Assyrians and Chaldeans in Turkey and across the border, in north-eastern Syria, are increasingly victims of violence despite proclamations by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoðan that he is a defender of minorities, a claim also relayed by Catholic media.

In reality, repression and attacks have increased in recent weeks in connection with the sultan’s offensive against the Kurds in Syria, which has turned into softer version of ethnic cleansing that has crushed even Christians.

In the 1960s, several hundred Christian families lived in Diyarbakir, the most important (and mostly Kurdish) city in south-eastern Turkey. Today only four are left, two of whom live inside the parish Church of the Virgin Mary in Sur district.

For 43-year-old SalibaAcis, the others “left for different reasons: economic pressure, political pressure”. Some moved to Istanbul, but most fled to Europe, Australia or America.

There are many reasons that have generated the Christian diaspora from Middle East, from the war in Syria to the violence of the Islamic State group,

But what the members of the parish of the Virgin Mary fear the most is President Erdoðan’s war on the Kurds and the destruction by the Turkish State of their living heritage (Christian history and culture).

Last August, in Istanbul, Erdoðan took part in the laying of the foundation stone of a new Assyrian church in the Yesilkoy district. On that occasion, he said that “the true target of terror groups is our common homeland” and the best way to fight them is to “see our differences as our most important richness.”

Recently, after he met US President Donald Trump, Erdoðan said that the Turkish government is not indifferent to the condition of Christians, and pledged a “contribution” to the reconstruction of churches and shrines. Ankara, he added, was drafting plans for communities in the border areas, starting with “health care and humanitarian aid”.

Such words sound hollow in Diyarbakir, where the congregation says it has very little reason to thank the Turkish president. “We get no support from the state,” said Acis. “This church is alive thanks to the community.”