Summary ...... v List of Maps ...... xi List of Tables ...... xiii Preface ...... xv Abbreviations ...... xvii 1 Introduction and Background ...... 1 The Development of the Religious and Ethnic Groups...... 2 Christians Go East ...... 5 The Origins of the Syriac Orthodox Church...... 8 Under Muslim Rule...... 11 Christian Missionaries...... 15 Pre-war Population of the Oriental Churches...... 18 Chaldeans...... 24 2 Setting the Stage: Kurds and Turks, Armenians and Syriacs...... 29 The Kurdish Question...... 29 The Armenian Question...... 38 A Heritage of Massacres...... 41 The Great Powers ...... 46 Ideology...... 48 3 The Road to the Fatal Solution ...... 53 Preparations for War in the Caucasus...... 53 War and the Minorities...... 56 The First Campaign...... 58 Jihad and Iran...... 62 Deportation as a Military Tactic...... 64 Ottoman Deportations...... 65 The Failure of Diplomacy...... 71

vii viii MASSACRES,RESISTANCE,PROTECTORS

4 Playing with Fire: Occupied Urmia...... 81 “Atrocities Committed by the Ottoman Troops”...... 82 The Occupation of Iran ...... 85 Iranian Weakness and Foreign Intrigues ...... 89 The Christian Minorities ...... 92 Border Provocations...... 94 The Calm before the Storm...... 100 Under Occupation...... 103 The “Armenian Revolt” Scare...... 106 Emergency in Urmia...... 110 Missions and Refugees...... 112 International Reactions...... 119 5 The Ethnic Cleansing of the Hakkari Mountains...... 121 The Assyrian Homeland...... 124 The Pre-War Deportation Order...... 127 Bashkale ...... 130 The Road to Disaster...... 138 Assessing the Damage ...... 144 6 Anatolia’s Heart of Darkness...... 151 Preparations for Genocide...... 154 The First Steps...... 160 A Climate of Fear ...... 165 Disaster ...... 170 Was Anyone Safe?...... 175 “Either Them or Us”...... 177 7 The Destruction of Midyat...... 181 Tur Abdin: The West Syriac Heartland ...... 183 A Week-long Massacre ...... 188 Solidarity Breaks Down...... 192 Annihilation of the Syriacs...... 194 8 Sayfo: The General Massacre of Northern Mesopotamia...... 197 A Catalogue of Massacres ...... 200 9 The Battle for Azakh...... 273 The “Midyat Rebellion” ...... 275 Naji and Scheubner-Richter...... 280 Syriacs or Armenians?...... 282 Naji’s Defeat...... 288 Enver Intervenes ...... 290 DESTRUCTION OF MIDYAT ix

10 Implications and Conclusions...... 295 The Number of Victims...... 300 Intentions...... 303 Ethnic Cleansing...... 308 11 Notes on the Sources...... 317 General Sources...... 317 Sources on Urmia...... 320 Sources on Hakkari and Van...... 322 Sources on Diyarbekir Vilayet...... 323 Appendix 1 Oral Testimony on Tur Abdin 1914–15...... 327 A. General Statements ...... 328 B. Midyat...... 331 C. ‘Ayn-Wardo ...... 348 D. Kfar-Boran ...... 364 E. Kfar-Gawze...... 367 F. Kafro-Elayto ...... 371 G. Kfarze...... 372 H. Bote...... 374 I. ‘Urnes ...... 377 J. Saleh...... 378 K. Habses...... 379 L. Basibrin ...... 379 M. Anhel ...... 380 N. Mor Awgin...... 381 O. Mor-Malke ...... 383 P. M’are...... 384 Q. Mizizah...... 384 R. Hazakh ...... 387 S. Nsibin and Gozarto ...... 392 T. Miyafarqin...... 394 U. Tel-Ghaz ...... 395 V. Sa’irt...... 395 W. Gziro...... 397 X. Diyarbekir, Midyat, ‘Ayn-Wardo ...... 397 Appendix 2 Documents on the Syriac Population...... 405 1. Statistics Provided by the Assyro-Chaldean Delegation to the Peace Conference ...... 405 2. Liste des villages, des habitations et nationalités ...... 406 3. The Size of the Chaldean Church in June 1913 ...... 429 x MASSACRES,RESISTANCE,PROTECTORS

Appendix 3 Documents on the Number of Victims...... 433 1. The Approximate Number of Victims Belonging to the Vilayet of Diyarbekir...... 433 2. Hecatombs and More Hecatombs...... 436 3. Christian Massacres of 1915 in Diyarbekir Vilayet ...... 441 Appendix 4 Turkish Archival Documents on Deportations and Sieges....445 1. The Deportation of the Assyrians in Ottoman Documents ...... 445 2. Documents Related to the Siege of Azakh in the Turkish Military History Archives ...... 450 Bibliography ...... 495 Indexes ...... 507 Towns and Villages ...... 507 Places of Execution...... 522 Persons...... 523 Authors Cited...... 533