless the Syriac Orthodox I pray for peace and harmony and that the churches will be filled with life and happiness always .Bless Hatune for all she and everyone else has done for building back the churches and the community

[@TV-bf1vq]

It is sad that they had to leave their home but 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 popped into my head, “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” They were forced to flee their home but they kept their faith. I pray the Turkish government will one day recognise the faith

[@toxichuman208]

Turkish Governmennt helps them.

[@eddyflofernando]

Great Documentary. Vielen Dank.

[@DWDocumentary]

Thank you for watching!

[@umaraghu9272]

Saw this documentary, it's a really an eye opener 😳

[@user-tr4ig7yc3h]

My ancestors came from there from Esfes and from Adjara in Georgia they found refuge in The Holy Land I hope to get back there some day. ❤

[@Deniz-gz4sr]

Where is holy land

[@The_Anglo_Saxon-Celt]

​@@Deniz-gz4srIsrael 🇮🇱

[@GOKUBLACK-xq4is]

Such a Beautiful Landscape ❤

[@praisegod3768]

How can we donate to Sister's mission?

[@AngelitaFrancisco-cl9ko]

Beautiful ❤ Christians are beautiful people. God Bless you and protect you from evil people. Love from Catholic Christian 🇵🇭.

[@BE19LL95A]

My family is from hatay and Greek orthodox. Nobody really knows anymore where we are originally from. After being put into one place we all got new last names, only a few of us remember the original one. This documentary warmed my heart, thank you ❤

[@ftl6230]

As an Eritrean, this documentary gave me a lasting lesson. We(in 🇪🇷) are mixed(Muslim and Christian).the Christian are the majority and no trouble sofar. But if it was the reverse, I would have seen myself in this documentary

[@king-kd2js]

💯 True 😔

[@cavaleirosemlicenca3894]

True and True 😢

[@user-yt8hm4oc5r]

until this documentary Turkey was not ever on my bucket list. But thanks to this amazing Sister Hatune Dogan, I would love to visit this particular area

[@lusimyer]

I've always loved Turkey and would love to go there. This would even be more reason.

[@johnnybgood3909]

Thankyou for spelling Turkey correctly in the title

[@flaviopitanga65]

Dangerous place for Christians 😢. Best of luck to them. God may bless them

[@igormarins1227]

Christianity is older in Turkey than Islam, so it's natural that this is also their home.

[@simpledude5974]

Welcome home! From a Turk with no religious beliefs.

[@yakamozezgiler]

this is a really touching story of these people in Turkey, as a Turkish muslim myself; I would like to enlight my relatives and people situation from Central Anatolian region of Turkey to let ypu guys have more ideas. Most people from my ancestoral origins have migrated to Europe, as well due to better job opportunities at those times back then. Nowadays, my father's village is almost as the same as the people shown in the video. And that village i'm talking about is Turkic and muslim. Thank you for yhe documantary, I loved every second of it ❤ peace

[@Alex-ew1nv]

God bless you! We pray here too ❤

[@saadalbadri5210]

My heart with these Christian brothers & sisters.

[@hanheter6690]

I am super proud to be an syriac ortodox 💪

[@citizen5390]

Loves from Syriac orthadox india..kiriyelizon ameen.. happy Xmas to all❤

[@Player_0000]

Bshino o shlumo from Syria ❤😂

[@Tztimelord]

Turkey welcomes everyone who loves Turkey. ☺️

[@argan1509]

If we want to be honest, how difficult it is for minority Christians in a majority Islamic country. This is a fact. May God bless the Christians in Turkey

[@yimyim117]

Do you see them being persecuted? Turkey is very tolerant towards religious people, of all religions. That’s also the reason why the Ottoman Empire outlasted all empires, because they allowed multiculturalism and religious freedom.

[@wollkann]

Turkey at least Ottoman Empire was a lot more tolerant than many Christian European States of its time. All changed after the introduction of nationalism and wars that lead to the fall of Empire. When the Republic of Turkey was found it was built on Nationalism. The zeitgeist played a major roles there. So Turkey lost its valuable co-existing tradition. I think we lost great cultural treasure here. I hope all the minorities that had to left their ancestral can come back one day.

[@user-pl8kc2lo1r]

Their numbers should be in the millions not a half dozen

[@nihil_hd1598]

Also they closed christians clergy school like Halki Seminary and they try to overtake private christians schools like Phanar Greek Orthodox College.

[@baris7565]

What type of Right-wing Conservative Government in the world gives church and land back to Christians and welcomes millions of refugees regardless skin-color or religion? Imagine Muslims asked their historical mosques and land to be returned in Armenia, Balkans, or Spain? Even White-Liberals pee their pants on the idea, imagine how Right-Wing Europeans react lmao

[@senzen3768]

I visited this part of Turkey and loved these people and their culture ❤

[@Mlssen]

Welcome back 🌸

[@teachedteach]

Beautiful documentary.

[@user-do6ev1zg4h]

What a lovely story, I really enjoyed watching that ❤

[@DWDocumentary]

Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment!

[@HHH-zz3ip]

They are not persucuted ! They have the right to vote, be voted, go to church ... and pay their taxes

[@davidabdulsomad5261]

Delusional.

[@mariatheresanatoza8809]

What a beautiful documentary! Thank you.

[@DWDocumentary]

Thanks for watching!

[@savagex466-qt1io]

God be with you and your family's. You did so well for being in Exile ! Merry Christmas !

[@user-fj5bb2fr5y]

I am Arab, and one of the best people I met are Türks. I don't want their beautiful country to be destroyed by radical Christianity or Islam like Palestine or Arab World. Türks are one of the hardest working people and spiritual.

[@friendlyrobotasmr]

There us only radical islam, christian ppl are peaceful

[@user-fj5bb2fr5y]

@@friendlyrobotasmr what peaceful? They are the only ones who want to destroy ME so their Messiah would come.

[@user-fj5bb2fr5y]

@@yiouliyiouli7941 sorry, I didn't mean Orthodox I mean evangelical Christians.

[@honeyfigdarling]

I am a convert to Islam. But I have so much respect for my Christian roots and this report is so heartwarming. I pray for greater coexistence everywhere in the world.

[@olgakara5132]

Αφησες την αλήθεια και πήγες στο ψέμμα!

[@Kuser220]

@@olgakara5132 Είναι περίεργο που το επώνυμο είναι Kara.Έχουμε συγγένεια;Χαιρετίσματα από Αττάλεια.

[@peacejoys1930]

I pray that God may Guide you back to his son Jesus Christ of Nazareth amen. My brother you have made a huge mistake. Luke 9:62 No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

[@ludwig7691]

You are a traitor. You chose a predator than Yeshua

[@ekim886]

​@@olgakara5132 When you find where Jesus said that he is God, then call Islam a lie tnx🙏