assyrians uestions & Answers

Transcription

1 assyrians uestions & Answers Q

2 assyrians questions & answers Svante Lundgren & Afram Barryakoub Assyrians - Questions & Answers Svante Lundgren & Afram Barryakoub Copyright 2010 Svante Lundgren & Afram Barryakoub Layout Munir Gultekin Printed 2010 First edition

3 3 Content 1. Origin 5 2. Christianity 7 3. Identity Assyrians & the West Assyrians in the world Genocide Assyria 23

4 4 Introduction Assyrians are everywhere and yet nowhere. As a scattered nation without a state of their own they are less visible than many other nations. Our hope is that this short publication will help to increase knowledge about the Assyrians, who are today found in many countries all over the world. This is a translation of an originally Swedish book. We extend our gratitude to Miss Eva Shamouel from the U.K. who did a great job in correcting our English text. We also thank Mr Ablahad Astepho from Belgium who is the acting head of the Assyrian Democratic Organization in Europe for financing the printing of this publication. Svante Lundgren Afram Barryakoub Turku, Finland/ Norsborg, Sweden October 2010

5 5 Origin 1 Where and when did the Assyrians appear in history? The Assyrians are one of oldest peoples in the world, originating in northern Mesopotamia around the river Tigris. Their traditional area of settlement is today divided between Turkey, Syria, Iran and Iraq. About 4,000 years ago, the Assyrian identity started to develop in this area. The Assyrians built one of the world s first empires. Their name, Assyrians or ashuraye in their own language, is derived from the name of the ancient god, whom they worshipped as the highest god Ashur. An ashurayu meant literally a worshipper of the god Ashur. 2 How was the Assyrian empire chracterised? At around 1,400 BC, the Assyrian empire began to expand and become a great empire. At its peak, in 700 BC, it covered large parts of the Middle East and extended to present-day Egypt and the western parts of Turkey. Like today s USA the Assyrian empire was based on inclusion and assimilation of other peoples. Through population movements and other methods the Assyrian kings tried to fuse different peoples and to make them citizens of Assyria. To become Assyrian it was enough to worship the Assyrian gods and obey the king.

6 6 3 When and how did the Assyrian empire fall? The Assyrian capital Nineveh, which at one time was probably the biggest city in the world, fell in 612 BC. Three years later the Assyrians lost the last battle for their empire against a coalition of mainly Babylonians and Medes. The once so powerful empire was gone, the big Assyrian cities were looted, and the new rulers imposed heavy taxes on the conquered cities. The underlying reasons for this defeat are believed to have been internal division among the Assyrians, which made them vulnerable to attacks. 4 What happened to the Assyrians after the fall of the empire? Your people are scattered on the mountains with no one to gather them wrote the Jewish prophet Nahum (3:18) after the fall of the Assyrian empire. There is a lot of scientific evidence today which supports this statement and shows that the Assyrians continued to live in northern Mesopotamia, although under new rulers (Babylonians, Persians and Greeks). Archaeological findings show that life in the countryside continued in traditional manner and city life also eventually returned to normal.

7 7 Christianity 5 When did the Assyrians become Christians? Christianity spread very early among the Assyrians and even today there are church buildings in Assyria which date back to the 4th century. Often the churches were built on the site of temples of the Assyrian gods. According to Assyrian tradition, the apostle Judas Thaddeus played an important role in the Christianisation of the inhabitants of northern Mesopotamia. The Christian Assyrians were severely persecuted by the Persians, who ruled over northern Mesopotamia at that time. 6 How did Christianity affect their identity? Christianity had a strong influence on Assyrian self-perception. As Assyrians they were ashuraye, literally worshippers of the god Ashur. With the arrival of Christianity a process started in which the Assyrians alienated themselves from their pre-christian heritage, which they began to consider as pagan. Because of this the word Assyrian, in its new form suraye, got a new meaning Christian. The ethnic identity faded away during the centuries to the point where the Assyrians considered themselves only as Christians. A similar development took place also among other peoples, e.g., the Greeks.

8 8 7 How did Assyrian Christianity expand? The East Assyrian church was an active missionary church and spread Christianity to many countries in Asia. In the year 800 this church had 230 dioceses and 27 metropolitans from Yemen to China. When the Muslim Arabs conquered the Assyrian heartland in Mesopotamia in the 7th century, this missionary work languished. The cruel attacks of the Turk-Mongolian war lord Timur (or Tamerlane) made the East Assyrian church disappear from most parts of Asia by the end of the 14th century. The church survived only in the Assyrian heartland in Mesopotamia and in India. Assyrian Christianity never really recovered from the attacks of the Mongols. 8 What is the difference between Assyrian and European Christianity? During the 5th century, various ecumenical councils took decisions about theological issues, mainly concerning the relationship between the divine and the human nature of Christ. Assyrian Christianity did not accept all of these decisions and it was therefore condemned as heretic. Consequently, it was isolated from European Christianity and as a result of that developed in a different direction. Today there is a lot of cooperation and dialogue between different churches and the old disagreements are to a certain extent settled.

9 9 9 Which different churches do the Assyrians belong to? Politics divided the Assyrians into eastern and western Assyrians. The former lived in an area controlled by the Persian empire, whereas the latter lived under Byzantine rule. Consequently, two different Assyrian churches were formed, one for the western Assyrians and another for the eastern Assyrians. The official name of the church of the eastern Assyrians today is the Assyrian Church of the East, but in Europe it is more commonly known as the Nestorian Church. The church of the western Assyrians is the Syriac Orthodox Church, the members of which have sometimes been called Jacobites. In the Middle Ages, groups from both of these churches broke away and allied themselves with the Pope in Rome. In that way the Syriac Catholic Church (west) and the Chaldean Church (east) were born. These churches form part of the worldwide Catholic Church. Since the 19th century there are also Protestant Assyrians, although their number has remained low.

10 10 Identity 10 How was the modern Assyrian movement born? Like the Greeks, Armenians and many other peoples, the Assyrians began to take an interest in their pre-christian origins due to the rise of nationalism in the beginning of the 19th century. Archaeological excavations of ancient Assyrian palaces accelerated this process among the Assyrian elite, which began to understand that their people had a history older than Christianity. This national awakening was promoted through books and magazines and from this beginning the Assyrian movement was born. 11 Why do some Assyrians call themselves Syriacs? Some Assyrians from the Syriac Orthodox Church are very religious and heavily influenced by the Old Testament, which describes the Assyrians as enemies of God. They have therefore rejected the Assyrian movement and name, and instead use the church affiliated word Syriacs as a self-designation. For these deeply religious Assyrians church identity is more important than ethnic identity. 12 Why do some Assyrians call themselves Aramaeans? Some Assyrians have adopted an anti-assyrian position based on a different understanding of history. They believe that the roots of their nation go back to a nomadic people known as Aramaeans,

11 11 who lived scattered around the Middle East during ancient times. The Aramaean Assyrians base their view on a set of doubtful arguments, mostly concerning the identity of the language spoken by today s Assyrians. 13 Why do some Assyrians call themselves Chaldeans? Some eastern Assyrians who are members of the Catholic Church, known as the Chaldean Church, have for religious reasons similar to those of the Syriacs rejected the Assyrian identity and designate themselves instead after their church name. The name Chaldean comes from a profession in ancient Mesopotamia. Those who belonged to this profession were experts in astrology. The word is frequently used in the Bible and it came to serve as a name for the new church that was formed when some Assyrians decided to convert to Catholicism and unite with the Catholic Church some 500 years ago. 14 How has the designation Assyrians changed during time? Archaeological findings and historical research in the field of Assyriology have shown how the original self-designation of the Assyrians, ashuraye, changed to the present suryaye or suryoye. The language developed in such a way that the first letter A was dropped: Assur became Sur and the plural form Ashuraye thus became Suraye already in pre-christian times. This change appeared in the West Assyrian dialect as well and therefore the word also appears as Suroye. During the last hundred years an extra Y has been more and more

12 12 in use and the versions Suryaye and Suryoye have been established. The changes have taken shape slowly and are natural linguistic alterations found in many languages. Former lack of knowledge about this fact among the Assyrians themselves has been a major reason for the development of the alternative designations; Syriacs, Chaldeans and Aramaeans. 15 Why can t the Aramaean Assyrians be right about the origin of its people? Simply because the Assyrians have never called their language, country, themselves or any of their churches Aramaean. Archaeology and historical research show that the ancient Aramaeans had their heartland in the vicinity of the city of Damascus in present-day Syria, about one thousand kilometres away from the Assyrian heartland in northern Mesopotamia. The Assyrians started, indeed, to use the Aramaic language, but this process took place while the Assyrian empire was still standing. The main reason was that the Phoenician system of letters used by the Aramaic language was much easier to use than the Assyrian cuneiform. With time the Aramaic and Assyrian languages melted together to form the modern Assyrian language spoken by today s Assyrians as proven by researchers. 16 When was the Assyrian identity first acknowledged in the West? It has been claimed that it was the British archaeologist A.H. Layard who was the first to consider the Christians of northern Mesopotamia to be the descendants of the ancient Assyrians. This is not true. There

13 13 are texts from Western missionaries from the 17th century and even earlier which show that the Christians of northern Mesopotamia were known as Assyrians in the West. During Layard s archaeological excavations in the 19th century this fact became more spread and well-known. 17 What does the Assyrian movement say about the origin of its people? The Assyrian movement considers that the present-day Assyrians have both Assyrian, Aramaean and other components in their history. This has been acknowledged by the Assyrian movement from the beginning and the different historical components have been considered an asset rather than a problem. Present-day Assyrians consider themselves to be the heirs of the ancient Mesopotamian culture, where different peoples lived during different periods. 18 Does it make any difference which designation is used as a name for the people? Even though they acknowledge the different ethnic and cultural components in their ancient history Assyrians remain attached to their self-designation as Assyrians. They have always been known as, and have always called themselves, Assyrians. They have also preserved unique Assyrian traits, like their specific area of settlement in northern Mesopotamia. The Assyrian movement therefore remains firm in its will to preserve the Assyrian identity, which has been in use for thousands of years.

14 14 Assyrians & the West 19 When did the Assyrians start arriving in the West? Large numbers of Assyrians arrived in the United States of America in the beginning of the 20th century due to the ongoing genocide against them in their native lands. Later, starting in the 70s more and more Assyrians started finding their way to European countries. The first group of Assyrians in Sweden for example arrived in Why did they leave Assyria? Wars, oppression and discrimination were factors which forced Assyrians to leave their homes. The Cyprus crisis in 1974, when Turkey occupied the northern part of the island, led to renewed persecution against Assyrians in south-eastern Turkey as they were seen as an ally of the Christian West. Likewise the civil war in Lebanon in 1975 forced many Assyrian who had settled there to flee anew. There is a very strong correlation between wars and oppression and the exodus of Assyrians from Assyria. 21 Which European countries have Assyrian communities? Assyrians have settled in most west European countries. The Assyrian community in Sweden is estimated at more than one hundred thousand individuals, making it at least 1 percent of the Swed-

15 15 ish population. The Swedish city of Södertälje is home to around twenty thousand Assyrians and has become known for its Assyrian football club Assyriska FF, the Assyrian Cathedral of Saint Jakob of Nisibin, and the Assyrian satellite TV channel Suroyo TV. Germany also has a big Assyrian community of around one hundred thousand individuals but they are more geographically scattered than the Assyrians in Sweden. In the Netherlands there are 25,000-35,000 Assyrians. Most of them live in the east of the country with the city Enschede as an important centre. A clear majority of the community is western Assyrian and belongs to the Syriac Orthodox Church, which has a monastery in Glanerburg near the German border. Other known communities in Europe are found in France, UK, Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland, Finland, Norway, Switzerland, Austria, Ukraine, Armenia, Georgia and Russia. 22 How were they welcomed in their new countries? Many Assyrians were frustrated in the beginning as their host countries had difficulties understanding the Muslim oppression they were subjected to in Assyria. As the Assyrian communities in different western countries have grown they have become more and more visible as a distinct group. Assyrians have mostly adapted well to their new societies and are considered some of the best-integrated immigrant groups.

16 16 Assyrians in the world 23 How many Assyrians are there in the world? There are no reliable statistics about the number of Assyrians because their ethnicity is not registered in Middle Eastern states. In countries like Sweden it is impossible to know their exact number because they are not registered as Assyrians but after the country they have come from. The Assyrians themselves estimate that they make up between two and four million in the whole world. 24 Which countries have the highest populations of Assyrians? Iraq is still the country with the highest number of Assyrians. It is believed that at least half a million Assyrians live there. In Iraq s neighbouring countries; Iran, Turkey and Syria, the number of Assyrians has decreased considerably through emigration. In the diaspora there are approximately between 200,000 and 300,000 Assyrians in the USA. There are also large communities in Australia, Germany and Sweden.

17 17 25 What is the situation of the Assyrians in Assyria? The unstable situation in the Middle East and increasing Islamisation continue to instigate the emigration of Assyrians from Syria, Iraq and Iran. Emigration from Turkey has stopped, but the number of Assyrians there today is low. The war in Iraq has forced many Assyrians to leave the country. In general, the outlook for Assyrians in the Middle East is very bleak indeed. 26 Why are the Assyrians in Iraq persecuted? Islamic extremists want to create a purely Muslim country and therefore try to drive out all non-muslims. Terrible atrocities have taken place: churches have been bombed, priests killed and Christians have been forced to choose between converting to Islam or fleeing their homes. It is estimated that about half of Iraq s Assyrians have escaped the country since 2003, most of them to the neighbouring countries of Jordan and Syria. The governing Kurdish parties in northern Iraq have illegally confiscated land owned by Assyrians. By doing this, they hope to Kurdify the entire region of northern Iraq and make it impossible for Assyrians to have their own areas.

18 18 Genocide 27 What is the Assyrian genocide Seyfo? During and immediately following the First World War, the majority of Christians in Ottoman Turkey were killed or driven away. The largest Christian groups were the Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians. What happened to the Armenians is the most well-known and therefore the expression the Armenian genocide is widely used. But in fact all three Christian peoples Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks were the victims of these genocidal events. The Assyrians use the word Seyfo to describe this event. Seyfo means sword and is derived from the fact that the worst year of the genocide, 1915, has been called the year of the sword. 28 What were the reasons for this genocide? The Ottoman Empire had been big and powerful. During the 19th century, however, it began to disintegrate. The Balkan Christian nations liberated themselves and the Arabs in North Africa also revolted and achieved freedom. The earlier multi-religious and ethnically heterogeneous empire became geographically smaller and ethnically more uniform. Simultaneously a fear spread that the European great powers would divide and conquer what was left of the empire. Turkish leaders saw their only chance to save what could be saved by making the empire totally uniform, i.e., Muslim and Turkish. The Christian non-turkish minorities were an obstacle to this and therefore they

19 19 had to be eliminated. It happened in two ways: many were killed and a great part of the rest was driven away. The Muslim minorities, especially the Kurds, were subjected to forceful assimilation attempts. It was not considered possible to Turkify the Christians, whereas it was believed to be possible to assimilate the Muslim minorities and make Turks of them in vain, it would turn out. 29 Who were the perpetrators of the genocide? In 1908, a new party assumed power in Ottoman Turkey. These socalled Young Turks wanted to promote development and reforms to make the country modern and European, but the party was also motivated by a strong Turkish nationalism. A small group of Young Turk leaders decided to solve the Armenian question. It was claimed that the Armenians constituted a security risk because some nationalists among them demanded independence or autonomy and some Armenians cooperated with the Russians, one of Turkey s enemies. The actions against the Armenians were then extended to the Assyrians and Greeks. On a local level it was possible to use the old animosity against all non-muslims. When the First World War broke out a jihad was declared against the enemies of Islam. This made many Muslims participate in or at least accept the atrocities against the Christians. The Ottoman army supervised the deportation of Christians. In many places the Christian population was deported by Kurdish tribes, which had been promised a part of the booty. Some Kurdish tribes actively participated in the killings. Special militias were recruited to oversee internal security, which in fact meant to physically incapacitate the Christians of the empire. One such special organisa-

20 20 tion, Teshkilat-i-Maksusa, consisted of 30,000 men, many of whom were criminals who had been released from prison and given one week s training. 30 What were the results of the genocide and how many were killed? The result of the genocide was that the Assyrians were hugely weakened in the areas where they had been living for generations. Some Assyrian villages were completely taken over by Turks or Kurds. In others, the Assyrians tried to reconstruct their life after the war with varied success. The Young Turks, in fact, succeeded in their ambition. After the genocide and after the great population exchange with Greece in 1923 there were very few Christians left in the country. It had become homogeneously Muslim. Historians believe there were 700,000 Assyrians in the Ottoman Empire and Persia in Of these at least 300,000 were killed. The Assyrians themselves often talk about half a million being killed. It is not impossible that this estimate is correct, but researchers are more conservative and stick to the somewhat lower number. The fact that it was genocide and that it had devastating consequences for the Assyrians is beyond doubt 31 Were there eyewitnesses to the genocide? There were many eyewitnesses. Despite the fact that so many were killed, there were also many Assyrians who survived. Some of them have written about their experiences, but in most cases their testimonies have been preserved in the family as oral history. In the

21 s and 1990s, many survivors of Seyfo in different countries were interviewed by researchers. There were also Western diplomats and missionaries who lived in the area where Assyrians were killed and they later told and wrote about what they had seen. Immediately after the First World War some of those responsible for the genocide were tried by Turkish courts. Their testimonies are of great importance for the documentation of what happened. 32 Why does Turkey deny the genocide? It is difficult to know the exact reasons for Turkey s insistent denial of the genocide. It has to do with national pride. It wants to create a picture of how the Turkish republic was born which can briefly be summed up as follows: the European great powers had decided to end and divide the Ottoman Empire, the Christians of the empire betrayed their country and cooperated with the great powers, but Atatürk came and saved the country. In this narrative the Christians are the villains as traitors and fifth columnists. What happened to them can therefore be seen as just. The official Turkish view further claims that the Christians still continue their campaign against Turkey by exaggerating their sufferings and by calling what happened genocide. After having invested so much effort and also money in spreading its version of history, it is difficult for Turkey to make a U- turn and admit that the Christians were indeed victims of genocide. That would mean an admission that Turkey had been wrong all along and that would also implicate a total revision of the history which has been created about the birth of the republic.

22 22 33 Why is it important that Seyfo is recognised? Many say that it is not a good idea to dwell on history, and to look ahead instead. It is, however, important to attain Turkish recognition of the genocide at least for the following reasons: For the sake of truth. A truthful conception of the world and of history is an intrinsic value. For the sake of the victims. It is important that we remember and honour those who were killed for what they are, victims of genocide, and not to imagine that they were victims of internal conflicts or civil war or something else. For the sake of the descendants. The second, third and fourth generation living today do not get any peace until the genocide is recognised. In a way the genocide continues and the victims are subjected to new atrocities as long as their suffering is denied or played down. For the sake of Turkey. If Turkey is to become a democratic country respecting human rights it has to take responsibility for its past. Many claim that a decent policy towards minorities today is more important than statements about historical events. These two are, however, interdependent. A correct picture of what happened to the minorities of the empire in is a basis for a better treatment of them today.

23 23 Assyria 34 Is it possible to talk about Assyria today? There is no Assyrian state or Assyrian military rule in the area which historically belonged to the Assyrians. It is therefore not possible to talk about Assyria in that sense. The area which today consists of south-eastern Turkey, north-eastern Syria, northern Iraq and western Iran is, however, Assyria for the Assyrians. When Assyrians say that they come from Assyria they mean that they come from the area, which for them has been Assyria since time immemorial. The Assyrians are stateless because they do not have a state, but they are not landless. There is the land of Assyria, but no state of Assyria. 35 Do the Assyrians seek a state of their own? Many Assyrians want autonomy in Assyria. This is, however, more and more politically unrealistic and therefore most of them seek to survive as a minority. Right now there is a discussion about creating an Assyrian safety zone with some autonomy on the Nineveh plains in northern Iraq. There the Assyrians constitute a majority. The constitution of Iraq allows the creation of administrative zones, but there is a lack of political will in Iraq for the moment.

24 24 Bibliography Hirmiz Aboona: Assyrians, Kurds and Ottomans. Intercommunal Relations on the Periphery of the Ottoman Empire. Cambria Press 2008 Frederick A. Aprim: Assyrians: The Continuous Saga. Xlibris 2005 Frederick A. Aprim: Assyrians: From Bedr Khan to Saddam Hussein. Driving into Extinction the Last Aramaic Speakers. Xlibris 2006 David Gaunt: Massacres, Resistance, Protectors: Muslim- Christian Relations in Eastern Anatolia During World War I. Gorgias Press 2006 George V. Yana: Ancient and Modern Assyrians. A Scientific Analysis. Xlibris 2008

25 25 Internet Assyrian International News Agency: Assyrian Universal Alliance: Nineveh: Assyrian Identity: (multilingual) Seyfo Center: (multilingual) Assyrian Democratic Organization: (multilingual)

26 Get to know the Assyrian organisation which gives hope to Assyrians in Assyria. Visit us at: assyrianswithoutborders.com