Gabriel Monastery News Today

In recent years, around 60-100 Syriac Orthodox families have returned from central Europe to Turkey. Encouraged by changes in the political atmosphere, the minority nonetheless faces a host of problems, from the expropriation of land belonging to a monastery, to a ban on special schools and kindergartens, and also a lack of places of worship in Istanbul. By Ekrem Eddy

In south-eastern Turkey a neighbourhood dispute over a few hectares of stony ground has escalated into a religious war between the Mor Gabriel Monastery and the surrounding Arab and Kurdish villages. Susannne Güsten has the details