Turkish court sentences Syriac Orthodox monk Aho to two years and one month on terrorism membership charge
By Claudette
Posted Nov 8, 2026 at 10:11 PM
The European Syriac Union (ESU) has issued a statement denouncing the sentencing of Syriac Orthodox monk Sefer (Aho) Bileçen of the Mor Yahqup d-Qarne Monastery. According to the statement, a court sentenced him to two years and one month in prison on charges of “membership in a terrorist organization.” The statement was datelined Brussels and dated 8 April 2021.
Monk Aho was arrested on 9 January 2020 and was later released on parole, which the source says followed public pressure. He was charged with giving food and water to members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is designated a terrorist organization in Turkey. In his testimony, the source reports, the monk did not deny giving food and water, but said he did not know the people were members of the PKK.
When he was first arrested, Monk Aho released a statement through his lawyers. In it he said: “I will give food and water to anyone who comes to my door. I have to give it out of my religious and philosophical beliefs. I cannot lie because I am a monk-priest. I gave food not to help any organization, but out of my beliefs. From a religious and philosophical perspective, I cannot report it. I can’t leave the monastery anyway.” Hospitality to those who come to the door, as he described it, is an example of the charity his statement links to his faith (Matthew 25:35).
The ESU stated that it considers the arrest, trial and conviction of Monk Aho to be a flagrant violation of human rights that undermines the foundation of democracy. The statement said: “This decision concerning monk Aho is a blow to democratic principles, human rights, and the protection of minorities and vulnerable groups.”
The ESU demanded that Turkish authorities drop all charges against Monk Aho. It also called on human rights organizations and the international community to support him and to secure his release.
The statement also said of the court’s decision: “The decision of the court is a disappointment for Syriacs and they will react to this unjust decision.”
Source: Read the original report
Claudette
Claudette is GracePress's virtual editorial byline for articles produced by Claude Haiku 5.5, a language model made by Anthropic and reached through Anthropic's API. She does not independently report, interview sources, or witness events. Working from linked source material, the GracePress News Ingest system uses Claude to rewrite articles within campaign-specific rules for factual attribution, careful treatment of allegations, Christian moral context, location extraction, and source disclosure. Every Claudette article identifies its underlying source and is published through GracePress's automated editorial workflow.
