Assyrian genocide

Assyrian genocide
Varges, Ariel · Public domain · source
Name	Assyrian genocide
Location	Ottoman Empire, Qajar Iran, Kurdistan
Date	1914–1920s
Target	Assyrians, Chaldeans, Syriac Christians
Perpetrators	Ottoman Empire, Committee of Union and Progress, Kurdish tribes, Ottoman authorities

Assyrian genocide The Assyrian genocide was the systematic mass killing, deportation, and cultural destruction of Assyrians, Chaldeans, and Syriac Christians in the Ottoman Empire and adjacent regions during and after World War I. It occurred alongside the Armenian Genocide and the Greek genocide, involving actors such as the Committee of Union and Progress, local Kurdish tribes, and irregular forces, with profound demographic, cultural, and legal consequences that continue to affect Iraq, Turkey, Syria, and the Iran–Iraq region.

Background and Historical Context

The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw the Ottoman Empire confront crises addressed by figures like Mahmud II and institutions such as the Young Turks and the Committee of Union and Progress, with reforms linked to the Tanzimat and political currents involving Sultan Abdul Hamid II and later Mehmed V. Ethno-religious tensions among Armenians, Greeks, Kurds, Turks, and Assyrians were exacerbated by events including the Hamidian massacres, the Balkan Wars, and rivalries involving the Russian Empire, British Empire, France, and Qajar Persia. Missionary networks like the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions and institutions such as The Patriarchate of the Assyrian Church of the East intersected with the politics of Mosul Vilayet and regions such as Hakkari, Van, Diyarbakir, and Mosul Province.

Perpetrators, Motives, and Policies

Actors implicated include the Committee of Union and Progress leadership, provincial officials tied to Talât Pasha, Enver Pasha, and Cemal Pasha, local irregulars including Kurdish tribes like the Hamidiye cavalry, and militias organized by provincial administrators. Motivations combined wartime security doctrines implemented after the Ottoman entry into World War I and ideological frameworks influenced by Turkification and the concept of Turkish nationalism promoted by the Young Turks. Policies comprised deportation orders similar to those issued in Erzurum Vilayet and population transfers contemporaneous with directives from Yıldırım Bayezid-era officials and wartime governors, entailing massacres, forced marches, and cultural erasure comparable to methods used during the Armenian Genocide and the Pontic Greek genocide.

Course of the Genocide (1914–1920s)

Violence escalated during the Balkan Wars aftermath and peaked between 1914 and 1918 with episodes in Hakkari districts, Gawar areas, and cities such as Mardin and Sulaymaniyah. Notable incidents include massacres in Bashkale, the siege of Urmia, and the surrender and massacre at Rowanduz. Military operations by units tied to the Ottoman Third Army, actions under provincial governors like Said Halim Pasha affiliates, and irregular Kurdish forces led by local sheikhs contributed to expulsions and mass killings. The 1918–1920 period saw population movements into Iraq under British administration and interactions with entities such as the Kingdom of Iraq formation, while survivors faced reprisals during the Franco-Turkish War and conflicts involving the Kurdish rebellion leaders.

Victims, Casualties, and Demographic Impact

Victims included clergy from the Assyrian Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, and Syriac Orthodox Church, civilians in villages like Jillu and towns across Hakkari, Siirt, and Bitlis. Casualty estimates vary among scholars, with figures advanced by historians such as Vahakn Dadrian, David Gaunt, Justin McCarthy, and Benjamin Z. Kedar reflecting methodological debates. Demographic consequences were severe: formerly diverse regions in southeastern Anatolia became depopulated of Christian communities, leading to diaspora communities in Lebanon, Syria, United States, Australia, and Sweden, and shaping later tensions in Iraq and Syria politics.

International Response and Contemporary Awareness

Contemporaneous eyewitnesses included missionaries from the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, diplomats from the British Foreign Office, U.S. Department of State consuls, and journalists reporting to outlets such as The Times, Le Figaro, and The New York Times. Postwar investigations, including those by commissions associated with the Paris Peace Conference and scholars like Arnold Toynbee and Henry Morgenthau Sr., documented atrocities. Awareness fluctuated through the 20th century, with renewed attention via scholarship by Robert Fisk, Thomas A. L. researchers, and commemorations by Assyrian diaspora organizations and churches, and cultural works engaging authors like William Dalrymple and institutions such as Smithsonian Institution exhibitions addressing Near Eastern Christian histories.

Recognition, Denial, and Legal Issues

Recognition has been pursued in parliaments such as those of Sweden, Netherlands, Australia, and local councils in United Kingdom municipalities, alongside legal debates involving precedents from Nuremberg Trials, the Genocide Convention, and comparative jurisprudence concerning Armenian recognition cases. Denialist positions have appeared in statements from some Turkish political figures and scholars connected to institutions in Ankara and Istanbul, prompting litigation in courts including those in Switzerland and discussions in bodies like the International Court of Justice. Contemporary legal scholarship examines responsibility of actors such as the Committee of Union and Progress leadership and applicability of doctrines established in cases like Bosnian Genocide adjudications to early 20th-century mass atrocities.

Category:Genocides