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Massacres and Deportation of Assyrians in Northern Mesopotamia: Ethnic Cleansing by Turkey 1924-1925

by Dr. Racho Donef | Edited by: Jan Bet-Şawoce

Posted: Friday, May 21, 2010 at 8:22 PM CT

Massacres and Deportation of Assyrians in Northern Mesopotamia: Ethnic Cleansing by Turkey 1924-1925 by Dr. Racho Donef | Edited by: Jan Bet-Şawoce Purchase Information: Jan Beṯ-Şawoce betsawoce [ a t ] hotmail.com Latest writings: Jan Beṯ-Şawoce Book Contents Preface Kmo xabre Introduction PART A DOCUMENT 1 The Nestorian Uprising and its Suppression REASONS FOR THE UPRISING The Mosul question Turco-Iranian political relations Turco-Iraqi political relations Turco-Russian relations Activities undertaken by the English on the account of Mosul THE UPRISING The situation before the uprising The Hangedigi Incident (uprising) SUPPRESSION OPERATION Ministerial Council's decision concerning the suppression of the uprising Operation preparations Benefiting from the tribes Other objectives concerning internal security Desertion incidents among the forces The course of events in the operation The situation on 9 September 1924 The situation on 10 September 1924 The situation on 11 September 1924 The situation on 12 September 1924 The situation on 13 September 1924 The situation on 14 September 1924 The situation on 15 September 1924 The situation on 16 September 1924 The situation on 17 September 1924 The situation on 19 September 1924 The situation on 20 September 1924 The situation on 21 September 1924 The situation on 22 September 1924 Conclusion APPENDIX 1 APPENDIX 2 PART B DOCUMENT 2 DOCUMENT FROM THE SWEDISH ARCHIVES CONCERNING THE GENERAL STAFF OPERATION AGAINST ASSYRIANS IN HAKKARI IN 1924 DOCUMENT 3 DOCUMENT FROM THE SWEDISH ARCHIVES REGARDING DEPORTATION AND MASSACRES OF ASSYRIANS IN 1925 COLLECTION OF DOCUMENTS 4 DOCUMENTS FROM THE SWEDISH ARCHIVES REGARDING DEPORTATION AND MASSACRES OF ASSYRIANS IN 1925 Document 4a Document 4b Document 4c DOCUMENT 5 TELEGRAM BY JOHAN LAIDONER CONCERNING TURCO-IRAQI BORDER DISPUTATIONS AND DEPORTATION OF CHRISTIANS COLLECTION OF DOCUMENTS 6 ARTICLES FROM TIME MAGAZINE Document 6a Document 6b COLLECTION OF DOCUMENTS 7 The Gertrude Bell Archive: The Letters Document 7a Document 7b Document 7c Document 7d COLLECTION OF DOCUMENTS 8 Document 8a Docutnent 8b LEAGUE OF NATIONS Document 8c MESOPOTAMIA (DEPORTATION OF CHRISTIANS) COLLECTION OF DOCUMENTS 9 ARTICLES FROM THE TIMES Document 9a Document 9b Document 9c Document 9d Document 9e Document 9f Document 9g Document 9h Document 9i Document 9j Document 9k 11 13 19 43   45 47 47 53 57 58   58 61 61 62 65   70 71 88 92 93 94 99 102 102 103 105 110 111 112 113 115 117 117 122 144 145 149 151           153         159         168 168 169 170         172 174 174 178   180 180   180 181   182 188 188 198   198   200 200 202 204 205 210 215 217 222 226 228 231

Book Details

• Pages: 242, paperback
• Language: English
• Publisher: Nisibin Bet-Froso & Bet-Prasa, Stockholm, 2009
• ISBN: 91883280-55-4
• Dimensions: 8" x 6" x ½"
• Purchase Information:
  Jan Beṯ-Şawoce
  betsawoce [ a t ] hotmail.com

Preface

The history of the Assyrian peoples in the Republic of Turkey is very little known. Dr. Racho Donef does us a real service by assembling and translating documents dealing with the Turkish military campaign against the Kurdish Shaikh Sait revolt, which is somewhat much more researched. General histories of modern Turkey do no mention this early repression of an already very decimated Christian minority.

The first part of this book is a translation of a history of the campaign written and published by the Turkish Army General Staff division for military history. It was for internal use and thus is rarely found in any library. This work is based on thorough research in the Turkish military history archives, and thus has the bias that any such sources have. There is no sympathy for the enemy and the purpose of the campaign is ethnic cleansing of a region — Hakkari — that was traditionally dominated by the Nestorian Assyrian tribes.

The region was under dispute as the border between Turkey and British mandate Iraq was still unsettled and the British had vaguely promised the Assyrians an autonomous homeland which the Assyrians hoped would include Hakkari. Thus the Turkish military campaign was mounted in order to check a small Assyrian force that had entered Hakkari in order to give greater legitimacy to the claim to include it in the future Assyrian state.

The Republic of Turkey, under president Kemal Atatürk, responded by a massive build-up of army units and they crushed the Assyrian forces and ethnically cleansed the region of whatever Assyrians had managed to remain in place after the 1915 genocide.

The second part of the book prints documents from the archives of the British and Swedish foreign services. These reports give additional information about how European states judged the ability of the Assyrians to build a state, and their opinion of the policy of the Turkish Republic towards one of its smallest minorities.

Dr. David Gaunt
Professor of History
Södertörn University - Stockholm, Sweden

Introduction

This book consists of a collection of documents concerning the deportation and massacres of the “Nestorian” Assyrians (but also “Jacobites” and Chaldeans) in 1924-25 and the boundary dispute between Iraq and Turkey which affected the Assyrians in the extreme.  Having being subjected to genocide during the war they had to endure further massacres which depleted the number of Assyrian in Hakkâri region.

There are two major incidents which involved Assyrians in this period:

1. The September 1924 attacks on the Nestorians, registered as “Nestorian Uprising” in the Turkish historiography; and,
2. The deportations and massacres of Assyrian in September 1925.

It is the aim of this book to challenge then Turkish propaganda presenting the events of 1924-25 as an Assyrian uprising and document the deportation and massacres which took place in 1925.

The first document in the appendix (Document 1) is a translation from Turkish of a report concerning the Nestorian Assyrian “uprising” in Hakkâri in 1924.¹  This report was published in 1972 by the Turkish Military History Chairmanship of General Staff and as such the report is entirely from the point of view of the General Staff Command.  Nonetheless, as research material about this period is scant, the report still constitutes a valuable source for researchers interested in Assyrian matters.

Dr. Racho Donef
Author and historian
Sydney, Australia

1. Türkiye Cumhuriyetinde Ayaklanmalar, T.C. Genelkurmay Harp Tarihi Başkanliği Resmi Yayinlari, Seri No: 8, Genelkurmay Basimevi, Ankara, 1972, pp 19-77 and 483-86; document provided by Jan Bet-Şawoce.

Related Information

1. Genocide of the Assyrians in the Ottoman Empire
2. 1915: Righteous Muslims during the Genocide of 1915
3. The Shemsi and the Assyrians
4. The Assyrian Genocide and Article 312 of the Turkish Penal Code: the case of an Assyrian Priest in Turkey (1)
5. Massacres and Deportation of Assyrians in Northern Mesopotamia Ethnic Cleansing by Turkey 1924-1925
6. Assyrians in Turkey: Ethnic and Religious Recognition Revisited
7. Assyrians in Turkey: Ethnic and Religious Recognition Revisited
8. The Assyrian Genocide and Article 312 of the Turkish Penal Code: the case of an Assyrian Priest in Turkey (1)
9. Interviews with Survivors of the Armenian Genocide
10. Interviews with Survivors of the Armenian Genocide
11. 1923: Agha Petros and the Lausanne Telegraphs
12. 1915: The Deportation of the Assyrians in Ottoman Documents
13. 1923: Agha Petros and the Lausanne Telegraphs
14. 1915: The Deportation of the Assyrians in Ottoman Documents
15. Symposium Syriacum VIII & The Assyrian Genocide Seminar
16. Symposium Syriacum VIII & The Assyrian Genocide Seminar
17. The Political Role of the Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate (so-called)
18. 'And now the Syrianis [Assyrians]'
19. Assyrians May Be Recognized as a Minority in Turkey
20. Assyrians May Be Recognized as a Minority in Turkey
21. Europe watched
22. 'Lies in Turkish': Turkish Denial of Genocide
23. Turkish National Security Council's report on the Assyrians
24. Turkish State Security Council (SSC) Commissioned a Report on the Assyrians
25. Syriani [Assyrian] Report to the SSC [State Security Council]
26. Turkish National Security Council's report on the Assyrians
27. 1916: The Abolition of the Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia
28. 1909: Ottoman Document Archives Related to the Adana Massacres
29. 'And now the Syrianis', [Simdi de Süryaniler]
30. 1914: The Hellenic Genocide in the Danish Archives
31. 1909: Ottoman Document Archives Related to the Adana Massacres
32. ‘Lies in Turkish’
33. The Hellenic Genocide in the Danish Archives
34. Assyrians in Turkey: Disappearance of a Culture?
35. Requiem for the Assyrians
36. The Assyrians in the Christian Asia Minor Holocaust
37. Symposium Syriacum VIII & The Assyrian Genocide Seminar

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