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The Assyrian genocide was a Genocide against the Assyrian population of the Ottoman Empire towards the end of the First World War . The Syriac name ܩܛܠܐ ܕܥܡܐ ܐܬܘܪܝܐ '''', which literally means 'killing of the Assyrian people', is used by some groups to describe these events. Other groups, especially those which do not wish to use the ethnic identifier ''Assyrian'', refer to the genocide as ܣܝܦܐ ''Saypā'', pronounced ''Sayfo'' in the West Syriac dialect, meaning 'sword'. The Assyrian population of North Mesopotamia (specifically the Hakkari region in modern-day southeastern Turkey and the Urmia region in northwestern Iran ) were forcibly relocated and massacred by Turkish and Kurdish forces during the years 1915–1918 under the regime of the Young Turks . Reasons for the genocide vary. Since Armenians and Greeks also claim they were the subject of forced relocations and barbaric executions, some cite religious persecution against the Christian community of Anatolia as the cause. Others, including the Turkish government, claim that the Assyrians and Armenians sought autonomy from the Ottoman Empire and joined the invading Russian army in the east. The Assyrian and Armenian communities, as Turkey claims, were seen as a threat and as a result were relocated to the Syrian Desert . Many deaths occurred during the "Death Marches" from Starvation and Dehydration , which Turkey claims was an accident. The total death toll is unknown, the Assyro-Chaldean National Council stated in a December 4, 1922 memorandum that about 275,000 "Assyro-Chaldeans" died in 1914-1918Joseph Yacoub, La question assyro-chaldéenne, les Puissances européennes et la SDN (1908-1938), 4 vol., thèse Lyon, 1985, p.156. The genocide of Assyrians has yet to be officially recognized by any country, unlike the Armenian genocide which has been recognized by many countries and international organizations. Assyrian historians point out that Assyrians not having any real political power throughout the 20th century is the primary reason for this lack of recognition. In addition, the massacre of all Christians of Asia Minor is usually linked with the Armenian Genocide. BEFORE WORLD WAR I Before the war, about half of the Assyrian population lived in what is today Southern Turkey. Young Turks took control of the Ottoman Empire only five years before the beginning of World War I. The Turks planned to join the side of the Central Powers . In 1914, feeling that they were heading into the war, the Ottoman government passed a law to support the war effort by conscripting all young males in the Ottoman army. Assyrians of what is now Turkey, primary lived in the provinces of Hakkari , Şırnak , and Mardin . These areas also had a sizeble Kurdish population. The Ottoman Empire entered World War I on October 29, 1914. ''The following is not all of the accounts of the massacre, but as many that were documented.'' MODERN DAY TURKEY On April 1915, Ottoman Troops easily invaded Gawar and massacred the entire population. Prior to this, on October of 1914, 71 Assyrian men of Gawar were arrested and taken to the local government centre in Bashkalla and killed. Bryce, James Lord - British Government Report on the Armenian Massacres of April-December 1915 Also in April, Kurdish troops surrounded the village of Tel Mozilt and imprisoned 475 men (among them, Reverend Gabrial , the famous red-bearded priest. The following morning, the prisoners were taken out in rows of four and shot. Arguments rose between the Kurds and the Turkish officials on what to do with the women and orphans left behind. In the end, the army decided to slay them as well. Massacres at Van : In late 1915, Djeudet Bey, Military Governor of Van Province , upon entering Sairt with 8,000 soldiers whom he himself called the "The Butchers' Battalion" (Kassab Tabouri), gave orders for the massacre of almost 20,000 Assyrian civilians in at least 30 villages. The following is a list of documented villages that were attacked by Djeudent soldiers and an estimated amount of Assyrian deaths: The village of Sairt, was populated by Assyrians and Armenians. On March 3, 1918, the Ottoman army, led by Kurdish soldiers, assassinated one of the most important Assyrian leaders at the time: Mar Shimun XIX Benyamin . This led to the only retaliation of the Assyrians during all of World War I. Malik Khoshaba led an attack against the Turks. During the attack, some 30 soldiers were killed or wounded. MODERN DAY IRAN The Ottomans were notified about the withdrawal of the Russian forces in Persia in late 1914. The 36th and 37th divisions of the Ottoman army were sent westerward in the Northwest part of Persia. Before the end of 1914, Turkish and Kurdish troops had succesfully invaded the villages in and around Urmaya. On February 21, 1915 Turkish army in Urmia took 61 leading Assyrians hostage from the French missions, demanding large ransoms. The mission had enough money to convince the Ottomans to let go 20 of the men. On February 22, the remaining 41 were executed, having their heads cut off at the stairs of the Charbachsh Gate. Among them was the bishop Mar Denkha. These villages, unlike the Assyrian villages of present-day Turkey, were completely unarmed. The only kind of protection they had was when the Russian army finally took control of the area, only years after the presence of the Ottoman army. On February 25, 1915, Ottoman troops stormed their way into the villages of Gulpashan and Salamas. Almost all of the men of the village of Gulpashan were shot. In Salamas about 750 Armenian and Assyrian refugees were protected by Turkish civilians of the village. The commander of the Ottoman division stormed the houses despite them containing Turkish people, and roped all the men together in big groups and forced them to march in the fields between Khusrawa and Haftevan. The men were shot or killed otherwise. The protection of Christians by Turkish civilians is also confirmed in the 1915 British report:Bryce, James Lord - British Government Report on the Armenian Massacres of April-December 1915 : "Many of the Moslems tried to save their Christian neighbours, and offered them shelter in their houses, but the Turkish authorities were implacable." During the Winter of 1915, 4,000 Assyrians died from disease, hunger, and exposure, and about 1000 were killed in villages of Urmia. 1918 The Massacre of Khoi, Persia In early 1918, many Assyrians started to flee present-day Turkey. Mar Shimon Benyamin had arranged for some 3,500 Assyrians to reside in the district of Khoi . Not long after settling in, Kurdish troops of the Ottoman Army massacred the population almost entirely. One of the few that survived, was Reverian John Esho. After escaping, he stated: "You have undoubtedly heard of the Assyrian massacre of Khoi, but I am certain you do not know the details. These Assyrians were assembled into one caravansary, and all shot to death by guns and revolvers. Blood literally flowed in little streams, and the entire open space within the caravansary became a pool of crimson liquid. The place was too small to hold all the living victims for the work of execution. They were brought in groups, and each new group compelled to stand up over the heap of the still bleeding bodies, and was shot to death in the same manner The fearful place became literally a human slaughter house, receiving its speechless victims, in groups of ten and twenty at a time, for execution. At the same time, the Assyrians, who were residing in the suburb of the city, were brought together and driven into the spacious courtyard of a house The Assyrian refugees were kept under guard for eight days, without anything to eat. At last they were removed from their place of confinement and taken to a spot prepared for their brutal killing. These helpless Assyrians marched like lambs to their slaughter, and they opened not their mouth, save by sayings "Lord, into thy hands we commit our spirits. [... The executioners began by cutting first the fingers of their victims, join by joint, till the two hands were entirely amputated. Then they were stretched on the ground, after the manner of the animals that are slain in the Fast, but these with their faces turned upward, and their heads resting upon the stones or blocks of wood Then their throats were half cut, so as to prolong their torture of dying, and while struggling in the agony of death, the victims were kicked and clubbed by heavy poles the murderers carried Many of them, while still laboring under the pain of death, were thrown into ditches and buried before their souls had expired- The young men and the able-bodied men were separated from among the very young and the old. They were taken some distance from the city and used as targets by the shooters. They all fell: a few not mortally wounded One of the leaders went close to the heaps of the fallen and shouted aloud, swearing by the names of Islam's prophets that those who had not received mortal wounds should rise and depart, as they would not be harmed any more. A few.- thus deceived. stood up, but only to tall this time dead by another volley from the guns of the murderers. Some of the younger and goodly looking women, together with a few little girls of attractive appearance, who pleaded to be killed. Against their will were forced into lslam's harems. Others were subjected to such fiendish insults that I cannot possibly describe. Death. however, came to their rescue. and saved them from the vile passions of the demons.' The death toll of Assyrians totaled 2,770 men, women and children". By mid-1918, the British army had convinced the Ottomans to let them have access to about 30,000 Assyrians from various parts of Persia. The British decided to deport all 30,000 from Persia to Baquba , Iraq. The transferring took just 25 days, but at least 7,000 of them had died after arriving in the British camp. Austin, H. H.(Brig.-Gen.): The Baquba Refugee Camp - An account of the work on behalf of the persecuted Assyrian Christians. London 1920 American Presbyterian Missionaries at Urmia During the Great War 16 memorandum to British Minister Sir Percy Cox : "Capt. Gracey doubtless talked rather big in the hopes of putting heart into the Syrians and holding up this front against the Turks. {Link without Title} We have met all the orders issued by the late Dr. Shedd which have been presented to us and a very large number of Assyrian refugees are being maintained at Baquba, chiefly at H.M.G.'s expense." In 1920, the British decided to close down the Baquba camps. The majority of Assyrians of the camp decided to go back to the Hakkari mountains, while the rest were dispersed throughout Iraq. REPORTS FROM THE U.S. AND EUROPE The New York Times's editor V. Rockwell published an article in 1916, with the title of "The Numer of Armenian and Assyrian Victims." In the article, he stated ''“Not only the Armenians are unfortunate: the Assyrians were also wiped out and each tenth was murdered. A lot of Assyrians perished but no one knows how many exactly....within six months the Young Turks managed to do what the "Old Turks" were not able to do during six centuries. [... Thousands of Assyrians vanished from the face of the earth”.'' In November 1919 the periodical French Asia wrote, ''"the Assyrian massacres resembled the Armenian slaughters. And as about this nation, which had 250 thousand victims, has been spoken much less, it is necessary to inform the world about it."'' EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS AND QUOTES Statement of German Missionaries on Urmaya
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