THE BRITISH BETRAYAL OF THE ASSYRIANS
YUSUF MALEK
FORMERLY OF THE IRAQI CIVIL
SERVICE
JUNE 1917 - SEPTEMBER 6, 1930
Author of Les Consequences Tragiques du Mandat en Iraq 1932
With introduction by
William A. Wigram, DD
Assyrian International News Agency
Books Online
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Published by the Joint Action of The Assyrian National Federation and The Assyrian National League of America - 1758 North Park Avenue, Chicago IL (Books may be secured by application of this address only)
First published in 1935. Copyright 1936 By the Author
No part of the book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. All Rights Reserved
Printed in the United States of America, The Kimball Press, Warren Point, N.J.
Dedicated to the Assyrian People in commemoration of the Assyrians who suffered martyrdom at the hands of the Iraqi Government. Y.M.
AUTHOR'S PREFACE
The atrocities deliberately perpetrated by the forces of Faisal, the puppet king on a shaky throne, led by their ill-bred officers against the Assyrians in Iraq during August 1933, the month that should mark a black spot in British history, have necessarily accelerated the publication--as an urgent necessity--of a part of a comprehensive book on the Iraqi minorities which I have in view. The British Government has betrayed, and has certainly proved herself unworthy of, the trust that other Eastern peoples have placed in her. She received many warnings as to the precarious position of the Iraq minorities in an emancipated Iraq, but it continued to ignore the appeals made to it and set aside the apprehensions felt even by the members of the Permanent Mandates Commission.
Though unfortunately the Assyrian men, women, and children, who, in defence of their very honor, have been most brutally massacred with the usual Arab savagery, are lamentably and irretrievably lost, yet it is not too late to save the remnant if only as a monument to British perfidy and injustice. This is not impossible. It is incumbent upon the leaders who, rightly or wrongly, placed their "implicit trust" in the British Government and British liberal, to mend their ways.
I am not cognizant of the circumstances that led the Assyrian leaders at the time to be swayed by the British policy but the blood of our martyrs who have fallen victims to the "implicit trust" and that villainous policy, is loudly crying to save those who are in the lion's mouth. The Assyrian people who have been sorely tried for the last nineteen years (1915-1933) and have encountered many bitter tribulations, want and need a stable and honest policy that can offer it a real, permanent peace and security, which, in the last sixteen years (1918-1933) of trial has been definitely proved impossible under the British domination.
In April 1933, I attempted to return to Iraq and had to see Sir Harold Stow, the British Consul-General of Betroth. He was kind enough to advise me to do so, but, at the same time, he communicated with the Iraqi Consul-General of Betroth, Camilla al Galena, to say that it would be in the interests of Iraq if I were allowed to return when the Iraq Government could place me under strict policy surveillance. I subsequently approached the Iraqi Consul in writing on the 15th of April and he, after having communicated with Badgered, sent me a letter No. 622/4/12 dated 22-5-33, the translation of which I append herewith:
"The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has, in letter No. 3711, dated 3rd May, 1933, informed me that the Iraq Government cannot accede to the requests embodied in your application, but it can confirm that no legal action will be taken against you for your past prejudicial activities against the interests of Iraq."
This sounds very nice; but what about "illegal actions" so common in Iraq? The requests embodied in my application to which the Iraqi Consul makes reference, and to which the Iraqi Government could not accede, included a request for my personal safety and liberty while in Iraq. Upon further inquiry, the Consul on the 8th of June, 1933, informed me that he could give me no particulars other than those contained in his letter No. 622/4/12, dated the 22nd of May, 1933, which meant nothing to me because of its vagueness and ambiguity. Sir SAT's recommendation, presumably made bona fide, was that I be permitted to return to Iraq under the understanding that I was to be placed under "strict police surveillance." I discovered this from the Iraq Consul himself who was kind enough to furnish me with copies of his correspondence with Baghdad.
I have quoted this minor case to illustrate the value of the League of Nations paper guarantees in Iraq for "the full protection of life and property of the Iraq minorities", and to show how impossible it is for the members of the Iraq minorities, Chaldeans and others included, to approach the League of Nations and report the daily violations of the paper guarantees by the Iraq Government, however grave and acute such violations may be, without exposing themselves to reprisals.
The pronounced policy of the Iraq Government clearly aims at the destruction and extinction of the Assyrian race by merging it forcibly in the body politic of Iraq.
In the face of the recent atrocities (and more are probably to follow) committed against the Assyrian men, women, and children, against all laws of civilization in Iraq, and particularly in the Mosul Liwa, by the armed forces of the Iraq Government for which preparations were being made some months previously, England remained a mere observer, and her "moral responsibility" undertaken at Geneva through the medium of Sir Francis Humphrys, her accredited representative, proved, as we constantly maintained in writing and otherwise, not to be worth the paper upon which it was recorded. In his last day, Sir Francis will have something on his conscience. We were betrayed by England on every possible occasion, and were finally handed over to a so-called Arab Government, without adequate or reasonable safeguards for our safety.
Our grievances and claims have been deliberately misrepresented as I informed, (through the kind favour of Mr. George Naqqash, the brilliant Lebanese writer Mr. Rennie Smith of the Inter-parliamentary Union, London, from beginning to end, and it is the firm belief of many, as well as mine, that more misrepresentations will follow; hence there is the absolute necessity for the present work.
As an Assyro-Chaldean by nationality, and one of the indigenous inhabitants from the heart of Mosul, with thirteen years of continuous experience of the Iraqi government and the British officials, I claim the right of being able to state our side of the case. Living in exile for the last twenty-nine months (April 1931-August 1933) with no possible access to my documents, I regret that I shall not be able to produce a comprehensive book as I originally desired. But my memory has not failed me, and will not, I hope, do so now. I hope that the present work will serve to give the readers, and particularly those interested in the Assyrians, a general idea as to the recent events leading up to the barbarous acts committed by the regular armed forces of the Iraq Government against the peaceful Assyrian civil population.
Chapter I has been written by the Assyrian National League of America. Chapter V has been written by Col. F. Cunliffe-Owen. Chapters VII and second half of Chapter X have been written by Dr. David B. Perley. The indexing is also his work. Chapter XIII has been contributed by Col J.J. McCarthy. I am indebted to them all for their valuable services.
For permission to re-publish Lt.-Gol.A.T. Wilson's' excellent Crisis in Iraq, originally published in the Nineteenth Century & After Review of October 1933, I am indebted to the author and to the publishers, Constable & Company, Limited, 10-12 Orange Street, London, W.C.2.
For the reading of the galley proof, I am indebted to Mrs. D. B. Perley of New Jersey and Mr. George K. Eshaya of Illinois. For the reading of the page proof I am again indebted to the former. For the excellent illustrations, I am indebted to Mr. George Mardinly and to Mr. Lutfi Dartley, more especially to Mr. Charles S. Dartley, all of the State of New Jersey, U.S.A.
It is a pleasing duty to express my sincere thanks to Hon. Nicholas O. Beery, the ex-Police Court Judge and Prosecutor of the Pleas of Passaic County in New Jersey, for his generous assistance rendered in reading and correcting every page of proof as it came from the compositor, and for his counsel with regard to matters of general presentation. My thanks are due also to the generous scholars, such as Max Zucker, Esquire, Rabbi and Lawyer, Judge Joseph A. Furrey, Joseph J. Durna, an attorney of New Jersey, and Prof. E.J. James, B.D., Ph.D of Chicago who have improved the book by their suggestions and painstaking criticism.
It is gratifying to acknowledge my supreme obligation to the Assyrian National League of America and to the Assyrian National Federation* in America. The latter is composed of the Assyrian National Union, Inc. of Massachusetts, the Assyrian National Association of Connecticut, the Christian Aid Society of Philadelphia, Pa., the West New York Branch of New Jersey, the Newark Branch of New Jersey. Had it not been for their zealous co-operation, the present work would not have been possible.1
W. A. Wigram, D.D. - Wells, Somerset - November 1933
DRAMATIS PERSONNAE IN PRODITIONE
Rashid 'Ali al Gailani. Prime Minister
Hikmat Sulaiman Minister of Interior
Yasin al Hashini Minister of France
Nuri al Sa'id Minister of Foreign Affairs
Muhammad Zaki Minister of Justice
Jalal Baban Minister of Defence
Rustam Haidar Minister of Communications and works
Sayyid 'Abdul Mahdi Minister of Education
Sir Francis Humphrys His Britannic Majesty's Ambassador in Baghdad (the term of the whole tragedy)
Capt. V. Holt Oriental Secretary to the British Embassy in Baghdad
Major C.J. Edmonds First Assistant Advisor to Sir Kenehan Cornwallis
Major W.C.F.A. Wilson Administrative Inspector in Mosul
Colonel R.S. Stafford Administrative Inspector in Mosul
Major Douglas B. Thomson The English expert for the Settlement of the Assyrians
"O, it is excellent To have a giant's strength; but it is tryannous to use it like a giant."
From Shakespeare's Measure for Measure, II,2.
Circumstances Prior to The Final Betrayal
III The Inhabitants of Iraq and the Iraq Unity
V The Assyrians in Baqubah and at Mindanù Col. F. Cunliffe-Owen
VII The JacobitesùD. B. Perley
IX The Jews and Other Minorities
X Missionaries and Politicsùwith D. B. Perley
XI The Assyrian Levies and the Kirkuk Incident
XII The Assyrians in the House of Lords
XIII The Assyrians in Persia and Mesopotamia Col. J. J. McCarthy
XIV The Assyrians Before the League of Nations in 1932
The Final Betrayal of The Assyrians
XV The Final Betrayal of the Assyrians û Part I
XVI The Final Betrayal of the Assyrians û Part II
XVII The Final Betrayal of the Assyrians û Part III
XVIII The Arab Barbarism in Iraq
XIX The Crisis in Iraq û Lt. Col. A. T. Wilson, M.P
A Letter to the Mandates Commission by the Mar Shimun et als
B List of 76 Persons Brutally Killed Individually
C Radiogramme from the Assyrian Metropolitan of India
D Dr. Wigram's Letter to the "Editor of the Near East and India
E The Treacherous Document of Baghdad
F The Mar Shimun's Protest to the Foreign Diplomatic Representatives in Iraq
G Statement Showing a Small Percentage of Assyrians Massacred in August of 1933
H Statement Showing Names of Persons Brutally Assassinated Subsequent to the Official Massacre
I A List of the Assyrian Villages Looted During the Massacre
J An Appeal by the Mar Shimun to all the Christian Churches
K Anglo-Iraq declaration of 1932 Regarding the Kurdish Government
L Minutes of the Iraq Committee in London
M Reply of the Acting-High Commissioner to the Signatories of the Petition, dated September 11, 1930
N Petition of the Rev. Shlaimun et als
P Protest of the Assyrian National Union of Michigan to the League of Nations
CIRCUMSTANCES PRIOR TO THE FINAL BETRAYAL
"Observe thyself as thy greatest enemy would do, so that thou be thy greatest friend" ûJeremy Taylor
Sargon II, the next great Assyrian Monarch, was like his predecessor, not only a great conqueror and statesmen but a great builders; for he also founded a new capital with a palace of equal magnificence with that of Tiglath-Pileser III. Similar impetus must have been given to the development of culture throughout the empire. Sargon went a step further than his predecessor by arousing a tremendous growth of interest in the study of the past history of Assyria. By naming himself Sargon II, he wished to create a strong sentiment for the antiquities or traditions of his people. This fact is illustrated by Sargon's ordering and directing the edition of various texts which concerned adventures of Sargon of Agade (3800 B.C.) It would not be stretching the evidence too far in saying that Sargon was the first enlightened Monarch of Western Asia, who set a new example for his successors in the promotion of learning and culture. As Sidney Smith says, "Sargon was not only a great King but an enlightened man, and in him is to be found the same taste for artistic and literary effort that distinguished his successors'3
Esarhaddon's reign is essentially a period of political developments, defense and expansion of the Empire, and its administration. Cultural side of the Empire was left to his son's reign, Ashurbanipal III, the Grand Monarch of Assyria. His interest in development and spread of learning surpassed those of his grandfather. Ashurbanipal was himself a learned Monarch, and his fondness for learning led to his collection of two magnificent libraries at Nineveh. His interest in art was as personal as that of his grandfather and the Assyrian art reached its perfection during his reign. "The Age of Ashurbanipal marks a definite stage in the history of culture, and the modern term (the Age of Ashurbanipal) befittingly links that king's name with his time, as it connects the glories of Imperial Rome with the name of Augustus"4
The Assyrian civilization û specifically culture and learning û was based upon that of the Babylonians, a kindred people. In this respect the Assyrians did not create a culture of their own, but neither did the Romans. However, the Assyrians served civilization in their own way, a contribution which the historians of the Ancient East compare to that of the Romans; that is "accepting in its entirety the civilization of a kindred people (the Babylonians) they (the Assyrians) maintained it and spread it in a manner the original creators were entirely incapable of, at a time when a failure to do so would have considerably affected the course of history"5
Hardly anything has been recorded in the ancient histories concerning this nation after Nineveh was destroyed. What happened to those people? Where did they go? According to the recorded history of King Oogar IX, an As6Syrian, the remnants of this empire were under the Roman mandate. King Oogar himself was ruling in Adasa or the modern city of Orhie during the time of Christ. In the previously mentioned city twenty-nine Assyrian kings ruled, fourteen of which were from the house of Oogar and fifteen from the House of Mano.
THE ASSYRIAN 'CHURCH OF THE EAST' EMBRACEMENT AND EXTENSION OF CHRISTIANITY IN THE ORIENT
St. Thomas, "One of the Twelve 35 A.D. û 45 A.D.
St. Addai (Thaddeus) 33 A.D. û 45 A.D.
Agai and Mari, "Two of the Seventy" 45 A.D. û 48 A.D.
Ambrius, related to Mary, the Virgin 82 A.D. û 98 A.D.
Oraham I "of Kashckar" 98 A.D. û 120 A.D.
Jacob I, related to Joseph the
"Naagara" (Carpenter) 120 A.D. û 138 A.D.
"It is better for the Kurds to become the
fur of a lion than be the tail of a monkey."
Sunna 500,000 Hereditary foes of the Shi'a
Shi'a 1,300,000 oppressed by the ruling class, the Sunna
Kurds 800,000 Continuously fighting the Arabs
For political and no other reasons
Non-Moslem Minorities 400,000 League of Nations. These are:
In 1933, the two rival sects were represented as follows:
Number of Population: Shi'a--- 1,300,000 Number of Deputies: 28
Sunna-- 500,000 Number of Deputies: 36
Copies of the above protest were sent to:
The Chairman, Chamber of Deputies, Teheran
The Foreign Office of the Turkish Republic, Angora
The British High Commissioner at Baghdad
The Chairman, House of Commons, London
The American Consul-General, Baghdad
The Turkish Consul-General, Baghdad
"Ni Hushtar Haiwan Ni Arab Insan
"Neither the camel is an animal
Nor is the Arab a human being"
Dealing with the electoral law, the report states:
Original Number of Number of Houses
Names of Villages Houses Destroyed
Note:
All the population, peaceful and otherwise, migrated. So far only 10% have returned. Tobacco, crop, orchards were completely destroyed.
DISTRICT MIZURI
Names of Villages Original Number of Number of Houses Houses Destroyed
Dodamar 8 8
Sararkar 18 18
Girkamah 23 15
Sararkiar 27 20
Mergazar 21 14
Shirwan-Mazin 80 45
Lati 12 07
Kilkamu 28 16
Ghamada 25 25
Hupa 28 28
Zaiti 37 16
Dukan-dara 19 09
Laira 22 07
Adelbey 21 08
Stopi 18 07
Salki 32 14
Gozi 38 21
Banan 41 19
Arghosh 85 38
Shiwa 51 14
Sailor 17 08
Ravina 36 20
Tavi 18 08
Note: Only 15% of the population have returned to their homes. Remarks: Reference Cultivation as for Baroj district.
For reasons of policy the British authorities have been assuring the League of Nations that all is well in the Kurdish districts. The following copy of a circular (and this is only one of many) should show where the truth lies.
FROM THE DISTRICT OF DOHUK
To All Kurds (through the Kurdish agents of the northern districts)
Pay attention. Open your eyes and have a look around yourselves. The British have just concluded a treaty with Iraq in which the Kurdish rights have not been taken into consideration. In two years time, the British Mandate will be lifted and subsequently Iraq will become free upon its entry into the League of Nations. The Kurds will remain broken-hearted under the Arabs. It would, therefore, be shameful to us if we do not claim our rights as the people of Sulaimaniyah have been doing. Our brethren, men and women, in Sulaimaniyah, are doing their utmost in the interests of their cause. They have succeeded in inviting the notice of the League of Nations and His Excellency the High Commissioner to their cries. If we do not join Sulaimaniyah, our status would no doubt become worse and our rights would be entirely lost.
We, the undersigned, have been appointed by the tribes of Sindi, Guli, Birwari, Doski and by all other people of the Northern districts to put this Bayannama (Notification) on their behalf before the world and claim the rights of the Kurds. Our wishes are the same as those of Sulaimaniyah and we differ on no point at all.
We too, like the liwa of Sulamaniyah want the establishment of an independent Kurdish State (they mean an autonomous Kurdistan which was recommended by Count Telekib Commission) in accordance with the resolutions of the League of Nations.
Signed Sheik Nuri Brifkani
Sheik Giyath ud Din
Sheik Raqib Surchi
Adib effendi, Rais Baladiyah of Amadiyah
Tirkhan Haji Rashid beg Birwari
Sheik Shahab, Ziber
Copies of the above were sent to: The League of Nations, the High Commissioner, (Baghdad) the Prime Minister of the Arabs, The British Parliament, and the people of liwa of Sulaimaniyah.
Copies are also on the files of the Special Service Officer and Administrative Inspector, Mosul. The circular is dated 9/8/30 which was translated by Muhammad Sa'id effendi, the Kurdish translator of the Mosul liwa.
In conclusion, I find it my duty for the purpose of history, if for nothing else, to assure the noble Kuirdish Nation that the Assyrian levies had at no time the desire or option to operate in Kurdistan. The Assyrian chiefs, particularly their paramount leader, The Mar Shimun, Patriarch, did their best to maintain friendly relations with their traditional neighbours and if they await the day of reckoning, their target should be the British and Iraqi troops. In proof of this statement, I append below copies of correspondence which should not be disadvantageous to the Kurds.
Code telegram dated 24/10/30 sent on behalf of Iraq minorities from Mosul to London:
"Trouble Sulaimania. Arab army moved up to stop Air Force
and levies to co-operate despite strong protest Mar Shimun directed
High Commissioner 11.9.30. See copy Lambeth stop.Christians
Terrified trouble villages future relations Kurds. Chaldeo-
Assyrians in danger stop Please approach Foreign Office intervene
Urgent." Ends
Lambeth Palace, .E.I. 25th October 1930
Private
DearàThe Archbishop of Canterbury directs me to thank you for the important communication which you have sent him this morning. The Archbishop will try and get some chance of communicating with Lord Passfield. He fully realizes the grounds for anxiety about the position of the Assyrians.
Yours sincerely (Signed) M.G. Haigh
Downing Street, 3rd November 1930
Sir,
I am directed by Lord Passfield to refer to your letter of the 24th of October in which you protest against the alleged intention of the High Commissioner for Iraq to employ the Assyrian levies in connection with "the rising that has occurred in the Sulaimaniyah District."
I am, Sir, Your obedient servant (signed) J.E.W.Flood
The statement of Mar Eshai Shimun follows:
"The Assyrians were engaged in the following battles:
"In addition to the above various other minor operations were undertaken to control the turbulent northern Iraq as the British troops were withdrawn in 1921 and the burden had to fall on the Assyrian loyal troops. The Assyrian police, whose services I have not mentioned, also played an important role in defending the northern frontiers of Iraq.
"It will, therefore, be seen that the Assyrian people have been sorely tried and have remained refugees and homeless for the last 18 years after which they were deserted to be massacred in August 1933.
"The reasons leading up to the recent atrocities and outrageous acts committed against the Assyrian civil population have been partly recognized and reported to the League of Nations, whom I am furnishing with more particulars, which, under the terrible conditions my people and myself have been labouring, was an impossibility. The Iraq Government, the military and civil forces, under whose orders the latter were acting, is primarily and wholly responsible for the recent atrocities. The Iraq Government will deny any killing of Assyrian non-combatants, but the Assyrian widows and orphans, devastated villages, the ruins that can be seen, and the innocent blood crying high, are the best testimony that I can produce in support of my statement. The Kurds, upon whose shoulders the Iraq government will try to throw the responsibility for the heart-breaking events, are not responsible. It is true that certain Kurds, instigated and armed by the Iraq government did commit theft, but they did not participate in the wholesale massacres. On the contrary, I have evidence to show that certain Kurdish chiefs and Aghas actually protected the isolated Assyrians whose fate would have otherwise been similar to that of their brethren.
"The attitude of the Iraq government towards the Assyrians has been inimical throughout, and it become a real danger as soon as the Iraq government was let loose after its admission into the League of Nations. We have definite cases of grave miscarriage of justice and of intolerance on the part of the Iraq government to show that such was the attitude.
"The presence of Major Thomson, appointed by the Iraq government as settlement expert in an Advisory Capacity, was the best excuse for the Iraq government to fall on the Assyrians. The Iraq government viewed the settlement scheme with suspicion and various pretexts were found to render Thomson's scheme futile. Finally, on the 10th and 11th of July 1933, two meetings were held in the office of Mutasarrif of Mosul when the Iraq government's policy for a heterogeneous settlement that would have undoubtedly led to the complete destruction of the Assyrians, was explained. At these meetings, the Mutasarrif and the other officials, in order to make the Assyrians more desperate than what they were, said that those who disapprove his government's policy should leave the country immediately. He further said that Persia would disperse them, and that Turkey would not accept them. Under the intolerable conditions to which the Assyrians were deliberately driven, they had no alternative but to migrate to Syria. Certain Assyrian representative leaders, with some hundreds of their men, left Mosul quite peacefully and in good order carrying their arms which they had legally acquired for self-protection, if occasion demanded it. The first group reached a point on the Syro-Iraq frontier where they dispatched a letter to the Iraq government to say that 'they had emigrated in accordance with the declared policy of the government; that they had no intention of fighting whatsoever; and that they request the government not to molest their families and relatives who wished to join them' Had the Iraq government honestly kept up the terms of its announcement made at Mosul and had they not harassed the groups that were following the first batches, I am sure that not one single drop of innocent blood would have been shed. Due to hatred and fanaticism, and in order to demonstrate their military power before the discontented Kurds of the whole Wilayet and before the Shi'a who were on the brink of war with the Sunnis, the Iraq government saw the moment opportune to massacre the Assyrians. Only four weeks previously, the Iraqi Prime Minister had declared in parliament that The Assyrians were a peaceful people and that he had yet to learn of any aggression by them on the villages in their vicinity.
"For the last five months, extensive anti-Assyrian propaganda passed unchecked. The silence of the government meant encouragement to those who were after the Assyrian blood for many years past. Revolutionary speeches against the Assyrians were made in parliament just four weeks before the 'massacre' and had the British government moved then, the Assyrian women and children would not have been made widows and orphans. I protested to the Iraq government, sending copies of my protest to the Foreign Diplomats. The anti-Assyrians began to feel uneasy about the whole situation.
"Finally, the Iraq government enacted an emergency law on the 15th of August 1933, which resulted in my deportation from Iraq on the 18th of August 1933. The legality of such a law that renders thousands of other members of the Iraq minorities under the mercy (if such a term can be used) of the Iraq government is a matter for the civilized world to decide.
"I left Iraq on the strict understanding that I would be free to place the case of my people before the world and I was promised by the Air-Vice-Marshal that as soon as I left, he would, together with other British officers, leave immediately for the zone of massacre to establish at Dohuk a refugee camp that would accommodate the orphans, children and panic-stricken Assyrians. He went as far as Mosul and I am informed that the Iraq government prevented him from going any farther as I presume the Iraqi officials were either still busy in the massacre or were removing the signs of their barbarous acts. A large number of women and children have been killed by rifle, and revolver shots. Hundreds of noncombatants have been assassinated. Over a thousand Assyrian women and children have been brought to Mosul and are being terrorized. Pressure is being brought to bear upon them to say that the Kurds, and not the Iraq army, committed the atrocities. No one knows what is happening to the other Assyrians who have escaped the massacre. Assyrian priests were persecuted and tortured. Pregnant women were bayoneted. We have a complete list of the people thus tortured and the denial of the Iraq government is yet to be judged by the civilized world.
"The whole matter is now in the hands of the League of Nations. We had formerly warned the League that we did not feel secure until effective measures had been taken that would ensure our safety. The warning was not taken seriously. The British opposition was too strong with the lamentable results now known to the whole world.
"No plans for the future have been formulated, but we insist that a permanent, satisfactory solution should be sought that would ensure us permanent safety to live as a free people and not like serfs. We naturally also insist that those responsible should reap what they have sown.
"I now appeal most earnestly to the civilized world for a fair judgment, particularly to the British public, in whose impartiality and high sense of justice the Assyrians have not lost faith. The British public, when aware of the true facts will not tolerate with indifference the persecution of the Oldest Christian People in the world who have been faithful and loyal to Our Lord throughout many ages of persecution. The British public opinion can bring influence to bear on the British Government to redeem the many pledges and promises made to the Assyrians but which, alas, were broken time after another."
If I am not accused of inquisitiveness, I should like to offer a few observations on the above statement, as I feel that the Assyrians were not fully aware of what was going on behind the scenes when even they were so loyally serving the interests of the British Empire. The aims behind the British games would have had remained obscure to me, had I not been a Government Official and so had the opportunity of seeing what others could not see. I know that I will be accused of disloyalty, but I firmly believe that all means are legal when one's nation is at stake.
His Britannic Majesty's Government promise conveyed in Sir Henry Dobbs' memorandum to safeguard the interests of the Assyrians; has been fulfilled in that the channels of blood of Assyrian women and children have flown side by side with the pipe lines that carry oil from Mosul to the port of Haifa.
Again, Sir Henry's note to Sir Kenehan Cornwallis that "if they have it in their heads that we are initiating a final move for putting them under the Arabs, they may run amort" requires some explanation. That note was written subsequent to the meeting held between the Mar Simun's father and Sir Henry Dobbs when the former protested against the military expedition that was being sent against Sheik Daud-I-Daud, the Yazidi chief. As the future of the Jabal Sinjar, the home of the Yazidis, was not yet defined, sir Henry Dobbs advised the Ministry of the Interior (Baghdad) that before embarking upon the contemplated operations, the French authorities in Syria should be informed in order to take the wind out of the sails of the Yazidis who otherwise would open the door to the French, enabling them to take a public attitude. In that case, Sir Henry added, 'we should have been in a much worse position'. Sir Henry concluded by saying that "we must take no action that would arouse the feelings of the Christians in Mosul as their sympathies are for the French and we know that Paulus (a member on the Commission of the League of Nations) has definite ideas of handing the Mosul Wilayet to the French".
The Assyrians and the other Iraqi minorities must certainly be the allies of the Yazidis against the tyrannical power of the Iraqi government. It was not long ago when the Yazidis under their paramount leader, Hamo Shero of Jabal Sinjar, gave shelter to more than two thousand Christian refugees who were escaping the 1915 massacres in Turkey. Rev. Yusuf Tufankchi, the present delegate of the Chaldean Patriarch, (Beyrouth) was one of those refugees. Hamo Shero, though offered ten pounds for every Christian he would surrender to the old Turk to be slaughtered, did not only refuse the offer, but also fought the Turkish punitive expeditions sent against them. It is clear that when the Yazidis, who are believed to be "Abadat ul Shaitan" (devil worshippers) protected, at considerable sacrifice to them, the refugee Christians, the English Government whose king is "said to be the Defender of the Christian Faith" surrendered the Christians to the ravenous Arab of Iraq, the heir of the Old Turk, to be assassinated on refusal of forced conversion to Mohammedanism.
It is true that at the Baqubah Refugee Camp, the British authorities treated the Assyrians well but that was because they were in need of their services in the stormy years that were to follow. The British were in hostile Arab country and had wide experience of Arab treachery during the days of the war and knew that they could not have found more loyal people than the Assyrians to maintain a balance of power in the country.
As regards Captain Foweraker's settlement scheme, though a certain number of the Assyrians were settled, yet the settlement scheme was known as the "Z-Plan"; that was to plant the Assyrians amidst the Kurds to be used against the latter if and when they rose in the face of the Iraq Government. It is quite evident; therefore, that all the British plans were not for the good of the Assyrians and that there gradual extermination was only a matter of time.
Confidential. Secretariat of H.E. the High
Commissioner for Iraq
Baghdad, 17th April 1925
D. O. No. S. O. 875
My dear Lloyd,
His Excellency has asked me to send you the enclosed note, a copy of which also gone to Cornwallis. Yours Sincerely (Signed) B. H. Bourdillon
H.I. Lloyd, Esq. O.B.E.;M.C. Administrative Inspector, Mosul
Note by His Excellency, the High Commissioner
"I learn that David Mar Shimun, father of the Patriarch is greatly agitated by our attack on Daud-I-Daud and our conflict with the Yazidis generally. The Assyrians look upon he Yazidis as their allies against Islam, and they consider that this move to bring the Yazidis into order is the beginning of a final move to put the Christians and Yazidis definitely under the Arabs and Kurds. I have no doubt that it was this feeling which brought pressure to bear on the Air Officer Commanding (through the levies) while I was away on leave and made him refuse at the beginning of September to move against Daud-I-Daud, when Mr. Davidson and Mr. Lloyd wished to do so. It means that the tendencies of the Assyrians and Mosul Christian to look to the French will be intensified by an operation against the Yazidis, and I have little doubt that the Yazidis will try to get the French to interfere. It was for this reason that I insisted that the French should be notified, as, if they agree in the beginning, the wind will be taken out of the Yazidis sails. We should have been in a worse position if the French had begun protesting violently later and taking up a public attitude of protecting the Yazidis.
"But I think we may have to look out for squalls in the Assyrian direction as a consequence of this Yazidis business. The Assyrians are very sore and desperate over the Turkish occupation of Hak-kiari; the Assyrian refugee flock-owners are in conflict with the Kurdish flock-owners of Amadia, Dohuk and Aqra because there is not enough grazing for the extra Assyrian flocks, and, if they have it in their heads that we are initiating a final move for putting them under the Arabs they may run amort. I am going to speak to Mr. Cornwallis about a Christian Qaimaqam for Sinjar, as the present one being appointed Mutasarrif gives an opportunity for putting in a Christian, and this will be some sort of sign that we have no deep designs for suppressing the Non-Moslems in the Mosul Wilayet. We don't want any overt Christian movement towards the French just at the moment when the Frontier-Commission is about to present its final report, and we know Paulus at least already has definite ideas for suggesting that Mosul should be made over to the French.
"A very careful watch will have to be kept at Mosul to prevent any outbreak between the Moslems and Assyrians during, or immediately, after, the Id. I don't know what we can do any more than a Christian Qaimaqam at Sinjar to reassure the Assyrians; but it would be useful if Mr. Lloyd could keep in very close and friendly touch with Lady Surma and talk quite frankly with her as to the circumstances which have forced us into conflict with the Yazidis."
Assyrians to render signal service to their benefactors, the British.
"Humble Shimun, Patriarch of the East, by
Grace serving the See of Thaddeus (Addai)"
As in former cases, murderers of Christians have escaped with impunity.
"Beat down yon betting mountain
The hammers of the world's smiths
Assyrians still in the trenches? And "Where are the British now"ùtheir ally?
"battle and toil survived, is this the end
Of all your high endeavor? Shall the stock
That death and desert braved be made a mock
Of gazine crowds, nor in the crowd a friend?"
'Come let us destroy them, so that they be not
a nation. And let (their name) be remembered no more."
Tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in everything
Yes, the Jacobite Church is my church and I take filial pride in the acknowledgment thereof.
"No distance breaks the tie of blood;
Brothers are brothers evermore."
We must now turn our attention to the Yazidis.
These were partly the methods adopted to bomb Amir Faisal on to the throne of Iraq.
But has the Arab history ever been constructive?
Article 12 of the Iraqi constitutional law is worthwhile quoting. It is this:
"Are they and the other minorities satisfied with their prospects?"
What has happened during the past two years?
The Assyrian refugees in Iraq are not 60,000 as he chooses to assume. They are only 40,000.
Some letter written by Sir Francis to the Mar Shimun may be of interest.
The Residency, Baghdad, 18th June, 1932
No. S.O. 851, The Residency, Baghdad, 22nd June 1932
High Commissioner's Office, Baghdad, 28th June 1932
I remain Your sincere friend, F. H. Humphrys
The Residency, Baghdad, June 28, 1932
I know that I can rely on your help in this.
I remain Your sincere friend, Francis Humphreys
Reference: Air/523/159 Secret Air Headquarters Iraq Command 14th July 1924 to:-
Commanding, Iraq Levies, Mosul
Reference you're A.L./9361.D.I.C. of 9th July
Sd. Air Commodore, Chief Staff Officer
Brigadier Browne goes on to narrate the Kirkuk incident as follows:
Rab Khamshi Baijo went with the Regimental police to clear the Assyrians from the bazaar.
The Battalion remained at Chemchemal for the present.
What has Yasin to say about this?
Docteur Paul Caujole, 3, rue Lemoine
Boulogne-sur Seine Boulogne, dated 19th January 1934
In reply to your letter of 18th January 1934.(The Assyrian Tragedy, Annamasse, Feb. 1934, pp. 15-16)
The conference was held in Urumia in December 1917 or early in Januay 1918.
Francaise du Caucase, Sd.Paul Caujole,
Ex.Medecin-Chef de L'Ambulance
Could not Sir Francis have obtained his "honours" without betraying the Assyrians?
The observer has not mentioned what village it was û
This king of thing is also described by a careful observer whose name is there û
Every one of the Armenians, leaders as well as men was killed fighting.
The Lord Archbishop of Canterbury
Speaking a little later the Prime Minister said: