Gülgöze, Mardin

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Gülgöze

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Old Christian symbols in Iwardo.

Inwardo or Gülgöze (Syriac: ܥܝܢ ܘܪܕܐ - Iwardo or In wardo, Ayin Warda, Ain Wardo) (meaning "eye of the rose" in Syriac) – is an Aramean village that lies very high, east of the city Midyat, in the Mardin Province of Turkey, and can be reached from Midyat on foot in 2 hours. The village was founded some time around the 10th century.

World War I

At the beginning of the 20th century, the village had about 200 families, all were ethnic Arameans that belong to the Syriac Orthodox Church. Many refugees from other villages of the Tur Abdin arrived, including Habasnos, Midyat, Bote, Keferze,Kafro Eloyto, Mzizah and Urnas. In addition, the refugees from even farther areas had arrived, such as Deqlath, Bscheriye, Gozarto, Hesno d Kifo and Mifarqin. At one point, the number of Syriacs in the village was up to 21980 people. Being aware of the Turks and Kurds coming to the Gülgöze direction, the Gülgöze villagers and the refugees created a resistance group which was led by Masud son of the Malka of the Mirza family. The resistance lasted 60 days.

The Kurdish authority of Midyat was given orders to attack Gülgöze and Arnas at the same time. However, Aziz Agha, the leader of the Madyat area was quoted as telling the mayor:

We don't have enough men to fight two fronts at the same time. We will attack first Inwardo, then we if we have enough men, we will turn to Arnas.

The Kurdish villages of Tur Abdin and Ramman, under the men of the Ahmed Agha and Salem Agha, collected themselves in Mardin, and created a unit of 13,000 men. The government authorized the distribution of arms. They headed towards Gülgöze, arriving late at night, when the fight began.

After hours of gun-battle, the Syriacs defeated and succeeded in driving the Kurds out, but there were many casualties on both sides. The first encounter lasted 10 full days.

The second attempt came, but the Kurds were beaten again, as the Kurdish men lost well over 300 men.

Before the beginning of a third attempt, Kurdish leaders called for aid from the Diyarbakır mayor Raschid and Madrin mayor Badri. A third attempt also failed and 30 days of battle, Aziz Agha suggested a peace treaty between the two sides. 3 Syriacs meet with Aziz and agreed to put down arms. But the Syriacs in the end refused to lay down their weapons, thus the battle continued. The battle continued for another 30 days leading to many deaths on both sides. In the end, the Kurdish soldiers surrendered and accepted the Syriacs to live in Gülgöze.

Many Syriacs died in Gülgöze, including women and children who died of hunger and disease. The number of deaths is unknown.

Gülgöze today

Gülgöze produces grain, fruit, and wine. As in many villages in Turkey, the farmers operate a cattle economy.

Gülgöze has three churches: "Mart Shimuni", "Mar Hodtschabo" (the largest) and "Yoldath Aloho" (Virgin Mary, Literally: Mother of God).

Currently, there are 12 Aramean families in the village. There is also a very sizable diaspora communities that originally come from Gülgöze:

• Germany: 200 Families
• United States: 140 Families
• Sweden: 90 Families
• Syria: 80 Families
• France: 40 Families
• Istanbul: 40 Families
• Lebanon: 20 Families
• Australia: 10 Families

References

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