List of Assyrian settlements

This article is about modern Assyrian settlements. For the list of historical Assyrian tribes, see List of Assyrian tribes.
A statue of the Jesus in Ankawa, Iraq, one of the largest modern Assyrian communities in the Assyrian homeland and is also the patriarchate of the Assyrian Church of the East.[1]
Assyrian culture
Music
Language
Cuisine
Folk Dance
Religion
Settlements
Tribes

The following is a list of historical and contemporary Assyrian settlements in the Middle East. This list includes settlements of Assyrians from Southeastern Turkey who left their indigenous tribal districts in Hakkari (or the historical Hakkari region), Sirnak and Mardin province[2] due to torment, violence and displacement by Ottomans and Kurds in the First World War. Many Assyrians from Urmia, Iran were also affected and as such have emigrated and settled in other towns. Resettling again occurred during the Simele massacre in northern Iraq, perpetrated by the Iraqi military coup in the 1930s, with many fleeing to northeastern Syria.[3]

Most modern resettlement is located in Iraq,[4] Syria, Turkey,[5] and Iran in the cities of Baghdad, Habbaniyah, Kirkuk, Duhok, Al-Hasakah, Tehran, Mardin and Damascus. Few Assyrian settlements exist in Turkey today and also in the Caucasus. The exodus to the cities or towns of these aforementioned countries occurred between late 1910s and 1930s.[6][7] After the Iraq War in 2003, a number of Assyrians in Baghdad relocated to the Assyrian homeland in northern Iraq.[8] Many others have immigrated to North America, Europe and Australia, especially in the late 20th century and 21st century.[9] Currently, there are a number of settlements on this list that have been abandoned due to persecution, conflict, and other causes.[10]

  1. ^ Richard Spencer, Iraq crisis: The streets of Erbil’s newly Christian suburb are now full of helpless people, The Daily Telegraph, August 08, 2014
  2. ^ Wigram, W.A., "The Ashiret Highlands of Hakkari (Mesopotamia)," Royal Central Asian Society Journal, 1916, Vol. III, pg. 40. -- The Assyrians and their Neighbors (London, 1929)
  3. ^ M.Y.A . Lilian, Assyrians Of The Van District During The Rule Of Ottoman Turks, 1914
  4. ^ Map of Assyrian villages in Iraq http://aina.org/maps/villagesbyyear.htm
  5. ^ Giesel, Christoph (2017). Religious Minorities in Turkey: Alevi, Armenians, and Syriacs and the Struggle to Desecuritize Religious Freedom. Springer. p. 169. ISBN 9781137270269.
  6. ^ Information on Assyrians in Iraq
  7. ^ Smith, Gary N., From Urmia to the Stanislaus: a cultural-historical-geography of Assyrian Christians in the Middle East and America (Davis, 1981)
  8. ^ Dalley, Stephanie (1993). "Nineveh After 612 BC." Alt-Orientanlische Forshchungen 20. P.134.
  9. ^ Assyrian villages in Hakkari Assyrian villages in Hakkari
  10. ^ Costa-Roberts, Daniel (15 March 2015). "8 things you didn't know about Assyrian Christians". PBS. Retrieved 6 July 2015.