ASSYRIA

Assyrians are Christians whose church dates back to the time of Christ.

In the first century they were among the first people to embrace Christianity. Due to the numerous atrocities which befell them over the following centuries because of their religion and nationality, the Assyrians almost lost their identity as a nation. It was not until the middle of the 19th century, when Assyrians came in direct contact with the western world, that their existence attracted the attention of the outside world.

At this time the Assyrians were experiencing a cultural renaissance, and played an instrumental role in building modern schools, colleges and technical institutions in Iran, Iraq and other parts of the Middle East during the 19th and 20th centuries. Caught between the two warring parties of WWI, Assyrians suffered most destructive blows because of their religion and ethnicity.

First, they fell victim to the wholesale massacre inflicted upon Christians (Assyrians and Armenians alike) under the Ottoman Empire. Hundreds of thousands of Assyrians living as a semi-independent people under their religious and secular head, Patriarch Mar Shimon, in the Itakkari mountains in the southeastern part of Turkey, were driven out of their homeland and forced to join their brethern in the Urmia and Salamas districts in Iran. Then, they were encouraged to join the Allied Forces (British and Russians) in order to help them in the region.

Assyrians, willing to protect themselves and to defend their lives against unceasing attack by Turkish regular forces and local unfriendly people, threw in their lot with the Allies and fought bravely against all odds to repulse the blows coming from all sides. For their bravery in the victorious battles, they were called "Our Smallest Ally" by British historians.

In 1918, a few months before the end of the great war, the Assyrians were left alone and deprived of ammunition and other kinds of support, and had no choice but to retreat from Urmia via Hamadan in order to reach the British forces in Baghdad, Iraq. In this long and costly exodus, the Assyrians lost more than one-third of their population, because of the constant attack from all sides which was made on them as they fled. Many also fell victim to severe weather, epidemics, and all the various hardships which they suffered on their long and arduous trail. Exactly this same fate was shared by the Assyrians living in Tur Abdin and Midyat, of whom a great number, under the most devastating blows, were chased out of their homeland to find refuge in the northwest part of modern Syria.

In Baghdad, the Assyrians were settled in Baquba camps, where they were used to protect the newly established government of Iraq, as well as the interests of the British and their air bases. Able and battle-tested Assyrians were recruited in a special military task force named "Levies" under the British command.

In return for the loss of their homeland in Hakkari, Turkey, and in compensation of the stupendous losses which were inflicted on them during the Great War, the Assyrians were promised a safe and independent homeland by Britain, France, and Russia alike. At first the Assyrians insisted that this homeland be on the Hikkari Mountains, but later they were offered the Mosul district in Northern Iraq known as the "Assyrian Triangle." This promise was similar to others made by their powerful allies, and was not fulfilled.

The Assyrians were again betrayed and left alone in a situation that culminated in the terrible massacre of their civilian population in Simeil, Iraq in 1933. This massacre began the Assyrian diaspora. They began to flee in all directions as stateless refugees, trying to find a safe haven and to protect themselves from total elimination until such a time as their voice would be heard through an international forum.

Present Situation:

Since 1960, a great number of Assyrian villages have been destroyed by Iraqi forces in the northern region of the country. Numerous historical churches and monasteries were leveled to the ground in severe bombardments and attacks. The Assyrians have been denied the right to practice and preserve their culture and language.

After the Gulf war, their situation worsened. Assyrians desperately joined the stream of refugees normally associated with the Kurds. More than 250,000 Assyrians fled Iraq towards Turkey, Iran, and Syria. Thousands of those fleeing died en route, and others suffered unbearable hardships. The Assyrians of Turkey during their bloodstained history have suffered inhumane atrocities and have never enjoyed full cultural and ethnic rights.

On the contrary, they have constantly been under pressure by their non-Assyrian neighbors to leave their homes and land, and forced to flee outside their borders. The recent attacks on Assyrian villages; the killing of innocent men, women, and children have reduced the remaining Assyrian population of Turkey to a small, terrified, and desparate people who are awaiting total elimination in front of very eyes of today's civilized world. Although the migration of the Assyrian refugees began before and after the WWI, the mass migration started in 1975 after the Algerian treaty between Iran and Iraq.

As a result of this treaty, a large number of Assyrians living in Northern Iraq were forced to flee from attacks made on their territory by Iraqi forces. A great number of Assyrian villages in the north were again bombarded and leveled to the ground, and the inhabitants, induding thousands of families, left their homes and started a painful exodus to Iran and other surrounding countries. From there, these unfortunate refugees dispersed to Europe, America, Canada, Australia, and other countries. Still a greater number, in one way or another, managed to settle in Baghdad and other large cities within the country itself.