Covers the institutional and legal history of Assyrian self-government demands and defence movements in Iraq and Syria: the 1932 autonomy petition, the 1933 Simele massacre, the 1979 founding of the Assyrian Democratic Movement, and the 2014-2015 Islamic State attacks on Assyrian communities and the resulting self-defence mobilization. It does not provide a detailed military or atrocity-by-atrocity account of the Simele massacre, the World War I-era Assyrian genocide (Sayfo), or the 2014-2015 Islamic State campaign, which require dedicated, carefully sourced treatment beyond this bundle's scope, and does not attempt a general ethnographic, religious or cultural history of Assyrian communities.
In 1932, ahead of Iraqi independence, Assyrian Patriarch Mar Shimun XXI Eshai petitioned the League of Nations for an autonomous Assyrian homeland within Iraq; these demands were not granted.[1] In August 1933, Iraqi government forces killed an estimated 3,000 Assyrians in the Simele massacre, prompting roughly a third of Iraq's Assyrian population to flee to Syria; the massacre is widely cited as a direct influence on Raphael Lemkin's later coining of the term "genocide."[2] The Assyrian Democratic Movement, founded on 12 April 1979, became the leading Assyrian political organization in Iraq.[3] On 6-7 August 2014, Islamic State forces captured Qaraqosh and other Nineveh Plain towns, displacing over 120,000 Assyrian and other Christians; the Assyrian Democratic Movement responded by forming the Nineveh Plain Protection Units, announced 25 November 2014.[4][5] In February 2015, Islamic State forces attacked Assyrian villages along Syria's Khabour River, abducting hundreds of Christians.[6] Iraqi and allied forces recovered the Nineveh Plain in October 2016, after which displaced Christians began returning.[4]
Status verified as of
No dedicated Assyrian autonomous region exists within Iraq or Syria. The Assyrian Democratic Movement and the Nineveh Plain Protection Units continue to operate in Iraq's Nineveh Plain, where displaced Christians have been returning since the area's recovery from the Islamic State in October 2016.[3][5][4]
History
From the 1932 autonomy petition and 1933 Simele massacre, through the 1979 founding of the Assyrian Democratic Movement, to the 2014-2015 Islamic State attacks on Assyrian communities.
282 words · 2 min read
· Other
Iraqi government forces killed thousands of Assyrians shortly after the League of Nations declined to grant the community autonomy, a massacre later cited as directly influencing the coining of the term "genocide."
Significance here: The defining early trauma of modern Assyrian political identity in Iraq, following directly from the failure of the 1932 autonomy petition.
· Other
The Assyrian Democratic Movement was founded, later becoming the leading Assyrian political organization in Iraq and the parent of the Nineveh Plain Protection Units.
Significance here: The founding of the principal modern Assyrian political organization advocating for self-government in Iraq.
· Other
The Islamic State's capture of Qaraqosh and other Assyrian towns displaced over 120,000 Christians and prompted the formation of an Assyrian self-defence militia.
Significance here: A defining recent episode combining mass displacement of Assyrians from their historical Nineveh Plain communities with the community's own armed self-organization in response.
· Other
Islamic State forces attacked dozens of Assyrian villages in northeastern Syria, abducting hundreds of Christians.
Significance here: A parallel episode in Syria to the Nineveh Plain exodus, extending the pattern of Islamic State attacks on Assyrian communities across the border.
Each number marks a specific claim. Notes give the source, its locator and how it relates to the claim.
Claim: In 1932, ahead of Iraqi independence from British mandatory administration, Assyrian Patriarch Mar Shimun XXI Eshai petitioned the League of Nations for an autonomous Assyrian homeland within Iraq, protection guarantees, and freedom to emigrate in the event of future massacres; these demands were not granted.
Claim: In August 1933, Iraqi government forces and allied irregulars killed an estimated 3,000 Assyrians across the town of Simele and around 63 surrounding villages in the Dohuk and Mosul districts, in what became known as the Simele massacre; approximately one third of Iraq's Assyrian population fled to Syria as a result. The massacre is widely cited as a direct influence on Raphael Lemkin's later coining of the term "genocide."
Claim: The Assyrian Democratic Movement (Zowaa) was founded on 12 April 1979, and later formed the Nineveh Plain Protection Units as its armed wing.
Claim: On 6-7 August 2014, Islamic State forces captured Qaraqosh and other predominantly Assyrian towns in the Nineveh Plain (including Tel Keppe, Bartella and Karamlish), prompting more than 120,000 Assyrian and other Christians to flee, most to Iraq's Kurdistan Region; Iraqi and allied forces recovered the area in October 2016, after which tens of thousands of displaced Christians began returning to damaged towns.
Claim: Recruitment for the Nineveh Plain Protection Units, an Assyrian self-defence paramilitary force formed as the armed wing of the Assyrian Democratic Movement, began following the Islamic State's capture of Mosul on 4 June 2014, with the organization formally announced on 25 November 2014.
Claim: Beginning around 23 February 2015, Islamic State forces attacked around 35 Assyrian villages along the Khabour River in Syria's Al-Hasakah Province, abducting more than 220-259 Assyrian Christians (figures vary by source) and displacing at least 1,380 families; those abducted were reportedly released over time, in many cases after ransom payments, though this bundle does not independently verify the fate of every individual abducted.