Introduction

The Assyrians had been the proud inheritors of an ancient and glorious past. In the end, however, it was the scythe wielded by the Ottomans that cut off the continuity of this historical nation that had begun with the dawn of civilization. Its ruthless blade cut them off from their ancestral lands and reduced them to desperation and annihilation. Although their property, homes, families, churches and communities were unjustly broken and scattered like dust to the winds, their spirit and will to live were not. Ultimately, their steadfast belief in a merciful God brought them alive through their hellish ordeal and renewed their belief in themselves and in the power of love to overcome all obstacles, even the unmerciful peoples who chose and demonstrated enmity against them.

I will relate the horrible fate of the Assyrians during World War One. Then I will demonstrate that it was a peculiar mind set that built up and gained momentum among the regular and irregular Ottomans against their Christian subjects, which drove them to the most ungodly acts of cruelty and oppression against their neighbors and fellow men. Even the most powerless Christians who had no political aspirations whatsoever were not exempt from denigrating atrocities.

Geographical Location of the Assyrians at the beginning of the 20th Century

At the turn of the century, the Assyrian people, the torchbearers of the earliest civilization in the world, and the living remnant of over 6,000 years of history in the region, lived under the Ottoman and Persian Empires. Their region was roughly known as “Northern Mesopotamia,” which includes: south and southeastern present-day Turkey; [they were spread from Miyafarqin in the north, Bitlis, Siirt, from Urfa (Edessa) to Adana, Diyarbekir, Mardin, Nisibin, Tur Abdin (over 100 villages), Bohtan, and in the region of Tiyari and Hakkari from the Turko-Persian border in the East to Tur Abdin in the West. Under Persian rule, they were mostly in western Azerbaijan, at Urmia and the Salamas districts. The other Assyrians (Syriac people) were spread over places in present day Iraq, mainly in northern Iraq: through the plains of Nineveh, Hadyab and the mountain region to the south of Tiyari and Hakkari, Syria, Lebanon, and in the Caucasus (Georgia, Armenia) which lie outside the scope of study in this conference.

Ecclesiastical Diversity Among the Assyrians

Like most peoples, the Assyrians have various ecclesiastical traditions. The Assyrians of the Church of the East include: Orthodox (or Nestorians), Catholic (Chaldeans) and Protestants. Similarly, the Assyrians of the West Syriac Church encompasses several traditions: Orthodox (or Jacobites), Catholic, Melkites (Rum Orthodox & Rum Catholic.), Maronites, and Protestants.

By the turn of the century, and due to nationalistic awakening, most members of the above-mentioned churches preferred to be identified with one nationalistic name, Assyrian, rather than by the various names of the church traditions.

Generally speaking, the Assyrians of the Church of the East were distributed in the Eastern part of “Northern Mesopotamia,” while the Assyrians of the West Syriac Churches lived in the middle and Western part of “Northern Mesopotamia.”

Relationship With their Neighbors

All the areas inhabited by Assyrians had Muslim populations as their closest neighbors: Arabs, Kurds, Turks and Persians. While the Assyrians intermingled with the Ottoman Muslims in the cities and learned their language(s), the Assyrians of the mountains remained isolated but still surrounded by Muslims (Turks and Kurds). Over a period of a few generations, and as a defensive mechanism, most Assyrians of the cities forgot their own language and used the language and adopted the customs of their Muslim neighbors.

Although previously the Assyrian population had numbered in the millions, due to centuries of persecutions and massacres, they were reduced from majority of the indigenous inhabitant of the region to scattered minorities. By the late nineteenth century, the Assyrians in Hakkari, Salma and Urmia numbered only around 400,000 to 500,000. A similar number was counted for the Assyrians (of West Syriac traditions) of Tur Abdin, Mardin and other “western” cities.

Unlike the Kurds, Arabs and Turks, who share the same religion, the Assyrians remained distinguished from their neighbors by their own Christian religion. This distinction was never to their advantage, even in case of the cities, when the Christians tried to adapt by learning and speaking the language of their Muslim neighbors. Over a long period of time, the Christians, as dhimmi, had to observe certain restrictions as a means of subjugation and to emphasize their status as second class citizens of the Empire. As a matter of fact, until recently, the Muslims were calling their Christian neighbors “Gawer,” which translates as “infidels.” A British consular, who reported on the Muslim-Christian relationship, said: “During a period of nearly 300 years, Christians were subjected to much oppression and cruelty. For them, no other law but the caprice of their masters existed.” There were, however, less strident periods where such restrictions went uninforced in some localities, and interfaith relations were fairly cordial.

With the weakening of the central government in Istanbul after the seventeenth century, the security of the local Christians was shaken. The only option open to the Assyrians was to appease the strongest Muslim neighbor through payments of tribute in exchange for protection. In remote districts, feudal rights continued to exist until the late nineteenth century. These so-called “rights” were described by a British consular as “blackmail.” The Consul Chermside relates that “the chief alone raises blackmail on Christians; but in other cases, it is a tribal right, which is asserted by periodical forays; the tax in some places amounted to as much as one-fourth of the produce.” The peasants were compelled to be serfs, to cultivate their Master’s field without any compensation for their labor.

Before World War One, the Christian population of the Ottoman Empire was terrorized because of a series of massacres against Christians from the Balkans to Armenia, Lebanon, Syria including “N. Mesopotamia.” The concept of Jihad or “the holy war” was exploited by providing excuses for constant raiding and annihilation of the innocent non-Muslim villages.

Before World War One, Russia had advanced in the Persian territories reaching Urmia, where many of the Assyrians resided. The local Assyrians regarded the new troops—comparatively speaking-- as liberators. Indeed, the Assyrians felt for the first time free from paying tribute to the Muslims in exchange for their shaky security. Moreover, they hoped that the official “dhimmi” status, and the humiliating label, “Gawer: Infidel” would be gone forever.

Beginning of W.W. I, and the Assyrian Dilemma

In November of 1914, the Ottoman army entered the war on the side of the Central Powers (Germany and Austro-Hungary). Thus, a new front was opened against Russia in the East and North. A month later, and under the Ottoman offensive against Russian forces in northwest Persia, the Russian forces withdrew from Northwest Persia (including Urmia, Salamas) on January 2, 1915. For fear of the Ottomans, who either could not or would not differentiate between the Russians and local Christians, most of the young Assyrians, estimated at 15,000, accompanied the Russian troops in their retreat, leaving behind their families, children and elders spread around 70 villages. Thus, the Ottoman troops (Turks and Kurds) occupied the whole Azerbaijan region, including the Assyrian lands. The Ottoman domination of this region continued for five more months because the Russians re-occupied the same region.

What Happened During this Five Months?

An overwhelming number of documents have been produced about the genocide committed against the defenseless Assyrians in this region. Immediately after the retreat of the Russians, 10,000 Kurdish irregulars followed by 20,000 Turkish troops, led by Djevdet Bey, the governor of Van Province, entered the villages and began ransacking and massacring the defenseless inhabitants. Thousands left behind everything and sought refuge at the various missionary compounds of the French and the Americans. After one month Djevdet Bey declared that: “We have made a clean sweep of the Armenians and the Assyro-Chaldeans of Azerbaijan.” The chief English language source covering this period is The British Blue Book. Of 684 pages of this Book, 104 pages are devoted to the Assyrian massacres and are divided into 21 documents. The Blue Book describes such moments, as I quote: “On one side, the Kurds invaded the plain, followed by the Turkish troops. On the other side, the Muslim villagers began sacking, massacring and raping. Those villages, which did not defend themselves, suffered for the same reason as those who opposed a resistance. A certain Miss Platt, a missionary in Urmia, witnessed that the Turkish consul extorted 6,000 Tomans from the Assyrians (Assyro-Chaldeans) in exchange for their security. A few days later, that very consul imprisoned all the Assyrians who were refugees in the French mission; 48 were shot to death and five were hung. The reports even reached as far away as the U.S.: President Wilson sent a special demand to the Turkish government that American interests in Urmia, especially the missionary efforts, not be endangered. The total number of Assyrians killed in this five month period was 5,000. The Blue Book concludes: “It is safe to say that a part of this outrage and ruin was directly due to the Turks, and that none of it would have happened except for them.”

The Russian Victory and the Assyrians Further Dilemma

In May 1915, the Russians recaptured the territories, which they had been lost to the Ottomans five months earlier (including Urmia and Salamas). The local Assyrians regained some relief from the atrocities of the Ottomans. This time, the Assyrians under Russian domination allied themselves with the Russian forces there. In a real sense, however, the Assyrians had no choice but to follow the desire of the powerful Russian forces. And in an act of retaliation, the Ottomans turned against their Assyrian subjects inside the Ottoman territories. All the good-will gestures of the Assyrians towards their Ottoman authorities, and their attempts to distance themselves from the Assyrians beyond the Ottoman border by means of loyalty and church affiliation everything proved futile in the end.

The Ottoman Interior Minister, Tallat, and War Minister, Evan Pasha urged “purification of Turkey, and in the process, the elimination of the “unaccommodating” Christians. Thus, Djevdad Bey turned his defeated forces against local Assyrian Christians. Djevdad, nicknamed Kassab tabouri (battalion of butchers), massacred the entire Christian population of Siirt and its environs. Over 70 Christian villages were sacked and burned, and all the clergy including the famous scholar Bishop Addai Scheri, fell victim to Djevdad’s sword. Wherever there was an Assyrian presence, the population was decimated. This happened from the mountains of Hakkari (which bordered the newly created Russian frontier) all the way west to Tur Abdin and Mardin, including Dyarbekir (Amida), Bitlis, Urfa (Edessa), Adana, Siirt, and Jezirat Ibn Omar. The Assyrians throughout the region were deported forcibly or massacred, their houses destroyed, and their churches, monuments and cemeteries pillaged and desecrated with human excrement. A report in L’Asie Française of that time is quoted as saying: “The martyrdom of the Assyrians who have all been virtually massacred in the district of Dyarbekir and in the region of Siirt recalls in the most vivid way the Armenian slaughter. … Over 25,000 Assyrians were massacred by Turks and Kurds, or died of hunger or other causes inflicted on the deportation routes in 1915.”

In desperation, the Assyrians of Hakkari (bordering Russian frontier) debated two choices. The first was to continue to show allegiance to the Ottomans and endure constant humiliation from the Muslims (Ottomans) with slower decimation; this choice was represented by Nemrod Shimmon, the cousin of the Assyrian (Nestorian) Patriarch. The second was to venture upon a new opportunity of alliance with the Russians, with the risk of quicker decimation. Under an intense propaganda of enticement from the Russians, the tribal chiefs decided to protect themselves by playing the “Christian,” Russian, solidarity card.

While the Assyrians of Hakkari, mostly from the church of the East (Nestorians) sided with the Russians, the rest of the Assyrians throughout the Ottoman “N. Mesopotamia” had only one choice, that was to demonstrate their unquestioned allegiance to the Sublime Port.

The Ottoman Reaction

The response of the Sublime Port was speedy, first against the Christians of Hakkari. Regular Ottoman troops, supported by irregular Kurds from the North, and the Ottoman troops of Hayder Pasha (Mosul governor-general) from the south simultaneously launched attacks against Assyrians in their mountain refuges. The furies of their attacks left the Assyrians in tatters and hurry to their exodus. Thus, a long exodus under heavy, prolonged attack began from Hakkari toward Salamas (in Persia) to join their fellow Assyrians under the rule of the Russians. The hardships of this forced march to safety over 150 miles caused about one third of them to perish.

For a year and a half, the Assyrians under Russian domination enjoyed security and even prosperity. In April, 1917, the American missionary in Urmia wrote to his Board that the Assyrian church problem was resolving itself. Moreover, Assyrians felt positive in that they had endured and the Church had stability.

But what about the rest of the Assyrians (West Syriac Churches: Orthodox, Catholic, Protestants & Chaldeans) in the middle and west of “N. Mesopotamia”?

Realizing their pending fate, the terrified Christians made every effort possible to appease their Ottoman masters, whether through distancing themselves from other Christian denominations, namely, the Armenians and Assyrians, or showing neutrality and loyalty in a variety of ways. For example, the Patriarch of the Syrian Orthodox church wrote a telegram to the grand vizier, condemning the “Armenian disturbances,” and thanking “his Majesty for the protection he has ever accorded to it, as also to our Mussulman compatriots.” Finally, the Patriarch begged, -- and I quote: “under these circumstances, we can but appeal to the Sovereign, our sole refuge, to protect us in his mercy.”

Meanwhile, the language of “the holy war,” Jihad, aroused Muslims against their powerless Christian neighbors. Between the so-called “acts of mobs,” and direct orders of the Ottoman authorities, one third of the Assyrian people of various denominations were killed. The rest remained “a hostage people,” subjected to all sorts of humiliation, dispersion and annihilation. The following Syrian Patriarch, I. Ephrem, reported (and I quote): “the ‘rumor’ was that the Armenians had rebelled; in reality the mobs were calling for extermination of “all the Christians.”

While thousands of documents and eyewitness testimonies abound, the American newspaper, New York Times, during W.W. I, contains hundreds of reports about the Ottoman atrocities against its Christian subjects, and several U.S. government protests and petitions to the Ottoman authorities concerning attacks against Christian innocents. Among many such reports was an item on December 20, 1916, in the New York Times stating, “Syrian Patriarch Slain: Murdered in His Residence in [Mardin] by Band of Turks”. Elsewhere, the Newspaper warns that the Christian population has been terrorized and is in a starving condition. Russian Final Retreat and the Tragedy of the Assyrians in the East In October of 1917, the Bolshevik Revolution disturbed the balance of the allied position in general, and the relative safety of the Assyrians in the East in particular. In an attempt to contain the vacuum created by withdrawal of the Russian forces, and to deal with the Assyrians, a meeting of the allied representatives was held in Urmia in December 1917. At this meeting, Captain Gracey (of the British Intelligence Service) pledged to protect the Assyrians and provide them with autonomy, provided that the Assyrians would fight and hold to their units until the arrival of the British forces.

The task set for the Assyrians to accomplish was not easy. While they had not yet been attacked by regular Ottoman troops, the Assyrians fought continuously against Turkish and Kurdish irregulars. On February 1918, and on the advice of Captain Gracey, the Assyrian Patriarch, Mar Benjamin Shammun, sought reconciliation with the Kurdish Ismail Agha Simko, a former Russian ally. Gracey’s aim was to convince Simko, the most Kurdish tribal chief in Persia, to side ­ as the Assyrians ­ with the Allies. Responding to the Patriarch’s initiative, Simko suggested a meeting. Thus, the patriarch along with some Russian officers went to the meeting at Simko’s residence. “Everything seemed to be going fine,” and upon the conclusion of the meeting, Simko escorted the Patriarch and kissed his hand; but soon Simko signaled to hidden guards who began firing point blank on the Patriarch and his companions. The Assyrians reacted to this treacherous murder of their Patriarch by launching an attack on Simko’s village. But Simko had anticipated their reaction and had planned his offensive against the Assyrian villages when their fighters were away. In Khoy, Simko killed 3,800 women, children and elders.

Soon after, the regular Ottoman troops approached the region and began a series of systematic attacks on Urmia. Surrounded by such adversaries, the Assyrians had to defend their units until the arrival of the British. At this time, Armenian refugees arrived to reinforce the Assyrian units and sided with them for their common defense. Surprisingly, their desperate resistance succeeded to the extent that the British troops coming from southern Mesopotamia were able to establish strategic points in Persia, but they did not make it to Urmia.

The situation at this stage reached an impasse. The only choice to avoid extinction was another mass exodus of Assyrians, directed first toward Hamadan (in Iran), then to Baquba (in present Iraq) where the British troops were campaigning. Some 100,000 Assyrians left Urmia, leaving behind 14,000 elderly or indisposed others unable to move, who were massacred by the Ottoman invaders.

In the aftermath of the war, the Assyrians were denied the right to settle or even reenter their ancestral homelands in Hakkari region. In this regard, the Turkish consul general at Baghdad declared on June 25, 1928: “The Turkish amnesty law does not cover the Assyrians who would not be allowed under any circumstances to reenter Turkey; that any Assyrian who attempts to enter Turkey would be punished.” Furthermore, the Deputy of Iraq, Chalabi Thabit stated before his Parliament: “The Assyrians are a despicable and corrupt people, who have been sheltered and fed in Iraq. The hope was that they would become loyal and faithful subjects but instead, now sated. They react to our hospitality with ingratitude by claiming ridiculous rights from their host. .. We can no longer wait, the cup is full. We insist that our government adopt appropriate measures to repress them.”

Conclusion

The Assyrians of the East had no choice but to work out their fate with the Russians. By doing so, they lost one third of their people. On the other hand, the Assyrians of the West Syriac Churches, who until the end remained loyal to the Ottoman authorities, which was their only choice any way, were humiliated, dispersed and also lost one third of its people. Finally, when Syria was under the French mandate, the Turks granted “permission … to all Christians” to leave Turkey, creating another flight of refugees. Assyrian Christians (of East and West Syriac Churches) in large numbers fled their land, bringing to an end their centuries old history in Tur Abdin, Mardin, Adana, Urfa, and others. The vast majority of them were helpless victims, and innocent of all political ambitions.

Partially, this is the story of the Assyrian victims by their Ottoman victimizers. The whole story, however, stems from wrong political and religious practice. In this case, it was the Ottomans, their desire to rule by purity of race and elimination of perceived opposition with all its dangerous consequences, but it could be any country of any religion. Through intentional education which perpetrates the inherent superiority of one race or religion over coexisting races and religions, the group in power assumes control by establishing a relationship of servitude among its minority groups. It thereby justifies any action that serves its interest and most especially those actions which reinforce the master/slave or superior/inferior status. When resources are short, or situations direful, the superior group will always feel justified in plundering and even eliminating the inferior groups, whether by perceived divine right or simply by perceived threat to their own existence. In this context, any discussion of “equality” is a meaningless bandying of semantics. The Assyrians are not the first victims in history, and unfortunately, they will not be the last. The Assyrians hope that countries harboring such a past, anywhere, and of any religion, would create a team of experts and objective scholars ­ not ambitious politicians or apologists, to carve out new spaces for peace and reconciliation between their peoples and religions. As such, the scythe can clear away the dead, useless material and make ready for new life. With objective and humanitarian evaluation of the past, future evils may be forestalled and a peaceful global civilization prevail.

Responses to Detractors

In response to one questioner who dismissed the genocide because “of the kind nature of the Turks,” the author commanded the kindness of most of the Turks, as it is the case among all people of the world. However, the kindness does not dismiss the fact of the Ottoman genocide against Assyrians and others. Moreover, the kind Turks and the Turkish authorities are required to stop the negative rhetoric against other people in the days of peace. For example, the following extracts are taken from an article by Nihal Atsiz published in the June 1967 issue of the nationalist journal, Otuken. ­I quote: “We Turks have shed rivers of blood to take possession of these lands; we had to uproot Georgians, Armenians and Byzantine Greeks.. The Turkish race is very patient, but when it is really angered it is like a roaring lion and nothing can stop it. Ask the Armenians whom we are, and let them draw the appropriate conclusion.”

Another questioner argued that mostly they were the Kurds and not the Turks to be hold responsible for the Assyrian genocide. The author responded that all the Turks, Kurds and Christians were part of the Ottoman Empire and under its authorities; in effect, the Kurd’s role against Assyrians was encouraged and supported by the Turkish authorities.

Other responses to the denial:

Denial is the last stage of genocide. It provides a moral justification for its possible repetition.

The denial of genocide is deeply rooted in the human psyche, but the danger of denying it is the possibility of its recurrence. I hope that God strikes us with genocidal amnesia so that people could forget and forgive; the problem, however, unless it is consciously and properly solved, the genocidal cycle will not be prevented. E. Southgate, Narrative of a Visit to the Syrian [Jacobite] Church of Mesopotamia (New York: Appleton, 1844) 87.

Among many sources in different languages:

Cf. A. Yohannan, The Death of a Nation: The Ever Persecuted Nestorians or Assyrian Christians (New York and London: Knickerbocker, 1916) 85-88.

British Consul James Zohrab reported to his ambassador in Constantinople on July 22, 1860; Cf. Bat Yeor, 25. See also John Joseph, The Nestorians and their Muslim Neighbors: A Study of Western Influence on their Relations (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1961) 130; Joseph drew his source from “Correspondence Respecting the Constitutional Movement in Turkey, 1908,” Parliamentary Papers, 105 (1909), Cmd. 4529, no. 99; Roderic H. Davison, “Turkish Attitudes Concerning Christian-Muslim Equality in the Nineteenth Century,” The American Historical Review 59 (1954) 844-864.

British Government, enclosure 4 in no. 103 (Diarbekir, 20, April 1882) 146; Cf. J. Joseph, Muslim-Christians Relations and Inter-Christian Rivalries in the Middle East: A Case of the Jacobites in an Age of Transition (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1983) 26. I. J. Benjamin, Eight years in Asia and Africa from 1846-1855 (Hannover: 1859) 96, 102-3.

In the national archives of the British, French and American states, there is a large collection of documents related to the genocide against Assyrians. The Diplomatic French archives, for example, included 45 volumes on the Assyro-Chaldean question from 1915 to 1940. Document entitled, “Arnold Toynbee Papers and Documents on the Treatment of Armenians and Assyrian Christians by the Turks, 1915-1916, in the Ottoman Empire and North-West Persia.”

Eyewitnesses in Urmia, Salamas, Hakkari, Bohtan and Tabris report all the documents. The eyewitnesses include seven American missionaries, three American consular representatives, two American journalists, one British missionary and four Assyrian personalities.

Blue Book, 102. Blue Book, 131. Blue Book, 134.

“Urmiah,” The Independent, 82 (1915) 57, Cf. John Joseph, The Nestorians and Their Muslim Neighbors, 133.

Blue Book, 103.

Blue Book, 104.

He was the military governor of Van and brother-in-law of Enver Pasha. L’Asie Française, August-November (1919) 238. See also Andre N. Mandelstam, Le sort de l’Empire Ottoman (Paris: 1917) 335.

Surma d’Bait Mar Shimun, Assyrian Church Customs and the Murder of Mar Shimun (n.p: 1983) 72-73.

Letter to the Board, dated April 17, 1917; quoted from J. Joseph, The Nestorians, 137.

Echos d’Orient, 424, no. 187. Concerning the Patriarch, it was reported that he was collaborator with the Ottoman authorities who helped him elected as a Patriarch; See J. Joseph, Muslim-Christian Relations, 92-93.

Two Documents in the Archive of the British Foreign Ministry; Cf. Y. Ibrahem, Mar Ignatius Ephrem (Damascus: 1996) 68-69.

I. Ephrem Barsum, Tarikh Tur Abdin [in Syriac], translated into Arabic by B. Bahnam, (Lebanon: 1963) 366; Cf. I. Armalah, al-Qasara fi Nakabat al-Masara (np.: nd) 43.

See the attached report, New York Times, July, 7, 1916.

See the attached report, New York Times, Dec. 20, 1916.

New York Times, Dec. 20, 1916, p. 4, col. 1.

See G. M. Dooman, Who are These Assyrians? (London: 1942) 19-20; Gracey letter reads:

"Dear Friends, This is the first opportunity I have had to have the honor of being present with you. I wish now to speak to you with reference to the purpose and the plan of the Allied powers, concerning the small and oppressed nations such as yours. This great war that has now raged for so long, and is still raging at tremendous cost in blood and material to the Allies, has but one main object, and that is, the emancipation of small and oppressed nations such as yours. You have been oppressed beyond measure. You have now come to the verge of extinction as a people and as a language, thanks to the misdeeds of the Turks, assisted by their allies, the Germans. I have come to tell you that, inasmuch as the great allied powers are making tremendous sacrifices, and are shedding streams of blood for the sake of saving you, and making you free, it is your duty also as a small Christian Nation to continue in the war, and fight as you have so splendidly fought in the past. I have been sent by my government to declare to you as well as to other small nations, that you are all fighting for your own freedom. I have said the same thing to the Armenians. I have just come from Van. They are continuing in their struggle for their freedom. You must all unite under one head, and do the same. And so far as the feelings of the Persian Government are concerned, you leave that matter to our legation, and to the legations of the Allied powers in Tehran.

Furthermore, all the expense of your army will be paid by the Allies. It has already been arranged with the new government of Caucasia that you shall receive all guns and ammunitions you need, and even military assistance, if you require any.

Freedom is a very precious and costly possession. It has always been bought by sacrifices. You must also be willing to do the same if you wish to possess your fatherland, where honey and milk flow.”

J. Joseph, The Nestorians, 132.

Lady Surma, Assyrian Church Customs, 81; Surma relates an eyewitness account of the Russian Major Kondratoff.

L. Surma, 82-83.

League of Nations :The Settlement of the Assyrians, a Work of Humanity and Appeasement, Geneva, 1935, Information Section, 12.

Al-Istqlal, no. 1929, June 29, 1933.

Abdul-Massih Saadi
Chicago

This paper was read by Mr. Abdul-Massih Saadi, Director of the Institute of Syriac Studies in Chicago, at the Genocide Conference organized by Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia.

Next Week:  The Turkish Response

Photo courtesy of the Assyrian Youth Group of Victoria, David Chibo.

(ZNAI: Chicago)  According to a report by the Assyrian International News Agency, the security forces of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) stormed the offices of the Assyrian Patriotic Party (APP) in Dohuk, northern Iraq on October 21, 1999 and ordered the closing of the office.  The APP officials were forcibly disarmed.  APP is officially registered as an Assyrian political party in Dohuk.  On October 25, the KDP permitted the re-opening of the APP office and the return of its officials and guards.  No explanation for the forced closure of this facility was given by the KDP officials.

(ZNDA:  San Jose) According to an unconfirmed report, an Iraqi national who was previously employed at the Swiss and French embassies in Baghdad has defected to the west and has subsequently released the names of thirty one Iraqis as currently working for the Baathist government of Iraq.  Among these are three Assyrian activists in Europe, Canada, and the U.S.  Since no substantial proof of such claim was obtained at press time, Zinda Magazine will not release the names of the alleged Baathists informants.

UNITED NATIONS
Press Release
3 November 1999

The Special Rapporteur on religious intolerance of the Commission on Human Rights, Abdelfattah Amor, will visit Turkey from 1 to 9 December 1999.

During the visit, which comes at the invitation of the Government, the Special Rapporteur will visit Ankara, Istanbul, and Turabdin (Midyat and Mardin). Mr. Amor will meet with officials of relevant organs, members of the clergy, representatives of religious minorities, non-governmental organizations and individuals who may wish to testify in their personal capacity.

The visit to Turkey will take place within the framework of the Special Rapporteur's mandate to promote and protect freedom of religious belief in the light of the 1981 United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination based on Religion or Belief.

Mr. Amor, who has been Special Rapporteur since 1993, is Emeritus Dean of the Faculty of Juridical, Political and Social Sciences at Tunis and President of the International Academy of Constitutional Law.

Courtesy of Mercuy News, November 4, 1999

(ZNAP) The human rights situation in Iraq is worsening and the repression of civil and political rights continues unabated, a U.N. investigator said in a report to the General Assembly.  "The prevailing regime in Iraq has effectively eliminated the civil rights to life, liberty and physical integrity and the freedoms of thought, expression, association and assembly,'' Max van der Stoel, the special investigator on Iraq for the Commission on Human Rights, said last Wednesday.  Iraqi President Saddam Hussein exercises executive and legislative power, with judges and courts essentially answerable to him, and "the mere suggestion that someone is not a supporter of the president carries the prospect of the death penalty,'' he said.

Van der Stoel also accused the Iraqi government of failing to fully use a U.N. humanitarian relief program to help ordinary Iraqis.  The report paints a grim picture of life in Iraq between April and Sept.

20: indiscriminate bombing of civilian settlements and arbitrary killings, arbitrary arrest and detention of suspected traitors and criminals, and the bulldozing of hundreds of homes of opponents. Van der Stoel, a former Dutch foreign minister, expressed regret that the Iraqi government has refused to allow him to visit the country since January 1992, has not replied to any of his communications, and has refused to accept the stationing of U.N. human rights monitors in the country.

In the past, Iraq has accused van der Stoel of being a "dishonest observer'' who obtained his information from U.S., British and Israeli sources in addition to ``traitors and agents,'' a reference to Iraqi opposition groups in exile. The General Assembly committee that deals with human rights is scheduled to take up the Iraq report today.  Van der Stoel said Iraq remains the country with the highest number of disappearances reported to the Commission on Human Rights.

The controversial and long-awaited meeting of the Iraqi National Congress (INC) was attended by several Assyrian representatives between October 29 and November 1 in New York.  Over 400 delegates representing tens of opposition groups to Saddam Hussein were invited at the cost of over 3 million dollars paid by the U.S. government to discuss "a new blueprint for a new Iraq" and the Iraqi Liberation Act passed by the U.S. Congress one year before.  The INC elected a new Central Council consisting of 65 representatives of various groups including three Assyrians.  A "Presidential Council" of seven representatives was also elected.  The three Assyrian representatives were:

1. Yacob Yousef (Assyrian Democratic Movement "Zowaa")
2. Dr. Emanuel Kamber (Assyrian Universal Alliance)
3. Faozi Toma (Independent)

Despite the appeal by the Assyrian delegates, no Assyrian representation was elected to the "Presidential Council".  Mr. Faozi Toma is the son of the Assyrian governor of Arbil in northern Iraq, Mr. Francis Harriri.  Mr. Toma is a KDP sympathizer.  The 7 members elected to the Central Council are:

1.  Dr. Ayad Allawi (Iraq National Accord)
2.  Riyad Al-Yawer (Independent)
3.  Dr. Ahmad Chalabi (Independent)
4.  Sharif Ali Bin Al-Husseyn (Constitutional Monarchist Movement)
5.  Shaykh Muhammad Muhammad Ali (Islamic Group)
6.  Dr. Latif Rashid (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan)
7.  Hoshyar Zibari (Kurdistan Democratic Party)

The 400 representatives will soon launch a fundraising campaign and an aggressive effort to indict Saddam Hussein for war crime offenses.  The Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) did not attend the proceedings.  The INC also released the following statement published in London-based al-Hayat Newspaper:  "The INC recognizes the legitimate national rights of the people of Iraq's Kurdistan on the basis of federalism and the national, historic, and geographic facts within the framework of a
parliamentary, pluralistic, and democratic Iraq and will act to guarantee this constitutionally." Assyrians were not mentioned in the INC's "blueprint" of a new federalist Iraq.

According to Mr. Yacob Yousef, in the next two months the Assyrians will work harder to have the Central Council's rejection overturned.  The Assyrian members of the Central Council include:

1.  Albert Yelda
2.  Sargis Aghajan
3.  Dr. Sargon Dadesho
4.  Younadam Yousep
5.  Pnoiel Hormiz  (replacing Ezaria Jatto)
6.  Ishmaiel Nanno (replacing Michael Jajo)
7.  Romeo Hakkary
8.  Nimrud Baito
9.  Younan Hawzaya
10. Freidon Darmo
11. Yatron Darmo
12.  Fawzi Toma
13.  Dr. Emanuel Qamber
14.  George Mansour
15.  Cristo Yelda
16.  Michael Shimshon

There were two other Assyrian observers present at the New York meeting.  At a town-meeting held on Sunday in San Jose, California, John Nimrod, Secretary General of the Assyrian Universal Alliance, noted that "Assyrians were being ignored in New York."  "We were in Iraq, long before the Kurds and the Turkomans, but unless we lobby harder we will not be properly recognized and see any substantial results."  Since the passage of the Iraqi Liberation Act in 1998, three rival Assyrian political parties have united to create a unified front at such International conferences.  The Assyrian Democratic Movement, the Assyrian Democratic Organization, and the Assyrian Universal Alliance representatives are traveling together to publicize the new "Assyrian alliance" and promote a U.S.-backed anti-Saddam Hussein agenda.  According to Yacob Yousep of the Assyrian Democratic Movement, according to Iraqi government census, presently there are 1,368,000 Christians in Iraq.  Mr. Yousep believes that this number constitutes the Assyrians of all religious denominations in Iraq- as the Christian minorities are not permitted to identify their ethnic identifies.

Mr. Yacob Yousip will be visiting the Assyrian communities of Gütersloh and Wiesbaden on November 13 & 14.

(ZNRU:  Jerusalem)  The churches in the Holy Land will be closed on November 22nd and 23rd to protest plans by Israel for a mosque to be built near the main Christian shrine in Nazareth, the town where Jesus grew up.  The announcement carried with it a veiled threat that church doors could also be closed at Christmas.  The statement said "all Sanctuaries of the Holy Land will be closed ... to express disapproval of the plan for a mosque near Nazareth's Basilica of the Annunciation to protest clear discrimination against the Christian community in Galilee.''   The statement was signed by the patriarchs of the Greek Orthodox, Latin and Armenian Churches in the Holy Land and by the Franciscan ''Custos of the Holy Land,'' who has oversight of major Christian pilgrimage sites.

The mosque proposal has unleashed howls from the Vatican, darkened Muslim-Christian relations and pitched the Jewish state of Israel slap in the middle of a religious row. Public Security Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami said he regretted Thursday's move "mainly because there can't be a shadow of doubt concerning the complete government commitment toward Christian freedom of worship at every site in Israel.''  A committee chaired by Ben-Ami last month gave Muslims the go-ahead to build a mosque just meters (yards) from the basilica, which Christians revere as the place where the Angel Gabriel told the Virgin Mary she would bear the Son of God.  Ben-Ami said the decision had the agreement of both Christians and Muslims in Nazareth, Israel's largest Arab city, and included setting up a special police station near the basilica to ensure freedom of movement and worship.  A cornerstone for the mosque is due to be laid this week, provided that Islamic activists have removed a protest tent they have occupied at the site.

Part of the designated site for the mosque is publicly owned land.  Part belongs to the Waqf or Muslim religious trust and includes the grave of a nephew of Saladin, the Muslim hero who ousted the Crusaders from the Holy Land eight centuries ago.

"I have and will continue to boycott events held by the Assyrian American Association of San Jose until they change their position on which entertainers they choose to promote at their events.  Though I am myself a avid listener of music other then Assyrian, I think that it is terribly wrong to bring singers that do not appreciate our traditions and culture, while at the same time underpaying another Assyrian singer who will be performing at the very same event.

These types of events will continue to occur until changes are made within the Assyrian American Association of San Jose.  Let us not be ashamed of our language and traditions, instead, let us promote them with flying colors for all to see."

Ashur E. Peyour
California

Dear fellow Assyrians,

UCLA's Richard Hovannisian, professor of Armenian and Near Eastern history, has organized an international conference on Diarbekir and Urfa, two cities with an important Assyrian presence since ancient times. It will take place on Nov. 13 and 14 at UCLA.

If possible, please publicize the below information within the Assyrian-American community. We would like our Assyrian bothers and sisters to join us.

Harout Semerdjian
UCLA
History and Near Eastern Studies

For Immediate Release
University of California, Los Angeles

New generation scholars in Armenian Studies will join their senior colleagues at UCLA on the weekend of November 13-14 to participate in the Dikranagerd/Diarbekir and Edessa/Urfa conference,  This sixth international symposium on Historic Armenian Cities and Provinces will take place, Saturday, November 13, 9:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Sunday, November 14, 1:30-6:00 p.m.  The conference organizer is Richard Hovannisian, A.E.F.  Chair holder in Armenian History at UCLA.

First-time participants in the series include three scholars from Paris.  On November 13, Claire Mouradian, a historian who has written several volumes on Soviet Armenia and the Caucasus, will present a new file of documents based on the correspondence of the French consul at Dikranagerd/Diarbekir in 1895 and demonstrating the organized nature of the Armenian persecutions.  Raymond Kevorkian, who directs the Nubarian Library and has published extensively about Armenian history, will present (in Armenian) the changes that were registered in the population statistics between 1895 and 1914.  Vahe Tachian of the School of Social Sciences in Paris will speak on the expulsion of the Armenian survivors of the Diarbekir and Urfa districts in the years between 1923 and 1930.

Arriving from Oxford University, England, will be senior scholar Robert Thomson, who will speak on Early Armenian Christianity and Edessa, and Ph.D. candidate, Tim Greenwood, who will  examine the Armenian presence in Edessa after the Muslim Conquest.  The Muslim conquest of both Diarbekir and Edessa will be discussed by Byzantinist Walter Kaegi of the University of Chicago.  Ara Dostourian of West Georgia State University will present the Chronicle of Matthew of Edessa (Matteos Urhayetsi) and its importance as a source of Medieval Armenian history.

The early history of Dikranagerd or Tigranakert will be presented by senior scholars Robert Hewsen of Rowan University, a specialist in historical geography; Levon Avdoyan of the Library of Congress, who will try to answer the questions of exactly when, where, and why was the fabled city that bears the name of Tigran the Great; and James Russell of Harvard University, who will consider the literary and historical aspects of the epic of Tigran the Great.

New-generation scholars Christina Maranci and Bert Vaux will make presentations both on Amida/Diarbekir and on Edessa/Urfa.  Maranci will present the art and architecture of the two regions, and Vaux will present the Dikranagerd and Urfa Armenian dialects.  Hasmig Injejikian, a Ph.D. candidate in ethno-musicolology at the University of Montreal, will focus "Es kisher," a song associated with Dikranagerd.  Musicologist Bedros Alahaidoyan of Glendale will present selections of the music of both Dikrnagerd and Urfa.

Other youthful presenters include Hilmar Kaiser of Bochum University in Germany and the European University Institute in Florence, who will discuss the fate of the Armenians of Diarbekir in 1915, and George Aghjayan of Worcester Massachusetts, who will examine the history and demography of the Armenian villages of the Palu district.  Carlos Bedrossian, M.D., of Northwestern University re-creates the Armenian self-defense of Urfa in 1915.

The place of Diarbekir in the writings of American Armenian authors Peter Najarian, Peter Balakian, and Michael Arlen will be assessed by David S. Calonne of Wayne State University. A photographic display of Armenian historic monuments of Urfa will be exhibited by attorneys Richard and Anne Elizabeth Elbrecht of Davis, California.

Richard Hovannisian will make the introduction onArmenian Dikranagerd/Diarbekir on November 13 and on Armenian Edessa/Urha/Urfa on November 14.

The international conference is open to the public at no charge.  Parking is available in UCLA  structure no. 3, Hilgard Avenue, just south of Sunset Boulevard.  For further information or a conference brochure, telephone mornings: 310-825-3375, or e-mail:  Hovannis@history.ucla.edu

Dear Fellow Assyrian,
 

The Assyrian Australian Academic Society (TAAAS), would like to invite you to a historical screening, that takes a look at the true portrayal of the genocide that was experienced by our Assyrian ancestors.

The footage to be screened is unlike any other. One may not truly define
the passion, courage or torment that it entails....

It shall be shown two occasions.

When:       7th November 1999
Where:      Nineveh Club
                673 - 683 Smithfield Rd, Edensor Park
Time:       5:30pm
Cost:        $5.00

When:     14th November 1999
Where:   The Australia Sports and Cultural Club
              52 - 54 Stanbrook St
              Fairfield Heights
Time:      5:30pm
Cost:       $5.00

Looking forward to seeing you there.

TAAAS
Australia

To my beloved nation,

My name is Walter Ebrahimzadeh i.e. "WAW ALLAP". I do not promote or advertise any thing unless I personally believe in it.

THIS IS IT !!!

There is a  CD that  is the end result of the work of one man that I have a lot of respect for and am extremely proud of also.

I am talking about Rabbi Gasha BENNY, who works and lives in Tbilisi, Georgia.  He is working, not only as a man of GOD, but also as an Assyrian who is helping our Assyrian brothers and sisters to, not just survive, but to keep our language, heritage, culture and religious beliefs alive.

Rabbi Benny has put together a choir in his church. For more than tow years now, he has been working with them teaching them to read and write Assyrian. With no music to accompany with, they have recorded just their voices singing Assyrian sings.

We need to acknowledge another two gentleman who assisted Rabbi Benny with this undertaking and they are Emil Bebla and Homer Younan of San Jose, California. Together, they have created the most heavenly sounds I have ever heard, and keep hearing it over and over.

GOD bless all those people that have helped all of our people in Georgia because they live under very poor conditions.

This CD should be in every Assyrian house and we should give it to as many non-Assyrians as we possibly can. It will bring a blessing to your home and best of all, it is the best Christmas present that you can give to your friends, and your enemies also.

All the proceeds will go back to Georgia for our people and our kids to help keep them warm and put food on their tables.

The cost of the CD is only $10.00 and tape is $8.00 (plus $2.00 shipping).

To order please E-mail me. My new E-mail address is. wawallap@yahoo.com or you can send the check to:

WAW ALLAP
1452 W. 9th St. #B
Upland CA 91786
(909) 982 7237

Make your check to:

St. Mary's Catholic church - Georgian Acct. (or send money order).

My GOD bless our Nation and You,

Walter Ebrahimzadeh
California
 

Zinda Magazine urges its readers to help the Assyrian families in Georgia by purchasing a copy of this most enjoyable collection of Assyrian hymns performed by the choir conducted under the direction of Rev. Benny Yadegar.   Zinda Magazine is also pleased to announce that every Zinda reader's $10.00 purchase of this CD will be matched by a $2.00 donation from Zinda Corporation.  All proceeds will be sent to the Assyrian-Chaldean Catholic Mission in Georgia.

BC (311)

Seleucius I Nikator begins his rule over Mesopotamia; builds Seleucia to replace Babylon as his administrative capital.

Contemporary Chaldeans & Assyrians... , Rev. Sarhad Jammo

By this time, no less than 70 Assyrian missionaries were laboring in the Chinese empire and preaching the Christian Gospels.  Assyrian churches were built in ten provinces of China.

The Nestorians or the Lost Tribes, Grant

November 13, 1956:   Assyrian Star Magazine begins publishing in New York as the official organ of the Assyrian American National Federation.
 
 

"Nationality," declared Ramsey Muir in his Nationalism and Internationalism is the "possession of common tradition, a memory of sufferings endured and victories won in common, expressed in songs and legends, in the dear names of great personalities that seem to embody in themselves the character and ideals of the nation; in the names also of sacred places where the national memory is enshrined."

Nationality means a rich inheritance of memories and a desire to preserve these memories.  That is - common experiences of triumphs and defeats, of comforts and sorrow, of temporal, spiritual and moral achievements - and failures.  If such elements make a nation implicit in Sir Ramsey's pronouncements, then no people is richer in these wholesome memories than the Children of Ashur; yes, heroic achievements, agonies heroically suffered.  Haven't the Assyrians known exultant achievements and bitter failures and disappointments?  These are the sublime food by which the spirit of manhood is nourished.  In the words of the famed historian, from "these are born the sacred and imperishable traditions that make the soul of nations," and "in contrast with them, mere wealth, numbers, or territory seem but vulgar things."

The Assyrian Nationhood, Dr. David B. Perley
Reprinted from Nineveh Magazine, Vol 22, #3

Courtesy of Modesto Bee:  Monica Linggi, Bee Staff Writer (October 31, 1999)

If expressionism is doing what you believe in, creating shapes, forms and images with uninhibited freedom, then local artist Juliet Moradian is an expressionist.

She first put brush to canvas at age 11, 35 years ago. Soon after, the exploration of art led her to three continents -- from the Middle East, to the cities of Europe and finally to the orchards of Waterford.

Moradian has been named director of arts for Marzaia, an Assyrian association based in Turlock. She is organizing classes for Assyrian youth that will include visual arts, theater, sculpture and dance.

Once a week, Moradian works with young painters and is looking to recruit instructors for the other art forms. Classes and materials are provided by the club.

Eventually she hopes to take the students on tour to other Assyrian clubs. Being selected for the position was like a dream come true, she says, a way to serve the community. "If I just produced art and exhibited, I would be nothing more than a craftsman selling his crafts. An artist has taken a much higher step in life; getting involved in reality and working with the people," she said. She sees a lot of artistic potential.

"There's a lot of material, people to work with. They're just waiting for a spark to motivate them," she said.

Part of what motivates Moradian is learning about the Assyrian culture and heritage. She is learning the Aramaic

work with. They're just waiting for a spark to motivate them," she said.

Part of what motivates Moradian is learning about the Assyrian culture and heritage. She is learning the Aramaic alphabet and becoming more familiar with Assyrian history and the community.

Moradian is inspired by just about anything -- people, objects, perceptions, ideas and even movement.

"I would like to relate my work to everyday life. Even washing dishes could be an art form," Moradian said. "Art is everything; when you fix your bed or getting ready to have lunch. If you look at everything as a process and art form you'll enjoy your life more."

One of her first pieces, a small square filled with green hues, hangs in her Waterford studio. Scores of other paintings fill the walls and there's a charcoal sketch of her 21-year-old son, Armin, a dancer at the California Institute of the Arts.

Can't learn 'style'

"It's not something you can learn from somebody," she says of expressionism. "It's a subjective style. You find your special way. What I did back then I can never do again," she said pointing to the green piece, an image she says was inspired by nature.

Moradian was born in Iran but lived there and in the United States while growing up. Unlike most Iranians who are Muslim, she is a Christian Assyrian. Considered native to region around Iraq and Iran, many Assyrians live in Stanislaus County, Chicago and elsewhere in the United States.

Moradian was living with her family in Yonkers, N.Y., when a teacher noticed her special hand at art.

A few years later, as a teen-ager back in Iran, Moradian enrolled in a special school for artists in Tehran. She continued her studies at the University of Tehran, where she learned eastern and western styles.

Meanwhile, she was spending time in New York, London and Paris.

"I kind of traveled a lot all those years; trying out all these different art schools in different places," she said.

Moradian speaks French, German, Farsi and Aramaic, the Assyrian language. Her English is unmistakably American, though a slight lilt hints of foreign lands.

After Iran's religious revolution in the late 70s, Moradian moved to Germany. The Islamic government eventually shut down the University's art academy while the society rejected Western artistic traditions, such as the painting of nudes.

"This is very important and basic. You have to start by learning how to do a nude body," Moradian said. "I was one of very few people sitting in the studio doing nudes while the majority thought it was inappropriate. That's when I decided to move on."

After 11 years in Germany, she moved to Arizona and finally settled in Waterford about a year ago to be near other Assyrians.

She can step outside the glass doors of her studio and be in a walnut orchard. Just beyond the trees is the Toulumne River.

"It feels better to be close to nature than being in the city. This is a little different for me. I could walk around barefoot; I could be in the water and get wet and not worry about it."

The valley will not be the end of Moradian's journey. She foresees moving to Chicago eventually -- following her ambition.

Moradian's art studio is her work space and her home, complete with kitchen, laundry room and bedroom. A bare concrete floor in her painting area is there "to dirty as much as possible."

Her paintings -- stacked against the walls among wicker baskets -- provide the decor.

Religious work

Moradian's last major work, "Emanoel" is on its easel next to her bed. The name means "God Among Us" in Aramaic, she said.

She created it for the Assyrian Martyrs Week, typically celebrated in mid-April, which memorializes Assyrians who have suffered religious persecution in Islamic countries.

The painting took four days and nights and features a sun setting in water and a white bird alighting from a cross-shaped grave marker. Red streaks dripping from the sun symbolize the blood of Christ.

Juliet Moradian and Waterford photographer Rob Bearden will exhibit their works Nov. 20 beginning at 7 p.m. at Bearden's home, 13600 Yosemite Boulevard, Modesto.  The public is invited.

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