Year of the Sword: The Assyrian Christian Genocide, A History

by Joseph Yacoub

Overview

The Armenian genocide of 1915 has been well documented. Much less known is the Turkish genocide of the Assyrian, Chaldean and Syriac peoples, which occurred simultaneously in their ancient homelands in and around ancient Mesopotamia - now Turkey, Iran and Iraq. The advent of the First World War gave the Young Turks and the Ottoman government the opportunity to exterminate the Assyrians in a series of massacres and atrocities inflicted on a people whose culture dates back millennia and whose language, Aramaic, was spoken by Jesus. Systematic killings, looting, rape, kidnapping and deportations destroyed countless communities and created a vast refugee diaspora. As many as 300,000 Assyro-Chaldean- Syriac people were murdered and a larger number forced into exile. The "Year of the Sword" (Seyfo) in 1915 was preceded over millennia by other attacks on the Assyrians and has been mirrored by recent events, not least the abuses committed by Islamic State. Joseph Yacoub, whose family was murdered and dispersed, has gathered together a compelling range of eye-witness accounts and reports which cast light on this 'hidden genocide.' Passionate and yet authoritative in its research, his book reveals a little-known human and cultural tragedy. A century after the Assyrian genocide, the fate of this Christian minority hangs in the balance.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780190694746
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	11/01/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Joseph Yacoub is Emeritus Professor at the Catholic University of Lyon and the author of several books on minorities and Christians in the Middle East.

Table of Contents

Preface Introduction: A Forgotten Genocide? Nation, people and churches On the eve of the massacre The genocide of 1915 Contemporary documentation Ethnocide and extermination Oblivion and its causes An international issue Renewal and memory 1. Witnesses to Genocide A terra incognita? Reporting the genocide Four day-to-day accounts of events in Urmia-Salmas The major witnesses: The Assyro-Chaldeans Syriac testimonies: survivors' stories The missionaries The range of witnesses The British "Blue Book" Some extracts from the "Blue Book" Other international publications The Paris Peace Conference, 1919 International solidarity The national and international press: an essential intermediary Humanitarian aid 2. The Scenes and Acts of the Tragedy A centuries-old persecution The first centuries The Romans The Sassanid Persians Other massacres: from the fourth to the seventh centuries Ottoman antecedents to the 1915 massacres 1895: massacres and pogroms under Sultan Abdul Hamid II 1909: the Young Turk revolution and the policy of Turkification 1915: historic Mesopotamia The Turkish vilayets Overview of the massacres The invasion of Hakkari by Turkish-Kurdish forces Eastern Anatolia Tragedy in Bhotan The Syriacs Syriac humanitarian action Extermination and deportation: the children of the Desert Habiba's story 3. Strategy and Methodology of Eradication The "secret committee" The executioners Methodology of murder Rape Islamization as a means of suppression The example of Hakkari Holy war against the Assyrian Christians Genocide and ethnocide Lamenting a tragedy The massacres and the United Nations 4. After 1915: The Tragedy Continues 1918: from Salmas and Urmia towards Hamadan and Iraq Assyrians at arms The Assyrian Levies The Turkey-Iraq frontier (1925) The diaspora: the US and Britain Fleeing Turkey From Hakkari to Sarcelles From Tur Abdin to Sweden, Germany and Belgium Towards Iraq and Syria: the continuing tragedy Conclusion: Return onto the Stage of History The impact of the diaspora Maintaining memory Iraq: a homeland or safe haven? Appendix: the role of research Bibliography

Editorial Reviews

07/25/2016
The 1915 genocide of the Assyrians has often been overshadowed by that of the Armenians, but Yacoub, an emeritus professor of political science at Catholic University of Lyon, France, brings it back into the light and exposes Turkey’s multipronged effort to erase millennia of Christian history from its territory. Yacoub, whose ancestors faced death and banishment at the hands of the Turks, connects the genocide with the 21st-century horror of ISIS and a period of renewed uncertainty and danger for Christians across the Middle East. In a scholarly, erudite work that draws liberally from primary sources in a plethora of languages, Yacoub demonstrates that “sufficient evidence has been presented to conclude that the events of 1915 constitute a genocide.” His argument is correct, though it is not the facts that are in dispute so much as a public apathy that has allowed the Assyrians to slip into the mist of history. Of the current moment, Yacoub notes “that a people as suffering and oppressed as the Assyrians should be fully integrated into the conscience of humanity and justice finally handed to them.” Yacoub succinctly and irrefutably makes his case, but the success of his mission is far from assured. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"Yacoub's work is essential reading and sheds light on a dark chapter of twentieth century Middle Eastern history that has been deliberately silenced." - Vicken Cheterian, Webster University, Geneva, author of Open Wounds: Armenians, Turks and a Century of Genocide

"This book is intended for multiple audiences: the survivors of the communities themselves, as an account by a descendant of victims; academics, journalists and others dealing with the Middle East; and a wider public interested in Middle Eastern Christians. The diaspora communities include well over half a million people, so this alone is a very substantial audience. … I think it is definitely an original contribution. To the best of my knowledge the literature on the massacres and persecution suffered by these communities is very limited, certainly compared with the Armenian dimension" - William Harris, Professor, Department of Politics, University of Otago, author of Lebanon: A History, 600-2011

"This important and revelatory book tells of the biblical race which has suffered genocide twice within a century: over half were destroyed by the Ottoman atrocities of 1915, and now their descendants in Mosul and elsewhere are being put to the sword by ISIS. The Assyrians today deserve more than our pity - they need our protection." — Geoffrey Robertson QC, human rights barrister, Doughty Street Chambers, and author of An Inconvenient Genocide

"Meticulous and moving, Year of the Sword documents the forgotten horrors that befell the Syriac-speaking Christians of the Ottoman Empire. This is a book for all times, but especially our own, when the Middle East's distinctive ethno-religious diversity is again under the threat from violence and forced migration. Readers will be sobered and better informed thanks to Yacoub's efforts." —Christian Sahner, Research Fellow in History, St. John's College, University of Cambridge, and author of Among the Ruins: Syria Past and Present

"[An] important contribution to genocide studies."—Middle East Quarterly

"A significant and welcome contribution to the field of genocide studies . . . Yacoub's book establishes a very strong foundation to the academic study of the Assyrian Genocide in English."—Review of Middle East Studies

From the Publisher