|
From the dawn
of civilization, empires and peoples have risen to greatness,
left their gifts for posterity, and then fallen into obscurity
extinction. Among these is the Assyrian nation, not extinct
but still living and breathing thousands of years after
Babylonia, Akkad, Nineveh and Aram. Its people have ridden the
tides of time longer than any other nation on earth now living
and tenaciously cling to their culture and language. This
monumental achievement of survival, however, has been long and
bitter, and has not come without a price. The Assyrian men,
women and children, when faced with their own extinction, have
paid repeatedly in blood for the recognition of their right to
exist in their ancestral homelands.
If you talk to Assyrians, you will
hear them call themselves by more than one name (Sunlye,
Suryaye, Athuraye, Chaldaye, Aramaye, etc). This diverse
appellation is no surprise when one considers their ancient
history and rich heritage, compounded by their encounters and
long-standing coexistence with peoples of different ethnicity,
cultures and languages. All these considerations left their
imprint on the classifications of the people: religiously,
socially and linguistically. In fact, this sociolinguistic
group shares a common language with few dialectical
differences, common socio-cultural cohesion, common history of
survival, and now shares a common fate. Additionally, all
share proud of their ancestor heritage throughout the
centuries. As a historical fact, out of the ten great
civilizations in human history, the Assyrians created one of
the greatest many years before Christ, and their legacy was to
be the world standard of civilization for commerce,
government, law, literature and culture for two thousand
years. And despite the loss of political and military power,
their language remained the Lingua Franca for more than a
thousand years. Most importantly, centuries have passed and
they continue to seek a productive life and peace for
themselves as well as for everybody around them.
Geographical Location of the Assyrians
on the Eve of World War One
At the turn of the century, the
Assyrian people, the torchbearers of the earliest civilization
in the world, and the living remnant of over 6,000 years of
history in the region, lived under the Ottoman and Persian
Empires. Their region was roughly known as "Upper
Mesopotamia," which includes: south and southeastern
present-day Turkey, [they were spread from Miyafarqin, Hakkari,
Bohtan, Tur-Abdin (over 240 villages), Nisibin, Mardin, Urfa (Edessa)
all the way to Adana West; in the north, from Siirt, Bitlis,
Diyarbakir, and Malatia]. Under Persian rule, they were mostly
in western Azerbaijan, at Urmia and the Salamas districts.
The other Assyrians were spread over
places in present day Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and in the
Caucasus (Georgia, Armenia).
Ecclesiastical Diversity among the
Assyrians
Like most peoples, the Assyrians
have various ecclesiastical traditions, although mostly they
are Christian denominations. The Assyrians of the Church of
the East include: Orthodox (or Nestorians), Catholic (Chaldeans)
and Protestants. Similarly, the Assyrians of the West Syriac
Church encompass several traditions: Orthodox (or Jacobites),
Catholic, Melkites (Rum Orthodox & Rum Catholic), Maronites,
and Protestants.
Generally speaking, the Assyrians of
the Church of the East were distributed in the Eastern part of
"Northern Mesopotamia," while the Assyrians of the West Syriac
Churches lived in the middle and Western part of "Northern
Mesopotamia." By the turn of the century, and due to
nationalistic awakening, a group of intellectual leaders
promoted one nationalistic name to allow the community as a
whole to identify itself as a cohesive unit. The name chosen
was Assyrian, and the intent was to unify and focus the
scattered yet homogenous cultural/linguistic groups, rather
than maintain the divisive status quo through the various
names of the church traditions. l
For thousands of years, while the
Assyrians maintained their civilized continuity and peaceful
cooperation with their neighbors or partners in the region:
Armenians, Greeks, Persians, Arabs, Kurds and Turks, they
suffered many severe persecutions, suppression and massacres.
Yet by the end of the 19th century (Abdul-Hamid's massacres)
and by the turn of the 20th century in World War I, the
Assyrians received the biggest blows time and again from the
Ottoman authorities, which eradicated them forcefully from
their ancestral lands and reduced them to desperation and
annihilation.
Implication of Genocide
The survivors from our parents told
their stories in terms of killing (Qettla), edportation (Sawqiaat),
and sword (Sayfa). This is because the word and concept of
Genocide had not yet been coined nor its concept been
determined. Contrary to the concept of homicide, the
intentional murder of an individual, Genocide means the
destruction of a group and is inextricably linked to the
outcome of a specifically directed governmental policy.
December 9, 1948, the U.N. General Assembly adopted a
resolution delineating the full meaning of Genocide and
condemned it as "a crime under international law.’’2
Specifically, Genocide, according to the statement issued by
the U.N., means any of the following acts committed with
intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic,
racial or religious group, such as:
1. Killing members of the group;
2. Causing serious bodily or mental harm
to members of the group;
3. Deliberately inflicting on the group
conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical
destruction in whole or in part;
4. Imposing measures intended to prevent
births within the group;
5. Forcibly transferring children of the
group to another groUp.3
This inclusive definition of
Genocide by the U.N. presented a spectrum of acts and
policies. All five defined points of Genocide unequivocally
are applicable to the Assyrian people, from massacre to
forcible de-culturation. The history of millions of native
Assyrians in the region witnesses the fate they endured
century after century. On one hand, they honestly and
earnestly produced and shared with their neighbors their
various range of contribution: literature, spirituality,
science, economy, and peace; on the other hand, they suffered
all kinds of atrocities, brutality and overall decimation from
many of their neighbors or partners. The horrific massacres in
WWI by the Ottoman authorities was neither the first nor the
last; the instance of Sinemile in Iraq 1933, which is
commemorated on the 7th of August where 3,000 innocent
civilian Assyrians were massacred by the Iraqi regular troops
led by Baker Sedqi, the general chief army. The constant
process of deculturation against our people continues not only
by Turkey but also by many other countries, as their own
language, values, patriotism, folklore, personal security,
dignity and economic survival are threatened and almost
nullified. Specifically, the Assyrians (all various
denominations) of "Upper Mesopotamia," numbered at the least
one million persons on the eve of WWI. Had there been no
Genocide, the population of the Assyrians, in that region,
could have numbered 20 million by now. In fact, because of the
Genocide and its aftermath, at that same region they now
number only a several thousand individuals.
As a surviving remnant of our
parents' genocides, living in the consequences of its
aftermath, we modem Assyrians are anxiously· struggling on I
several fronts: (1) to understand the reasons behind the
genocide of our parents; (2) to determine the ways and means
to prevent such a fate from ever happening again; (3) to
secure a civilized continuity for our next generation; and
lastly (4) to restore the civilized and civilizing role of our
ancestors.
Dramatic Tragedy
For the last 2500 years, the
Assyrians experienced many persecutions as a powerless people.
Although they were among the first people to adopt
Christianity, through which they demonstrated their literary
prolificacy and other cultural contribution, becoming
Christian did not prevent them from having to endure constant
persecution. But despite all obstacles, and for two more
millennia, the Assyrians proved their vitality of
productivity, peace, and loving intention for all the people
of the earth. Their writers and philosophers did not cease to
contribute in most branches of constructive knowledge, cordial
interfaith tracts, including science. Likewise, their
spiritual people generously enriched the culture of their
region. And their missionaries, without distinction or
prejudice, reached out to all their surrounding world, as far
as India and China, to show, through their unprejudiced and
indiscriminate good deeds, the power of love that makes all
people around the world one through faith.4
This civilized nature, despite all of the incessant blows
rained upon them throughout their long history, proved to be
like an elastic and flexible willow tree that bends in the
storm, but afterwards stands tall, proud and unbroken, once
more to continue to bear fruits.
The harshest, most pitiless blow,
however, like a fiery sword falling time and time again on the
trunk of our tree, occurred in the beginning of this century
by the so-called "civilized, modern nation," Turkey, and
acquiescent of the "most civilized western nations."
In the aftermath of the horrible
massacre by the Ottoman Sultan Abdul-Hamid in 1894-1896, which
claimed thousands of Assyrians, the Assyrians were unable to
heal their wounds because the direst time of their entire
history on earth, their genocide, was waiting like an angel of
death at the door. The Young Turk dethroned Abdul-Hamid in
1908, and contrary to the optimistic expectation of the
Assyrians, the new movement demonstrated even more scathing
cruelty and severity.
Many historians and politicians have
analyzed the reasons behind the brutal deportations and
massacre by the Ottoman authorities against their Christian
(Greek, Armenian, Assyrian) subjects. The crux of the matter
is that the Assyrians were not responsible in any way or
deserving of such a fate. According to historical analysis, it
might be said that among the various motives that the Ottoman
authorities had to commit such various and stupefying
atrocities were: first, the new, national ideology and
identity of the Turks; second, the dramatic territorial losses
suffered by the Ottoman Empire: Bulgaria in 1908, Bosnia, and
Herzegovina which in 1908 were annexed to Austria, Libya in
1911 by Italy, and the Balkan states in 1914. Such losses not
only eliminated large territories and their subjects, but also
shook to its foundations the multinational and multi-religious
character of the Empire. Accordingly, the Young Turk regarded
the Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians not only as foreigners,
but also as distrustful and unwanted peoples who could only be
dealt with through dissolution and extermination. The Young
Turk's distrust of non-Turks was such that Young Turk could
not imagine a future Turkey which had as its national base any
ethnic or cultural entity not purely their own, in fact
mirroring an attitude later manifested fully by Hitler, and
Turkey's World War I ally, Germany. It was no surprise,
therefore, for Adolf Hilter to justify the massacres committed
by the Young Turk, stating in August 1939: "Who, after all,
speaks today of the extermination of the Armenians?’’5
The eruption of a fanatic, nationalistic ideology in both
Turkey and Germany led their leaders to be convinced of the
necessity of destroying the people they had defined as the
target. In Turkey, in WWI, the victims were the Greeks,
Armenians, and the Assyrians of all their denominations. For
the same reason of confronting a fanatic, nationalistic
ideology, the Assyrian survivors of WWI had to suffer another
genocide in 1933 in Semele and countless incidences, which
reduced them to dispersion and annihilation.
While the evidence abounds in a huge
corpus of documents, the U.S. Major General James G. Harborad,
the chief of a fact-finding mission to Anatolia, reported in
1919 as follows:
Massacres and deportations were organized in the spring of
1915 under a definite ystem, the soldiers going from town to
town. The official reports of the Turkish Government show
1,100,000 as having been deported. Young men were first
summoned to the government building in each village and then
marched out and killed. The women, the old men, and children
were, after a few days, deported to what Talaat pasha called
"agricultural colonies," from the high, cool, breeze-swept
plateau of Armenia to the malarial flats of the Euphrates and
the burning sands of Syria and Arabia. Mutilation, violation,
torture and death, the most colossal crime of all the ages.
6
Our people, with no means to defend
themselves, received the biggest blow. No course of action was
safe, not one. Those who tried to flee from their historical
territories, such as Hikkari, could not save themselves.7
Neither could those who chose to remain under the Ottoman
Empire escape their horrific destiny. Realizing their pending
fate, the terrified Christians made every effort possible to
appease their Ottoman masters, whether through distancing
themselves from other Christian denominations, or showing
neutrality and loyalty in a variety of more subtle ways. For
example, the Patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox church wrote a
telegram to the grand vizier, condemning the "Armenian
disturbances," and thanking "his Majesty for the protection he
has ever accorded to it, as also to our Mussulman
compatriots." Finally, the Patriarch begged, "under these
circumstances, we can but appeal to the Sovereign, our sole
refuge, to protect us in his mercy."8
It should be clear from such a communication that the Syriac
Orthodox Patriarch felt forced to demonstrate a reproach of a
Christian group in order to stake a claim for his own
survival.
A few days later, on December 20,
1916, the New York Times read: "Syrian Patriarch Slain:
Murdered in His Residence in [Mardin] by Band of Turks’’9
Meanwhile, the language of "the
holy war," Jihad, aroused Muslims against their powerless
Christian neighbors. Between the so-called "acts of mobs," and
direct orders of the Ottoman authorities, one third of the
Assyrian nation were killed. The rest remained "a hostage
people," subjected to all manner of humiliation, dispersion
and annihilation.10 The
succeeding Syriac Patriarch, I. Ephrem, reported: "the 'rumor'
was that the Armenians had rebelled; in reality, the mobs were
calling for extermination of "all the Christians."11
Thus, the Assyrians of the East had
no choice but to try to broker their fate with the Russians.
By doing so, they lost one third of their people and gained
another ally with imperial pretensions who exacted from them
more than they bargained for. On the other hand, the Assyrians
of the West Syriac Churches, who until the end remained loyal
to the Ottoman authorities, the only course of action left
open to them, were humiliated, dispersed and also lost one
third of its people. Finally, when Syria was under the French
mandate, the Turks granted "permission … to all Christians" to
leave Turkey, creating another flight of refugees. Assyrian
Christians in large numbers fled their land, bringing to an
end their centuries old history in Hikkari, Tur Abdin, Mardin,
Urfa, Adana and elsewhere. The vast majority of them were
helpless victims, despite being innocent of political
ambitions.
The Reaction of the World
The world (the victorious World War
I allies) reacted to this holocaust with a unified and
categorical denunciations of what they determined were
criminal massacres. They roundly condemned the Ottoman
authorities. Various encouraging statements were issued by the
allied nations affirming their support of the Assyrians and
Armenians. The American president, Woodrow Wilson, took this
to a practical level by delineating fourteen humanitarian
principles in the Sevres Treaty of 1920. One of these clearly
and unambiguously stated that it was the obligation of Turkey
to protect the rights of its ethnic minorities and tbto
promote their progress and independence. While Turkey signed
the treaty, ostensibly bowing to the terms, the new
nationalistic Turkish movement, led by Mustafa Kemal gained
momentum and supported by the incipient Soviet Union, created
a counter-government at Ankara in the spring of 1920,
challenged the treaty and virtually cancelled it.12
The rise of Mustafa Kemal was followed by various shifts in
the political balance at the region. At this stage, the allies
were exhausted from their effort against the Germans and its
allies, who, we must not forget, included Turkey. This fact
should be mentioned because it shows a similarity of feeling
towards nationalism and ethnic purity, which was later to
erupt so effectively and tragically in World War II. In any
event, at this point the allies were feeling the need to look
homeward 'for the post-war cleanup, and possibly did not see
Turkey, with its newly shrunken borders, as any kind of
threat, either to its internal constituents or anyone else. As
such, they conceded, though unwillingly, to Mustafa Kemal. A
new treaty was signed in Lausanne in 1923, in which no real
obligation toward ethnic minorities was acknowledged. As an
outcome of this treaty, the Allies recognized the new
frontiers of Turkey, including the southern boundary that left
a string of cities from Aintab to Urfa, Mardin, Tur Abdin, and
Hakkari within the new Turkey.I3
Assyrians in the Aftermath of Genocide
Turkey's national policy and its
priorities did not serve any group except ethnic Turks with no
regard whatsoever to their victims, confirming Hitler's
statement: "who, after all, speaks today of the extermination
of the Armenians?,,14 But
regardless of the political stance of the present country, the
crime of genocide does not expire over time. The rights to
exist, to live and work and not be harassed on a daily basis
for one's religious beliefs and ethnic background, and the
right to have a name and a modicum of protection and civil
rights, are stressed and guaranteed in international law. And
if in the past the policies of the international communities
were totally focused on the balance in the Cold War at the
expense of small, oppressed people; now the Cold War is over,
and the process of settling these issues has begun.
But this right means nothing if one
does not live up to it, and appropriately (and energetically)
claims it. Thus the Assyrians have to face two challenges: an
internal one and a broader based external one. Internally, we
need to have our own vision, mission and civilized goal. Our
claim will not and cannot be taken seriously by either our
partners or by the international community if we cannot rise
to this most basic challenge of unity and consistent vision.
Externally, as a civilized people, we need to affect an
approach which leverages the power of logic and international
law for reclaiming our rights. Our most peaceful and logical
case is and will continue to be the real test for the
credibility of the International Community, the U.N. and the
whole New World Order, including our partner Turkey for
exacting justice.
For the sake of justice, and even
for antiquity's sake, for the sake of the remnant people who
created one of the earliest civilizations in the world, for
the sake of setting our case as an exemplar case pursuing only
logic, law and peaceful means for restoring its rights, we
appeal to justice. Otherwise, what kind of credibility is this
when the victim cannot acquire his justice unless he becomes
strong enough to impose his case, and sometimes to impose it
by force, and virtually, he makes his case "a problem" to the
world? Only at that time do the International Community, the
U.N., and the intended countries move towards solving that
"problem"? Such kind of an equation between the victim and the
International Community with its international law is both
ridiculous and scandalous, paying lawlessness back with more
lawlessness! On our part, thanks be to God, we cannot
violently threaten anybody. But, as a civilized people, our
only way to pursue our justice will be through peaceful and
legal means.
The internal and external challenges may
be one and the same in our modern days. Modern technology,
computers and telecommunications and especially the Internet,
have shrunken the world in a cold fusion of new ideas,
kindling new pathways to success and revolutionary ways of
achieving and disseminating information and therefore truth.
We must not forget for one minute that at this crucial time we
are facing the new, compacted world community in which our
people are challenged with its reality: to be "contributors to
the new civilization" or not to be at all. For us, this
principle has been our challenge throughout our long history;
and previously, our people successfully proved their civilized
contribution for themselves and for the people(s) they lived
with. Moreover, they played the major role of bridging
cultures and mediating among a startling variety of
civilizations: Greelel Roman, Persian and Arab. Thus, our
mission, today, would become our only identity and entity. We
need to be aware that NOT living up to this challenge will
spell our destruction and national death. This is because the
power of the information highway can work as well in our
favor, if we choose to harness it, as against us, if we simply
ignore our mission and responsibility; the quick result of it
is "total assimilation." Thus, we may face a different type of
genocide/homicide, "hidden genocide: assimilation" leaving
behind the precious legacy both of the historical and the
living. Today, although the potential of our people lies
scattered around the world, as a result of the genocide and
its aftermath, we need to determine ways and means, in a
unified manner, to turn such scattering into a blessing and
productive power. There is in this a tremendous opportunity to
make use of such decentralization, and it consists of the
possibility to have not just the ears or sympathy of one city
or nation, but literally to every corner at the world, and
most importantly our partner, Turkey. The bottom line is that
the Western nations who have accepted us as refugees and
graciously provided shelter and opportunities are not
responsible for our cultural demise - they are only the
unbidden and unintentional vehicle for it. Our salvation is
not in their hands but in our own, and only if we accept this
challenge wholeheartedly. As someone once said, "Defeat is
only victory turned inside out." Now, if we accept this as
truth, the next question is: How can we achieve this?
How Can We Do It?
While many viable answers may be
suggested, none will result from an outpouring of emotions or
disorganized verbal and counter-effective "sniper attacks” at
each other. We need to present ourselves as a peaceful people,
who insist on solving our problems peacefully and
cooperatively and only through law and logic. I suggest that
in the interest of creating and maintaining national
credibility, a professional, Assyrian, working committee(s)
may be formed, which should consist mostly of university
scholars in various humanitarian specialties. The committee(s)
must be inclusive of all our branches and religious,
linguistic affiliation. Such committee(s), through its
constant conferences and promulgation of information, may
treat at a scholarly and therefore credible level the critical
issues that concern the future of our people. For example, as
concerns the issues relating to genocide, it would be
imperative to be studied first by professionals in genocidal
studies, international law, political science and other
relevant humanitarian specialties. As specialists in this
field know, there is much international legislation that
favorably affects our national case. Among such legislation
are: (1) the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which
recognizes the equality of all peoples, be they small or large
in number; 15 (2) the
Right of Self-Determination; (3) the Right of Native Peoples;
(4) the law that the Crime of Genocide never expires;
16 and (5) the 1992
Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or
Ethnic, Religious or Linguistic Minorities.17
Their details are even more favorable and persuasive. Thus, a
major, crucial and highly sensitive role rests squarely upon
the shoulders of the Assyrian professional committee (of
Genocidal Studies, International Laws etc.): that is, to
prepare a full-fledged legal case for the genocide of our
parents and the rights of their children to live in peace in
their extracted territories with guaranteed human, cultural
and political rights. This bill needs to be presented to the
UN and also directly to the Turkish government, which is
showing its intention to resolve its historical problems
before 2004.
In relation to the rest of the
world, the priority of our national work must be in the name
of our parents' genocide in World War I and its aftermath; but
that does not mean at the expense of other aspects of our
national heritage and community life. Let us rise up and live
up to the golden slogan, the basic principle for our
continuity: "to be contributors to the new civilization, or
not to be at all." While this basic principle was, and remains
unchanged, many aspects of our national and community life
have drastically changed and furthermore been challenged:
(1) The concentration of our population
is no longer in our traditional homeland; rather it is mostly
"scattered" in the West.
(2) The traditional leadership of the
community no longer rests with either the church, or the chief
tribes, or even with the traditional political organizations.
This does not mean that their roles are completely eclipsed,
merely that there exists no one organization that speaks for
and is answerable to the community at large.
(3) In the West, the continuity of
national, cultural and religious identity of our children is
no longer guaranteed; it has become an option.
With such a widespread unfolding of
changes and new challenges, it is incumbent on us to
professionally respond in new ways for the revival and
productivity of our civilized continuity. Who would do it? Who
could do it? Certainly it is the responsibility of each and
every one of us, but such a task needs the contribution and
concerted effort of our relatively new Assyrian
intelligentsia. As in the above case of Genocide, and with the
possible help of our present institutions and capable
individuals, we call upon our available Assyrian scholars to
create several working, professional committees [as pillars on
which our nation can be erected], each scholar in his/her own
field of specialty. It is our desire to create a committee of
specialists in every vital aspect of the community life, such
as genocide studies, education, economy, art, music, history,
journalism, society, spirituality, sport, " and in the field
of "Syriac Studies,” which eventually covers our legacy over
the last two thousand years. Each of these committees should
be encouraged to intensify their own communications between
each other, and they should have their own regular
conferences. The hope is that a top committee may organize and
coordinate the works of these various professional committees
so that all as one serve the same, designed purpose.
To simplify the idea, it is like any
company in a competing market, which cannot survive long
unless it invests the most recent technology and experience
through experts and professionals in its various departments.
Likewise, our nation must have its experts and professionals,
i.e., the "intelligentsia" to direct and guide the development
of its departments. Otherwise, let us confess that we would
not be part of the present and future world. Thus, let us all
seek and identify our intelligentsia, and even help in its
creation. Helping to create an "Assyrian intelligentsia" could
be, and indeed must be, a primary focus of our national,
social, cultural and spiritual revival. Again, creating our
intelligentsia has many precedents.18
It is of utmost necessary to have our own scholars and
specialists in every field relevant to our national and
cultural life. Our intelligentsia may address the following
basic goals:
(1) Help direct and guide the destiny of
our National existence in cooperation and in tandem with other
peoples (communities) in the civilized world.
(2) Help in preservation and
revitalization of our cultural legacy.
(3) Help in the transmission of our
legacy to our next generation and others.
(4) Help to contextualize and develop our
legacy and demonstrate it as
relevant to the present world
civilization.
(5) Safeguard our national heritage, our
identity, and our past, from incorrect and potentially unfair
evaluations and/or allegations, emanating either from
individuals, groups or governments.
In conclusion, no matter how dire our situation may seem, the
fact is that our ancestors and parents succeeded in the
challenge of their time, and this truly means that we can
succeed in ours: "to be contributors to the new civilization
or not to be at all." Otherwise, what can and will happen?
Shall our nation die, now, in this time of unprecedented
possibilities and renewed world interest in native cultures
and peoples, when our ancestors somehow scraped up their
survival as actual slaves and servants with all the barbaric,
uncivilized attitudes of empire-grasping masters as their
added challenge? If for no other reason than for the respect
we owe to the memory of their monumental achievement, and to
ourselves as a nation, we likewise MUST prove our own
generation's competence and pride; and thereby prove ourselves
worthy of our forefathers and foremothers' great sacrifice,
that ultimate gift of their own lives for ours and for our
children.
************************** |