Assyrians

[Rasputin]

Assyria is located in north Mesopotamia and spans four countries: In Syria it extends west to the Euphrates river; in Turkey it extends north to Harran, Edessa, Diyarba***, and Lake Van; in Iran it extends east to Lake Urmi, and in Iraq it extends to about 100 miles south of ***kuk. This is the Assyrian heartland, from which so much of the ancient Near East came to be controlled.

Two great rivers run through Assyria, the Tigris and the Euhprates, and many lesser ones, the most important of which being the Upper Zab and Lower Zab, both tributaries to the Tigris. Strategically surrounding the Tigris and the two Zabs are the Assyrian cities of Nineveh, Ashur, Arbel, Nimrod and Arrapkha.

To the north and east of Assyria lie the Taurus and Zagros mountains. To the west and south lies a great, low limestone plateau. At the southern end of Assyria the gravel plains give way to alluvium deposited by the Tigris, and farther south there is insufficient rainfall for agriculture without irrigation. These two features create a geogrpahical boundary between Assyria and the neighboring land to the south.

To the south of Baghdad lies Babylon. There is a stark geographical distinction between Babylonia and Assyria. To quote Saggs,

journey in spring from Baghdad, the capital of modern Iraq and within the Area of Ancient Babylonia, to Mosul [Nineveh], which is near several old Assyrian capitals, takes the traveller into what is manifestly a different country. In the region of Baghdad and southwards the predominant vegetation is palm trees. . .The terrain is flat to the horizon, and for most of the year its sun-parched earth is arid and dead wherever irrigation ditches do not reach. Approaching Mosul [Nineveh] the traveller finds a striking change. The flat terrrain gives way to undulating plains, in spring green with pasturage or cereal crop and gay and scented with flowers and clover. The rolling plains are cut with wadis, aflow after spring rains, with higher ranges of hills on the horizon. The traveller has reached Assyria.[Might that was Assyria, page 5]

The Assyrian land is rich and fertile, with growing fields found in every region. Two large areas comprise the Assyrian breadbasket: the Arbel plain and the Nineveh plain. To this day these areas remain critical crop producers. This is from where Assyria derived her strength, as it could feed a large population of professionals and craftsman, which allowed it to expand and advance the art of civilization.
Racial Type
Assyrians are a Semitic peoples indigenous to Mesopotamia. They are Mediterranean Caucasoids, and are ethnically distinct from Arabs and Jews.
Language

Assyrians have used two languages throughout their history: ancient Assyrian (Akkadian), and Modern Assyrian (neo-syriac). Akkadian was written with the cuneiform writing system, on clay tablets, and was in use from the beginning to about 750 B.C.. By 750 B.C., a new way of writing, on parchment, leather, or papyrus, was developed, and the people who brought this method of writing with them, the Arameans, would eventually see their language, Aramaic, supplant Ancient Assyrian because of the technological breakthrough in writing. Aramaic was made the second official language of the Assyrian empire in 752 B.C. Although Assyrians switched to Aramaic, it was not wholesale transplantation. The brand of Aramaic that Assyrians spoke was, and is, heavily infused with Akkadian words, so much so that scholars refer to it as Assyrian Aramaic.

Religion

Assyrians have practiced two religions throughout their history: Ashurism and Christianity. Ashurism was, of course, the first religion of the Assyrians. The very word Assyrian, in its Latin form, derives from the name of Ashur, the Assyrian god. Assyrians continued to practice Ashurism until 256 A.D, although by that time, most Assyrians had accepted Christianity. Indeed, Assyrians were the first nation to accept Christianity, and the Assyrian Church was founded in 33 A.D. by Thomas, Bortholemew and Thaddeus.

[Rasputin]

Religious denominations

Antiochian Orthodox Church
Assyrian Church of the East
Assyrian Church of the East's Holy Synod
Chaldean Church of Babylon
Syriac Catholic Church
Syriac Orthodox Church
Assyrian Evangelical Church
Assyrian Pentecostal Church
People who consider themselves as Assyrians are usually followers of one of the aforementioned churches, but not all members of them consider themselves as Assyrians, ethnic and national identities being intertwined with religious ones, a heritage of the millet system.

There are no (known) Assyrian Muslims, but Arabic-speaking Muslims locally named Mhalmoye in Tur Abdin seem to be converts to Islam from the Syriac Orthodox Church in the 16th century (compare with Hamshenis, Greek-speaking Muslims, Pomaks, Torbesh, Gorani, etc.). They would have kept many customs from the period in which they were Christian, without being aware of their origins: the Cross frequently finds itself in their work, but is thought of as a decoration based on a flower. A Swedish Assyrian website names four other ethnic groups whom it considers as "Assyrian Muslims": Barzanoye (the Barzani Kurdish clan), Tagritoye, Taye (the Tay tribal confederation), and Shammor (the Shammar tribal confederation).

[Rasputin]

List of Assyrian tribes

The ancient tribes in this List of Assyrian tribes still exist today. Most were established after the fall of the Assyrian Empire in 612 BCE. For most ancient civilizations, tribes were important precursors of nations. The Assyrians were no exception.

The Assyrian tribes trace their roots back to the geographical area known today as Kurdistan, centered around Hakkari in Turkey and Urmi in Iran.

The tribes each had their own leaders, both civil and religious. Like all tribes they contained clans, which in turn contained villages and the villages had family groups.

Tribes include:

Albaq Tribe
Barwar Tribe
Baz Tribe
Botan Tribe
Chal Tribe
Diz Tribe
Gawar Tribe
Jelu Tribe
Kasran
Minianish
Nochiya Tribe
Qochanis Tribe
Salamas Tribe
Taimar Tribe
Tkhuma Tribe
Tyari (Lower) Tribe
Tyari (Upper) Tribe
Urmi Tribe
Walto Tribe

[Rasputin]

Assyrian independence is a political movement and ideology that supports the creation of a homeland for the Aramaic-speaking Christian Assyrian people in Northern Iraq. The issue of Assyrian independence has been brought up many times throughout the course of history from the end of World War I to the present-day Iraq War. Traditionally, the Assyrian-inhabited area of Iraq is located in the Ninawa-Mosul region in Northern Iraq where the biblical Assyrian capital of Nineveh was located. This area eventually became known as the "Assyrian Triangle."

Before World War I, about half of the Assyrian population lived in what is today Turkey, specifally the Hakkari region. In 1914, Young Turks began to systemically target Christians of Asia minor with events such as the Assyrian genocide. In the beginning, key Assyrian nationalist leaders and religious figures were whipped out of communities, where as at one point the Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East was only 12 years old (Mar Eshai Shimun XXIII.)

The Ottoman Empire declared war against the Allies and the British On October of 1914. For geographic reasons, it was important for the British to gain the support of the Assyrians.

Because of large oil fields, Britain wanted to insure that the Mosul region would be part of the new colonized Iraq instead of the future state of Turkey. The Assyrians promised loyalty to the British in return for an independent state in the future. After the invasion of Mosul by Young Turks, the Assyrian army led by general Agha Petros, fought intensively against the Turks and pushed them out of the region, leading to Britain’s control of the region. The battles are described in detail by surviving letters of Petros and Britain officials.

By the end of 1922, no sufficient Assyrian population was left in Turkey and a small population left in Iran. Many fled southward to join native Assyrians in the Nineveh plains.

The Assyrian national question was taken to Geneva by the Assyrian Patriarch Mar Eshai Shimun XXIII again when he addressed the Permanent Mandate Commission meeting and urged the Council to fulfill its obligations toward the Assyrian Nation. The League yet again granted the Assyrians their rights of homogenous community in Iraq with a local autonomy.

Mar Eshai Shimum was quoted in the meeting:

"If the (British) mandaite is lifted without effective guarantees for our protection in the future, our extermination would follow"
After the establishment of the kingdom of Iraq in 1932, an Assyrian uprising followed through the following year, refusing to sign a declaration of loyalty to King Faisal and agree not to thwart the scheme of the League of Nations for the settlement of the Assyrians, was deported by the order of the government on August 18, 1933 and deprived of Iraqi nationality.

The failed uprising led to the massacre of 3,000 Assyrians throughout northern Iraq. The biggest massacre was in the village of Simele. Eyewitness wrote numerous books about the events.

The Levies alarmed by this and the imminent withdrawal of British troops, decide upon a concentration of all Assyrians in the Amadia area for security. All Assyrian officers jointly presented a manifesto on the July 16 to the commanding officer requesting discharge within 30 days. The other ranks also followed the lead of their officers. The British feared if this were allowed to happen they would loose all authority in Iraq. To buy time, they decided to allow discharge over a four month period. A British battalion was flown in from Egypt when discharges commenced. After negotiations with Assyrian leaders, the Levies withdrew their request and the British battalion was withdrawn. In all 296 were discharged. No Iraqi was held responsible for the massacre. A large number of Assyrians began to flee Iraq and find safety in Syria, under French control at the time. The Transport and machinegun Assyrian companies ceased to exist as separate units, both being divided between the two Assyrian battalions. ***kuk was occupied by a platoon from the 2nd battalion to guard the Wireless and other RAF stores. Due to the events of 1933, Assyrians mark August 7 as their martyrs day.

The first of the many Church bombings that were to come, occurred on the morning of August 4, 2003, that left 19 worshippers dead.

As the attacks on Assyrians continue to escalate, with the 20th Church bombed and the death toll of the Assyrians reaching to 100 in 2004 alone, demands by Assyrian politicians for an autonomous save haven reached at an all-time high. A meeting took place in the British House of Commons to discuss the subject.

This meeting was organised by the Labour MP Stephen Pound, in conjunction with the Assyrian Democratic Movement and the Jubilee Campaign, a Christian human-rights group. Mr. Pound demands were:

Support an autonomous administrative region as a safe haven
Support the infrastructure of the region
Oppose “the active and passive ethnic cleansing” of “the only indigenous people of Iraq”
Mr Pound argued, “The fate of the Chaldo-assyrians in Iraq will define the socio-political structure of the Middle East.”

Then Prime Minister of Iraq, Iyad Allawi, said he was considering the plan, but nothing resulted as he lost his position in the January 2005 elections.

On the same weekend, a further five Assyrian churches were bombed in Iraq. By the end of 2004, an estimated 40,000 Assyrians and other Christians have fled Iraq since the beginning of the war. [1]

Australia's Labor Party member Chris Bowen spoke about the possibility of autonomy for the Assyrians numerous times in the Parliament during 2005.

On February 24, 2006, Minister of human rights in Kurdistan Dr. Mohammad Ihsan stated “We don’t mind Iraqi Christians concentrating anywhere they wish, and establishing a new province for themselves in the Nineveh plain, and bringing together Iraqi Christians from all over the world and their return to their houses and towns.”

[Rasputin]

[Rasputin]

Later on in the article, Ms. Nemmati scolds religious minorities for not helping an Iranian cultural or humanitarian cause. I believe her point is somewhat valid, but she fails to appreciate that the reasons for this are understandable. As smaller religious minorities, it is imperative that we support our own causes because no one else will. I can't expect a Muslim, let alone any non-Assyrian, to help uprooted Assyrians in northern Iraq and northern Syria. I can't expect a Muslim to donate to Bahai charities. Hell, I can't expect an Armenian or Jew to help causes such as dispossessed Assyrians living in the slums of Jordan after fleeing Iraq.

As religious minorities, we have relied on ourselves for survival, and this mentality remains as necessary today in diaspora as it did when we were in Iran. After all, religious minorities are second-class people according to many of your Iranian countrymen, although I believe many Iranians in diaspora such as the writers and readers of this website have abandoned this mentality to a large degree. However for the record, the Assyrian American Association of Southern California did donate more than $1000 to the Bam relief effort, which unfortunately is a significant sum for this organization. Thus there are some Assyrians that have helped Iranian causes, and I challenge you to find an Iranian group that has done the same for us.

In conclusion, I recognize that I am British, Iranian, American, and Assyrian. I am British in the sense that I was born there and lived there for 7 years, and that I possess British citizenship. I am Iranian in that generations of my family have lived there for centuries, and that my entire family, with the exception of me and my sister, are Iranian nationals. I am also an American, considering that I have lived here for nearly 17 years. I have adopted many of the cultural attributes that define an American, and I do feel I am American. Finally, I am also Assyrian for reasons I have mentioned before. However, the word Assyrian best encompasses my identity, and so I place this moniker foremost way above the other three. Unfortunately, ignorant people like Ms. Nemmati cannot see why.

[Rasputin]

[Rasputin]

Arabic and Assyrian are the two Semitic languages spoken in Iran. The Arabic dialects are spoken in Khuzestan and along the Persian Gulf coast. They are modern variants of the older Arabic that formed the base of the classical literary language and all the colloquial languages of the Arabic-speaking world. As a Semitic language, Arabic is related to Hebrew, Syriac, and Ethiopic. Like these other Semitic languages, Arabic is based on three-consonant roots, whose meanings vary according to the combinations of vowels that are used to separate the consonants. Written Arabic often is difficult to learn because of the tendency not to indicate short vowels by diacritical marks. There is no linguistic family relationship between Arabic and Persian, although Persian vocabulary has been heavily influenced by Arabic. The Arabic loanwords incorporated into Persian have been modified to fit the Persian sound patterns. Arabic also continues to be the language of prayer of all Muslims in Iran. Children in school learn to read the Quran in Arabic. Persian- and Turkic-speaking Iranians who have commercial interests in the Persian Gulf area often learn Arabic for business purposes.

In 1986 there were an estimated 530,000 Arabs in Iran. A majority lived in Khuzestan, where they constituted a significant ethnic minority. Most of the other Arabs lived along the Persian Gulf coastal plains, but there also were small scattered tribal groups living in central and eastern Iran. About 40 percent of the Arabs were urban, concentrated in such cities as Abadan, Ahvaz, and Khorramshahr. The majority of urban Arab adult males were unskilled workers, especially in the oil industry. Arabs also worked in commerce and services, and there was a small number of Arab professionals. Some urban Arabs and most rural Arabs are tribally organized. The rural Arabs of Khuzestan tend to be farmers and fishermen. Many of the Arabs who live along the Persian Gulf coastal plains are pastoral nomads who keep herds of cattle, sheep, and camels.

Both the urban and the rural Arabs of Khuzestan are intermingled with the Persians, Turks, and Lurs who also live in the province. The Khuzestan Arabs are Shias. While this physical and spiritual closeness has facilitated intermarriage between the Arabs and other Iranians, the Arabs have tended to regard themselves as separate from non-Arabs and have usually been so regarded by other Iranians. Among the Khuzestan Arabs there has been a sense of ethnic solidarity for many years. The government of neighboring Iraq, both before and after the 1979 Revolution in Iran, has claimed that the Khuzestan Arabs are discriminated against and has asserted at various times that it has assisted those desiring "liberation" from Tehran. When Iraq invaded Iran in 1980 and occupied much of Khuzestan for nearly two years, however, an anticipated uprising of the Arab population did not occur, and most of the local Arabs fled the area along with the non-Arab population.

Apart from Khuzestan there is little sense of ethnic unity among the scattered Arab settlements. The Arabs in the area stretching from Bushehr to Bandar-e Abbas tend to be Sunnis. This has helped to strengthen their differentiation from most non-Arab Iranians and even from the Arabs of Khuzestan.

The other Semitic people of Iran are the Assyrians, a Christian group that speaks modern dialects of Assyrian, an Aramaic language that evolved from old Syriac. Language and religion provide a strong cohesive force and give the Assyrians a sense of identity with their coreligionists in Iraq, in other parts of the Middle East, and also in the United States. Most Assyrians adhere to the Assyrian Church of the East (sometimes referred to as the Chaldean Church or Nestorian Church). Many theologians regard this church as the oldest in Christendom. In the nineteenth century, Protestant and Roman Catholic missionaries proselytized among the Assyrians and converted many of them.

There were about 32,000 Assyrians in Iran at the time of the 1976 census. Many of them emigrated after the Revolution in 1979, but at least 20,000 were estimated still to be living in Iran in 1987. The traditional home of the Assyrians in Iran is along the western shore of Lake Urmia. During World War I virtually the entire Assyrian population fled the area, which had become a battleground for opposing Russian and Turkish armies. Thousands of Assyrians perished on the overland flight through the Zagros to the safety of British-controlled Iraq. Eventually, many of the Iranian Assyrians settled among the Assyrian population of Iraq or emigrated to the United States. During the reign of Reza Shah, Assyrians were invited back to Iran to repopulate their villages. A few thousand did return, but, since the 1940s, most young Assyrians have migrated to Tehran and other urban centers.

[Rasputin]

[Rasputin]

Kurds remove Arabs and Assyrians thru violence

There are fears that Iraq's northern city of ***kuk will be a hot spot for increased violence following a mass influx of Kurds into the city in a bid to reverse the Arabisation policy of the government of ousted president Saddam Hussein.

"People are dying every day in ***kuk because everyone wants to control the city, which over the years was under the Sunni Arabs and the Turkmen. In the past two years, it has come into Kurdish hands," said Saleh Younis, political analyst and spokesperson for North Political and Sociological Group (NPSG), a local organisation that monitors political tension in northern Iraq.

***kuk, some 250km north of Baghdad, is historically an ethnically mixed city populated by Kurds, Turkmen, Assyrians, Arabs and Armenians. However, its rich oilfields have been a major sticking point that has pitted Arabs [Sunni and Shi'ite] and Turkmen against the Kurds, who refer to the city as the 'Kurdish Jerusalem'.

Some 70 percent of Iraq's oil-fields are in ***kuk and the city is, therefore, vital to the country's economy.

Arabs, many of whom were Shi'ite, settled in ***kuk as a result of incentives that were offered by Saddam's former government. When the government fell on 9 April, 2003, Kurdish refugees returned to the city and insisted that it was Kurdish.

As a result, many Arabs were forced to leave ***kuk, despite Sunni and Shi'ite Arab leaders asking them not to. Areas that were once 80 percent Arab became 80 percent Kurd. In the process of the Kurds' reversal of the Arabisation of ***kuk, thousands of Arabs and Turkmen were killed, analysts said. Tensions are still high.

Analysts said that the next 18 months will be crucial for ***kuk's future as this will be decided by a census and a referendum that are scheduled to take place there at the end of 2007. The referendum, in particular, should settle the question of whether ***kuk will be annexed to the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.

"Tensions are on the rise because of Kurdish ambitions to have a referendum in ***kuk within a year and in other areas they claim as well," said Joost Hiltermann, Middle East Project Director for International Crisis Group (ICG).

Tensions between Turkmen and Kurds:

Nearly 100,000 Kurds have returned to ***kuk since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, according to ICG.

The ICG reported that in addition to the returning Kurds who were expelled in the 1980s, other Kurds were also arriving with them to swell Kurdish numbers in the city.

"The population of ***kuk governorate in 2003 was 850,000. Today it is 1,150,000. Where did these 300,000 additional persons come from? Let's say this number is equal to 50,000 families. Only 10,000 Kurdish families were expelled under the old regime. Where do these additional 40,000 families come from?" ICG's report asked.

For Turkmen - who were in the majority in the city 50 years ago, according to some demographic analysts - the annexation of ***kuk by Kurdistan will further dilute their power and increase violence. Tension between Kurds and Turkmen has risen already and has been responsible for the killing of dozens of people every week.

The local Turkmen have said that the international community should intervene and protect them. Many of their families have fled the city after a serious upsurge of violence.

"We are in the middle of a major crisis. Our children cannot go to schools, medical assistance is hard to come by as there is violence even in hospitals and a large number of our people are unemployed," Abu Mounir, 45, a Turkmen resident said.

Security deterioration:

Security in ***kurk deteriorated following the killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, former leader of al-Qa'eda in Iraq. "A number of his group seem to have moved to ***kuk to foment ethnic trouble, capitalising on the divisions that exist, and create chaos," Hiltermann said.

In the past two months, the city has witnessed the bloodiest violence since the US-led invasion in 2003.

"Most of the killings were a result of ethnic tensions. Each community wants power but unfortunately the Turkmen do not occupy positions of authority and [they] lack weapons, making them the main victims of the violence in ***kuk," said Lt. Col. Khalif Mashhadanny, a senior member of the local police.

He added that most of the 1,000 killings in ***kuk over the past four months were due to tension between Kurds and Turkmen.

Kurds are pinning their hopes on the implementation of Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution, which aims to reverse the Arabisation policy in ***kuk by normalising the city's situation.

"The implementation of Article 140 in ***kuk will mean the total loss of power of Turkmen who have already been killed by Kurds who want to seize control," said Jamal Shann, deputy head of the Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITC) in ***kuk.

"This Article should not be implemented. We will do whatever is possible not to let our community lose its last vestiges of power in the government," Shann said.

According to Hiltermann, the solution to the ***kuk problem mostly depended on what role the international community would take in at least defusing the crisis by postponing the referendum on ***kuk and establishing a mechanism for addressing it.

Bassam ***dar, a spokesperson for Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), said that Kurds were not for the destruction of ***kuk or for the killing of minorities but they just wanted to claim their rights by getting back what Saddam's government had taken from them.

"We will make sure that ***kuk is in our hands through Article 140 because it is our right since we are the majority in ***kuk and Turkmen and other minorities should accept this to prevent violence and preserve the integrity of the city," ***dar said.

[Rasputin]

List of Assyrian tribes

The ancient tribes in this List of Assyrian tribes still exist today. Most were established after the fall of the Assyrian Empire in 612 BCE. For most ancient civilizations, tribes were important precursors of nations. The Assyrians were no exception.

The Assyrian tribes trace their roots back to the geographical area known today as Northern Iraq, centered around Hakkari in Turkey and Urmi in Iran.

The tribes each had their own leaders, both civil and religious. Like all tribes they contained clans, which in turn contained villages and the villages had family groups.

Tribes include:

Albaq Tribe

Barwar Tribe

Baz Tribe

Botan Tribe

Chal Tribe

Diz Tribe

Gawar Tribe

Halim Tribe

Jelu Tribe

Kasran Tribe

Mazar Tribe

Minianish Tribe

Nochiya Tribe

Qochanis Tribe

Salamas Tribe

Taimar Tribe

Tkhuma Tribe

Tyari (Lower) Tribe

Tyari (Upper) Tribe

Urmi Tribe

Walto Tribe

[Khorsheed]

Intersting Information . . thanks for sharing. .

[Sepideh_UK]

Intresting...
Thanx agha Siamak.

[Rasputin]

[Rasputin]

CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- An Iranian immigrant accused of using a three-pound hammer to beat his wife, sister-in-law and mother-in-law to death and then repeatedly stabbing them told police that the women had "disrespected" him, authorities said Monday.

After the attack, Daryoush Ebrahimi, 55, struck himself several times on the head with the same hammer in an apparent attempt to kill himself, said Police Cmdr. Thomas Byrne. Police also found a 12-inch knife investigators believe was used in the attacks.

"It was a very difficult scene, and that would be indicative of that type of anger," Byrne said of the two apartments where the bodies were found Saturday on the city's far North Side.

Ebrahimi told investigators after the attacks that "the women had disrespected him and told him he was not a man," Assistant State's Attorney Sanju Oommen said.

Police found cell phone video messages and a letter that Ebrahimi left at one of the apartments, Byrne said. The FBI was helping translate the messages and letter, which are in Farsi.

"Right now I wouldn't say it's a suicide note ... but it's more about, again, how he feels disrespected, and that's pretty much a (recurring) theme in the note," Byrne said.

Ebrahimi told police at the scene and hospital officials that he had killed the women, authorities said.

A phone call to the public defender's office Monday afternoon went unanswered.

Ebrahimi was charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of his wife, Karmin Koshabeh, 44; his sister-in-law, Karolin Khooshabeh, 40; and his 60-year-old mother-in-law, Ileshvah Eyvazimooshabad. He appeared in court Monday afternoon and a judge denied a request for bail.

Koshabeh and Khooshabeh were found in an apartment in the city's West Rogers Park neighborhood, and Eyvazimooshabad was found in an apartment around the corner.

Detectives believe Ebrahimi killed his wife around 2 a.m. Saturday, then called and "lured" his sister-in-law to the same apartment around 6 a.m., Byrne said. He then went to his mother-in-law's apartment and attacked her, returning to the bodies of his wife and sister-in-law to call 911, Byrne said.

Ebrahimi also called another family member, who notified police, Byrne said.

Ebrahimi and his wife and daughter arrived in the United States on November 29, 2006 from Iran and are refugees of Assyrian descent, said Chicago Police Cmdr. David Sobczyk.