The Assyrian genocide of 1915 in the Ottoman Empire and the Simele massacre of 1933 have been recognized by the State of California recently. Read the full resolution text here, that has passed on September 9, 2019: bit.ly/2mf2UFR
The decision was made unanimously, with both Democratic and Republican assembly members behind the resolution.
Assyrian Christians — often simply referred to as Assyrians— are an ethnic minority group whose origins lie in the Assyrian Empire, a major power in the ancient Middle East. Most of the world’s 2-4 million Assyrians live around their traditional homeland, which comprises parts of northern Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and Iran.
Assyrians all around the world are working for the remembrance of the genocide committed against Assyrians during the First World War in the Ottoman Empire and the Simele massacre of 1933 in Iraq.
While the world is aware of the Armenian genocide, many do not know that genocide was also committed against other ethnic groups, namely the Assyrians and Greeks, in the same region. These groups have lived from time immemorial in their ancestral lands, which were within the borders of the Ottoman Empire in 1914. The so-called “Young Turks” who deported and killed Armenians also led massacres against ethnic Assyrians and Greeks.
Hundreds of thousands of innocent Assyrians faced targeted killings, rape, abuse, destruction of homes and villages, and the razing of churches at the hands of the Ottoman Turks and their Kurdish allies.
It was resolved by the Assembly of the State of California that the Assyrian genocide of 1915, also known as the Seyfo Genocide, and the Simele massacre are recognized by the Assembly of the State of California as crimes against humanity.
The director of the Assyrian Genocide and Research Center, Sabri Atman is humbled over the decision that has been made in California’s State Capitol. He stated that 49 states in the United States have recognized the Armenian genocide and “we will make a lot of effort so that all of them will include the Assyrian genocide as well.” The Assyrian Genocide and Research Center also focuses on advocating for the State of California and other states to include in their history curriculum information about the Assyrian genocide.
The Assyrian and Genocide Research Center
https://www.atour.com/government/usa/20190911a.html
September 11, 2019
