Assyrian Church urges Iraq for Simele “genocide” recognition

Shafaq News– Duhok

Assyrians in Iraq are still awaiting Baghdad’s formal recognition of the 1933 Simele massacre as a genocide, Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East Mar Awa III said on Sunday.

In a speech following a ceremony to lay the foundation stone for a memorial dedicated to the victims of the Simele massacre, Awa III described violence against Assyrians after the WW1 as a painful chapter in Iraq’s history, noting that “backing from the Kurdistan Regional Government for such initiatives encourages Assyrians to remain on their land and maintain their historical roots.”

The massacre took place from August 7 to 11, 1933, in Duhok and Mosul provinces, following tensions between the Hashemite monarchy and Assyrian leaders who were calling for international guarantees to protect their identity. Iraq’s royal army launched a military campaign that resulted in the killing of more than 600 civilians in Simele alone, while some estimates place the total number of victims at over 3,000 across the surrounding areas.

The Assyrian community is a Christian ethnic minority, with an estimated population between 200,000 and 400,000, distributed across Kurdistan, Baghdad, Nineveh, and Basra.

Read more: Assyrian Church in Iraq: An interview with Rev. Jimmy Joseph