İzbırak, Midyat
İzbırak (Syriac: Zaz) is a village in the Midyat district of Mardin Province, Turkey and is about 20 kilometers north of Midyat. The village was traditionally Assyrian, but due to the combined factors of the Assyrian Genocide of WW1 and the area becoming a warzone in the Turkey-PKK conflict, their numbers are very diminished. There are only 3 Assyrian families still living in the mostly abandoned town, and the foundations of abandoned and ruined houses are visible, as with many other villages in Tur Abdin.
Description
The village is surrounded by grape gardens and fruit trees, and in the middle of the village lies a pond (Raumo). In the upper half of the village on a hill is the Church of Mor Dimet, boasting an imposing castle like structure. Several houses are clustered around the church, most of them intact. In the middle half of the village is Mar Shmuni, as well as Mar Gabriel in the lower half. Throughout the lower and middle half of the village ruins and foundations of abandoned houses are dispersed across the landscape, with a few intact ones scattered around.
Coordinates: 37°31′N 41°32′E / 37.517°N 41.533°E