Mor Gabriel - In the past we have reported several times about the Monastery in the south-east of Turkey and the problems of the expropriation of some monastery areas. Now the property is back in Syrian Orthodox hands.

Already in 2008, the disputes over land at the Mor Gabriel monastery had begun, which had been confiscated at the time and transferred to the land register as state property. At that time, the monks of the monastery demanded the return of the land and announced that the request would be presented to the European Commission on Human Rights. As recently as 2012, Turkey's Supreme Court had rejected an appeal in which the Syrian community wanted to get their property back.

Whatever solution was found when Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan intervened in 2013 remains unclear, but the monastery land was returned. The monastery of Mor Gabriel, founded in 397 is the oldest functioning monastery of Syriac-Orthodox Christians. The lands have belonged to the monastery for 1600 years. The lawsuit involved 12 lots covering a total of 244,000 square meters. The correspondingly surprising decision of the Turkish foundation board has now become known. The return of the land to the monastery is the largest restitution of church property ever seen in Turkey.

During the past few months, the Syrian Orthodox faith community has also received approval for church schools where children are educated in their mother tongue.

Mor Gabriel – Centre of the Syriac Christians

The Monastery of Mor Gabriel has always been an important centre for the Syriac Christians of Tur Abdin. It maintained a very significant library, of which almost nothing survives today (some manuscripts are kept, among other places, in the British Library). The monastery school played a vital role in theological education in the region and throughout the Syriac Church. It also trained many high-ranking clergy and scholars, including four patriarchs, one Catholicos, and 84 bishops. Mor Philoxenos of Mabug (d. 523), a prominent opponent of Chalcedonism, became widely known. A quote from him describes the monastery's importance at that time: "Whoever visits the monastery founded by the angel seven times with honor and fear acquires the same merit as if he were to visit Jerusalem."

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