I visited this monastery (founded in the fourth century) and the Tur Abdin with two friends in April 2007 and it seemed generally prosperous (the monasteries, at least). There was even a busload of Turkish tourists who had come for a visit. Nonetheless, thousands of Syrian Orthodox fled the area in the 1990s during incessant fighting and blackmail between the Turkish army and the PKK, and this ancient oppressed minority struggles to hold on.
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