Doğançay (; ) is a village in the district of

Midyat Midyat (, , , ) is a municipality and district of Mardin Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,241 km2, and its population is 120,069 (2022). In the modern era, the town is populated by Kurds, Mhallami Arabs and Assyrians. The old Estel neighborho ...

Mardin Province Mardin Province (; ; ; ) is a province and metropolitan municipality in Turkey. Its area is 8,780 km2, and its population is 870,374 (2022). The largest city in the province is Kızıltepe, while the capital Mardin is the second largest ci ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. It is populated by

Syriacs Syriac may refer to: * Suret, a Neo-Aramaic language * Syriac alphabet, a writing system primarily used to write the Syriac language ** Syriac (Unicode block) ** Syriac Supplement * Syriac Christianity, a branch of Eastern Christianity * Syriac lan ...

and by

Kurds Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...

of the Zaxuran tribe. The village had a population of 159 in 2021. It is located in the historic region of

Tur Abdin Tur Abdin (; ; ; or ) is a hilly region situated in southeast Turkey, including the eastern half of the Mardin Province, and Şırnak Province west of the Tigris, on the Syria–Turkey border, border with Syria and famed since Late Antiquity for ...

. In the village, there is a church of Mor Yuhannon and a church of the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

History

In the

Syriac Orthodox The Syriac Orthodox Church (), also informally known as the Jacobite Church, is an Oriental Orthodox denomination that originates from the Church of Antioch. The church currently has around 4-5 million followers. The church upholds the Mia ...

patriarchal register of dues of 1870, it was recorded that Mzīzāḥ (today called Doğançay) had sixteen households, who paid forty-one dues, and was served by the Church of Morī Yūḥanūn, but it did not have a priest. In 1914, it was inhabited by 350 Syriacs, according to the list presented to the

Paris Peace Conference Agreements and declarations resulting from meetings in Paris include: Listed by name Paris Accords may refer to: * Paris Accords, the agreements reached at the end of the London and Paris Conferences in 1954 concerning the post-war status of Germ ...

by the Assyro-Chaldean delegation. They adhered to the Syriac Orthodox Church. Amidst the

Sayfo The Sayfo (, ), also known as the Seyfo or the Assyrian genocide, was the mass murder and deportation of Assyrian people, Assyrian/Syriac Christians in southeastern Anatolia and Persia's Azerbaijan (Iran), Azerbaijan province by Ottoman Army ...

, the Syriacs of Mzīzāḥ fled with their possessions in July 1915 upon hearing of the attack on

to ‘Ayn-Wardo, where they subsequently came under siege. Mas’ud Shabo from the Musa Gebro family of Mzīzāḥ was chosen to lead the defence of ‘Ayn-Wardo. Those who attempted to return Mzīzāḥ after a ceasefire had been agreed were shot. The Syriacs were able to return to the village with the aid of Çelebi Ağa after his release from prison following the end of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. In the aftermath of the Sheikh Said rebellion, 150 Syriacs were deported from

, ‘Iwardo, Anhel, Midun, and Mzīzāḥ, according to a letter in the

Vatican Apostolic Archive The Vatican Apostolic Archive (; ), formerly known as the Vatican Secret Archive (; ), is the central repository in the Vatican City of all acts promulgated by the Holy See. The Pope, as the sovereign of Vatican City, owns the material held ...

. The first Turkish primary school was founded at Mzīzāḥ in 1953. In 1960, the population was 927. There were 724

Turoyo Turoyo (), also referred to as Surayt (), or modern Suryoyo (), is a Central Neo-Aramaic language traditionally spoken by the Syriac Christian community in the Tur Abdin region located in southeastern Turkey and in northeastern Syria. Turoyo ...

-speaking Christians in 100 families at Mzīzāḥ in 1966 and were served by one priest. By 1980, the village was inhabited by 150 families, half of whom were Syriac whilst the other half was Kurdish. In the late 20th century, a number of Syriacs emigrated abroad to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Yazidis Yazidis, also spelled Yezidis (; ), are a Kurdish languages, Kurdish-speaking Endogamy, endogamous religious group indigenous to Kurdistan, a geographical region in Western Asia that includes parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and Iran. The major ...

also historically inhabited the village. In 2003, the restoration of the Church of Mar-Yuhanon was financed by the village's expatriate community.

Demography

The following is a list of the number of Syriac families that have inhabited Mzīzāḥ per year stated. Unless otherwise stated, all figures are from the list provided in ''The Syrian Orthodox Christians in the Late Ottoman Period and Beyond: Crisis then Revival'', as noted in the bibliography below. *1915: 70 *1966: 100 *1978: 80 *1981: 56 *1987: 35 *1995: 8 *1997: 7 *2013: 6–7 The following is a list of the number of Kurdish families that have inhabited Mzīzāḥ per year stated. *1915: 50 *2013: 18

Notable people

* Derwich Ferho (), Kurdish activist

References

Notes Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dogancay, Mardin Neighbourhoods in Midyat District Tur Abdin Assyrian communities in Turkey Places of the Sayfo Kurdish settlements in Mardin Province