What is "elbegendi"

Elbeğendi ( Kafro Tahtayto) is an Assyrian/ Syriac village in Midyat District of Mardin Province ( Tur Abdin), Turkey. It has a population of 50 people, all of which followers of the Syriac Orthodox Church. The village was abandoned during the 1990s due to the PKK conflicts and rising tension in the region, but was recently repopulated.

Thanks to the return of some stability, many of the refugees are returning, with wealth gained overseas. Many of the Syriacs that left managed to successfully immigrate to European countries such as Germany and Sweden because of their precarious situation(applying as political refugees), and therefore gain the advantage of much higher pay and education standards relative to what most other people in the region have. Their comparative wealth has allowed them to have enough money on a basis of purchasing power to build spectacular mansions, buy land, renovate abandoned properties, and to invest in the region.