MIDYAT, Turkey — The Second Civil Court of First Instance in Medyad (Midyat) has ruled that members of a Syriac family from Tur Abdin may not officially change their Turkish surname to their original Syriac family name, Syriac newspaper Gazete Sabro reports. The ruling concerns members of a Syriac family registered in the village of Anhel (Yemişli) in Tur Abdin. During a second hearing on 10 September 2026, the court in Medyad granted the request of Sikare Erçin to change her personal name to 'Karin' but rejected the requests to change the surnames of Gabriela Erçin, Manuela Erçin, Mariya Erçin, and Sikare Erçin from “Erçin” to “Hanne.”

Based on reporting by Marta Sömek The Syriac family from Medyad (Midyat) for whom a local court had approved a surname change request but rejected the chosen surname ‘Gabriel / Gabrieli’ has now lodged an individual appeal with the Turkish Constitutional Court. The applicants are demanding recognition of a violation of their civil rights and a retrial. The lower court rejected the surname Gabriel / Gabrieli claiming that it is "not of Turkish, but of Hebrew origin."