What happened to the Assyrians in Iraq?
What happened to the Assyrians in Iraq?
Beginning in August 1933 Iraqi soldiers and Kurdish militia killed thousands of Assyrias in Simele (Iraq). The massacre had a big influence on Raphael Lemkin, the jurist who coined the word “genocide. The Simmele Massacre is also commemorated yearly with the official Assyrian Martyrs Day on 7 August.
Who are the Assyrians now?
Assyrian Christians — often simply referred to as Assyrians — are an ethnic minority group whose origins lie in the Assyrian Empire, a major power in the ancient Middle East. Most of the world’s 2-4 million Assyrians live around their traditional homeland, which comprises parts of northern Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran.
How many Assyrians are in Iraq?
Assyrian people
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| Syria | 200,000–877,000 (pre-Syrian civil war) |
| Iraq | 150,000–202,000 |
| Turkey | 25,000 |
| Iran | 7,000–17,000 |
Where is the city of Nineveh now?
Mosul
Nineveh, the oldest and most-populous city of the ancient Assyrian empire, situated on the east bank of the Tigris River and encircled by the modern city of Mosul, Iraq.
What happened to the Nineveh Plains?
The Nineveh Plains in northern Iraq have been the linchpin of Assyrian life for centuries. While it has always been a diverse area—many Yazidis live in the region—it was the last major concentration of Assyrians in Iraq before 2014.
What do Assyrians fear most in the Nineveh Plains?
Despite the Islamic State’s retreat, Assyrians fear for their security in the Nineveh Plains. They need stronger support from Washington and Baghdad. A boy herds sheep in the Nineveh Plains of northern Iraq on Nov. 11, 2016. Martyn Aim/Corbis via Getty Images Elishwa never thought she would return to Bartella.
Why is the KRG wary of pro-Iranian militias in Nineveh Plains?
The KRG is wary of the pro-Iranian Shi’ite militias or Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) that man checkpoints across Nineveh plains down toward Kirkuk to the south, disputed areas that Baghdad wrested from Kurdish control in 2017. There is lasting anger at the way Peshmerga were evicted from Kirkuk in 2017.
What happened to Iraq’s Assyrians?
Over the last two decades, punctuated by the Iraq War and rise of the Islamic State, the population of Assyrians in Iraq has declined by a staggering 90 percent: from an estimated 1.5 million in 2003 to just over 150,000 today.