After three recent arrests of Syriacs in Turkey’s southeastern villages, another curious disappearance case of a Syriac-Chaldean couple has emerged. The Chaldean couple Hürmüz Diril (65 years old) and Shmuni Diril (71 years old) have not been heard of since 11 january. The couple lives in the village of Meer, in the mountainous Hakkari region of southeast Turkey.
Efforts to reach them and searches by their son Remzi Diril, priest of the Chaldean Catholic church in Istanbul, so far had no result. Certain is that the couple for four days has not been at their house in the village of Meer.
No trace has been found in the days-long search. The prosecutor’s office in Beytüşşebap issued a confidentiality order on the case. There is only one person who came forward to say that he saw my mother and father. That person said that my parents were kidnapped by the PKK, Remzi Diril said, referring to a group listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
“But that is only a claim yet. We consider every probability at this stage” said the priest.
