Washington Post discusses minorities in Turkey

An article was published in the Washington post, Tuesday, about Turkey's southern town Midyat and the split between minorities living in the town. the town of Midyat is described as a town "that predates Christianity and Islam, a town that once reflected the deep diversity of a region where faiths overlapped and conquering armies advanced and retreated." The article starts by talking about the tradition of "Black Wednesday", the second Wednesday in March, a tradition that was brought to the town by the Yazidis, an obscure sect that used to dominate the town, but has dwindled in population from about 5,600 in the 1980s to only 15 today. The article mentions the disappearance of the Armenian Christians, the shrinking Assyrian Christian population. And interview with a local Kurd sitting on a sofa bought from a Yazidi family called the Yazidis devil worshippers: " They were not causing any problems, but it is better that they left. They are dirty and pray to the devil." The piece includes an interview with an Assyrian who said that his community felt pressure from both the Kurdish guerillas and the radical Islamic guerillas Turkish Hezbollah, whom he claims the government armed as a proxy force during the 1990s civil war where 30,000 people died, mostly Kurdish civilians. The journalist also states at the end of the article: as part of the conditions for Turkey joining the EU there have been amendments in laws regarding the recognition of minorities in Turkey. Although a Turkish professor describes the new laws as "a revolution from above," adding that "It is easy to change the laws, but much more difficult to change the mentality of the people." With articles being published on such subjects which were once seen as taboo topics in Turkey, maybe this is a sign of the times that the mentality is starting to shift. Â