A new English book titled 'Year of the Sword - The Assyrian Genocide, A
History' has been published by Prof. Joseph Yacoub, an emeritus
Professor at the Catholic University of Lyon, France. The book is an
English edition of the French book published last year and titled "Qui s'en souviendra ?: 1915 : le génocide assyro-chaldéo-syriaque."
The
Armenian genocide of 1915 has been well documented. Much less known is
the Turkish genocide of the Assyrian (also known as Chaldean and Syriac)
people, 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. Hundreds of thousand
Assyro- Chaldean-Syriac people were murdered and a larger number forced
into exile.
The 'Year of the Sword' (Seyfo - The Sword) in 1915,
as Assyrians recall the events, 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, his book reveals a
little-known human and cultural tragedy. A century after the Assyrian
genocide and the treat of so-called Islamic State (IS), the fate of this
Christian minority hangs in the balance in its ancestral homeland of
Syria and Iraq.
Here are some selected reviews of the book:
"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.
"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
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.