Assyrians - the People Without a Country

The Assyrians were Semitic people. They are Mediterranean Caucasoids. According to the bible, they are the descendant of Asshur, the grandson of Noah. Today, they lived at Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria. But, during the past century, many of them also have migrated to the Caucasus, North America and Western Europe. The Assyrian people are descended from the people of the Akkadian Empire (ancient Assyrian kingdom). Their most famous king was Sargon the Great. Its region stretched from Lebanon on the Mediterranean coast, up north into Turkey and south to the Persian Gulf.

The Assyrians converted Christian since the first century AD. Their church founded by Saint Thomas the Apostle. The Assyrian Church was split from the early Christian Church. Today they are divided into three main groups ( Jacobite/ West Syriac church, Nestorian/East Syriac church and Chaldean Christian). Assyrian culture is dictated by religion. The Assyrians speak Aramaic languages. As we know, Aramaic is the language of Jesus Christ. Assyrians are also proud of their heritage and their Christianity.

During World War I, The Christians were the subject of genocide in the Ottoman Empire. In early 1900s, the population of Turkey was fourteen million. 33% of them were Christian (The Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians). The victims of this genocide include 20,000 Assyrian civilians in at least 30 villages. But, Turkey denies the genocide. This genocide resulted in a significant diaspora. Today, in Turkey there are only 40,000 Assyrians. While in Iraq, Assyrians only made 5% of the total Iraqi population.

In Iraq, Assyrian lived at Ninewa and Dahuk governorates. Under Saddam's regime Assyrians were forced to give their children Arabic names. While in their custom, children are often given Christian or Assyrian names such as Ashurbanipal, Sargon, Shamiram, Nineveh, Ninos, Nimrod, etc. That is an effort to undermine their true identity. There are also hundreds of Assyrian villages were destroyed. But, since the fall of Saddam, there has been a massive persecution of Assyrians in Iraq, by Islamic extremists. Islamic extremist were also forcing the Assyrians to Pay the jizya. The jizya is the 'Protection Tax' demanded from Christians and Jews by Islamic law. This persecution included church bombings

Today, Assyrian seek for autonomy in Iraq. They need to be protected from the persecution. Several years ago, the United States played a major role in freeing the Kurds and Shiite people in Iraq and succeeded. An Assyrian authonomous region, in northern Iraq must be set up to protect the Assyrians. Now, Senator Joseph Biden Jr give strong support for the Assyrian Christians in Iraq. His plan for Iraq also included to set up the Assyrian province. As we know, there are a plan to divided Iraq into three division for Shiite people, Sunni people and Kurds people. Biden's plan is a good news for Assyrian.