Massacres, Resistance, Protectors
| Massacres, Resistance, Protectors | |
|---|---|
| |
| Author | David Gaunt |
| Publication Year | 2006 |
| Publisher | Gorgias Press |
| Format | Softbound |
| Language | English |
| Category | Genocide, History |
"Massacres, Resistance, Protectors: Muslim-Christian Relations in Eastern Anatolia during World War I" by David Gaunt.
Softcover. Publisher: Gorgias Press LLC, 2006. xvii + 535 pages with 22 illustrations.
This is a pioneering historical investigation of the Assyrian, Chaldean, and Syrian Christian minorities during World War I, who suffered the same fate as the Armenians. Ethnic cleansing and large-scale massacres occurred throughout northern Mesopotamia and parts of Ottoman-occupied Iran. Based on primary sources from official Russian, Turkish, and West European archives, as well as hitherto unused manuscript sources and oral histories published here for the first time, this book attempts to give a full picture of the events of 1915. Concentration is on the Assyrians of Urmia and Hakkari and on the Syrians of Diyarbekir province, particularly in Tur Abdin.
The Assyrians/Chaldeans/Syriacs are an Aramaic-speaking people, known also as 'Chaldo-Assyrians'. Like Armenians, they were among the first peoples to convert to Christianity. They still speak Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus! In 1915, together with the Armenians, they were victims of a genocide, close to 1/2 million Assyrians perished. The book is based
on sources from Russian, Turkish and West-European archives, as well as oral histories published here for the first time!
The Turkish and Armenian scholars were surprised by the richness of material in the book and asked for excerpts at once. The book has caught attention because it is the first time such an extensive account of the events of 1915 has been compiled [based on Ottoman documents].