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REMEMBERING THE ASSYRIAN GENOCIDE: AN INTERVIEW WITH SABRI ATMAN
By Varak Ketsemanian // January 8, 2014 in Featured, Headline, Interviews
BOSTON, Mass. (A.W.) -Exploiting an opportune moment during World
War I, the Ottoman government carried out its intent to eliminate the
empire's Christian elements. Although a vast amount of scholarship has
been conducted on the annihilation of the Armenians, one aspect of the
genocide remains obscure-the extermination of the Assyrians. In the
interview below, Sabri Atman, the founder and director of the Assyrian
Genocide and Research Center (Seyfo Center), brings to light some of
the various characteristics of the Assyrian Genocide (or Seyfo).
Sabri Atman
Atman is one of the most well-known lecturers on the Assyrian
Genocide. He was born in Nsibin (Tur Abdin) in southeast Turkey, moved
to Austria due to political reasons, and to Sweden five years later.
He has studied economics at the University of Gothenburg and
has a master's degree on human rights and genocide studies from
Kingston University in London, Siena University in Italy, and Warsaw
University in Poland. Atman continues to contribute immensely to
worldwide awareness of the Assyrian Genocide. He is currently a
doctoral student in genocide studies at Clark University in Worcester,
Mass. His dissertation is on the Assyrian Genocide and the involvement
of the Kurds.
Varak Kestsemanian-What is the primary sequence of events that
constitute the Assyrian Genocide?
Sabri Atman-We Assyrians call the genocide of 1915 Seyfo, meaning "the
sword." The reason we called it the sword was that the perpetrators
were using Seyfo as a weapon for the killings. Seyfo is a term that
seeks to highlight the Assyrian share of the genocide, perpetrated
against the Armenians and Greeks as well, during the First World War.
The genocide that wiped out more than half the population of the
Assyrians took place mainly in southeastern Turkey, but also in the
northwestern town of Urmiya in Iran.
The Assyrians initially put the number of their victims at 250,000
people in both the Turkish territories and Urmiya, Iran. But, the
Assyrian delegation to the Lausanne peace talks of 1923 presented the
number of victims as 275,000, since they had collected more information
on the numbers of those who perished. But, according to some scholars,
up to 400,000 civilian Assyrians perished in the systematic killings,
which were ordered and carried out by the Ottoman state, with the
collaboration of its Kurdish subjects and with troops and divisions
of the regular Ottoman military and police forces combined.
The 1915 genocide did not target only the Armenians but also the
Greeks, Assyrians, and the Ezidis. The strategy that the perpetrators
had in mind was ethnically annihilating all non-Muslim citizens living
under the Ottoman occupation, with the objective of homogenizing
Turkey in accordance with their goal to create a nation of "One
Religion." Indeed, their motto was "One Nation, One Religion." To
achieve their goal, jihad (or holy war) was declared on Nov. 14,
1914 in all of the Ottoman mosques. Jihad was declared against all
Christian subjects living within the Ottoman territories without
having a particular victim. The main plot was to get rid of all the
Christian minorities of Turkey.
The execution of their primary plan to create one Muslim-Turkish
nation started with attempts to assimilate the non-Turkish Muslim
populations like the Kurds and other immigrants from the Balkans.
These Muslim groups were relocated to such cities as Ankara, Adana,
and Konya, and spread among the Turkish majority. The next step
was the removal of the non-Muslim groups from Turkey. Two million
Christian (mainly Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks) were massacred,
starved to death and deported as a result of that policy.
V.K.-How does the Assyrian Genocide differ from the massacres
perpetrated against the Greeks and Armenians?
S.A.-The witnesses I've interviewed all have wanted to clarify that
neither the architects nor the perpetuators [of the genocide] made
any distinction between any ethnic Christians. They were claiming that
"An onion is an onion, whether it's red or white. All must be chopped!"
This was a direct reference to the planned and calculated slaughter
of the Assyrian, Armenian, and Greek Christians.
While a large number of Armenians died during the deportation, many
Assyrians were killed in their villages and towns.
V.K.-What are the primary sources that make up the research material
for your dissertation?
S.A.-The primary sources for my research are the oral testimonies of
the events, which I've collected over the past decade. These sources
include unpublished interviews-that I and many other people conducted
with survivors of the genocide-which we will transcribe, translate,
and put into both historical and socio-political context.
Most of the sources addressing and documenting the Assyrian Genocide
are scattered and written in languages that are not easily accessible
to genocide scholars. These sources are either written in Assyrian,
Arabic, or Turkish.
Furthermore, oral history and testimonies are entirely ignored
by academia since most scholars concerned with the 1915 genocide
have little knowledge of the Assyrian language. However, these
oral testimonies of genocide survivors are central and immensely
important, as they can shed light on many opaque aspects of the
Assyrian Genocide. These oral testimonies represent an extensive pool
of information ready to be subjected to academic scrutiny.
Although the written sources are of paramount importance, they have
not yet been translated to modern European languages, rendering them
inaccessible to most genocide studies scholars. To mention a few,
they include Isaac Armalto's eye-witness account that he published in
Arabic in 1919 in Lebanon; and Mar Israel Audo's documentation of the
tragedies, which is available in an unpublished manuscript in Assyrian.
Many of our oral history documentations gathered at the Seyfo
Center are first-hand testimonies of eye-witness accounts. I had the
opportunity to interview and record many survivors, and they not only
provided me with valuable information then, but their testimonies
continue to provide me with an endless moral boost in what I do.
Today, we have been able to extract much information regarding the
1915 massacres from eye-witness accounts who reported back to their
respective embassies. The following are some examples:
-American Ambassador Henry Morgenthau, Jr. in Constantinople gave
reports about his contacts with the government of the Young Turks.
-A document was published already in 1916 entitled "The Treatment of
Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, 1915-1916" by James Bryce, a British
expert in political science, and Arnold Toynbee, a historian. Over
100 pages of this document are about the Assyrians.
-Johannes Lepsius, a German missionary who lived in Anatolia, informed
the authorities in Berlin about what was happening at the time. The
documentation was published in 1919 in Potsdam.
-Prof. David Gaunt together with Dr. Racho Donef published the book
Massacres, Resistance, Protectors in 2006 and covers the fate of all
the Christian groups of eastern Anatolia during World War I.
V.K.-What is the primary function of the Seyfo Center? How does it
contribute to genocide scholarship?
S.A.-The Seyfo Center has a big pool of sources and provides
research assistance to scholars, writers, journalists, filmmakers,
and government agencies. We also document the Assyrian Genocide by
collecting oral histories and publishing written evidence; presenting
the Assyrian Genocide in parliaments and government bodies; educating
non-Assyrians in political and academic forums; participating in
activism on behalf of [recognition of] the Assyrian Genocide; and
publishing books, reports, brochures, and other media. We lobby
[for recognition].
I am very glad to say that we have made great strides in the last
ten years regarding the Assyrian Genocide. First of all, the word
Seyfonow is more known on both the national and international
levels. For example:
-On May 13, 2009, a press conference took place in the Swedish
Parliament. A Kurdish intellectual called Berzan Boti apologized for
the genocide of 1915 and, as an act of restitution, handed back his
property to its rightful owners, Assyrians. The deeds of his property
were then transferred to the Seyfo Center.
-On March 10, 2010, the Swedish Parliament recognized the Assyrian
Genocide.
-Thanks to the Assyrian Universal Alliance (AUA) and the efforts by
the Assyrians in Australia, a monument was erected on Aug. 7, 2010,
for the Assyrian victims during World War I and the Simele Massacre.
-On May 1, 2013, the Australian Parliament of New South Wales (NSW)
recognized the Assyrian and the Greek Genocide.
-On April 25, 2012, the Assyrian Genocide Monument was unveiled in
capital city of Armenia, in Yerevan.
-On April 27, 2013, the third Assyrian genocide monument was unveiled
in France.
I am sure that in the very near future, we will have more monuments
erected around the world, and the number of countries who recognize
the Assyrian Genocide will have increased dramatically.
V.K.-What are the primary demands of the Assyrian people from the
Turkish government?
S.A.-First of all, we want the Republic of Turkey to stop the lies
they have been practicing now for 98 years and recognize the Assyrian,
Armenian, and Greek genocides.
Denial is a form of continuation of the genocide. It is to be killed
twice. Failure to recognize the genocide has led to even more genocides
against Assyrians in their homeland.
We Assyrians also don't understand the fact that the Republic of
Armenia has not recognized the Assyrian Genocide yet. Today, I am
very happy that so far about 26 countries have officially recognized
the 1915 Armenian Genocide.
March 10, 2010 and May 1, 2013 are historical days especially for us as
Assyrians and Greeks. The Swedish and Australian Parliaments passed a
resolution and recognized the Assyrian and Greek Genocides in addition
to the Armenian Genocide. I hope other countries will follow suit.
Our Armenian friends living in Armenia and around the world have to
help us and add the Assyrian and Greek Genocides on the international
agenda.
Remember: Assyrians and Greeks were subjected to the genocide in
Turkey, too. We also demand that today the whole world officially
recognize this fact. Of course, the Republic of Armenia, for many
reasons should be one of the first countries in the world to recognize
the Assyrian Genocide!
We are would very much like to have a strategy based on friendship
between Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks. We, who were subjected to
the same genocide, should finds ways and means of an internal dialogue
and then speak with one voice.
http://www.armenianweekly.com/2014/01/08/remembering-the-assyrian-genocide-an-interview-with-sabri-atman/
By Varak Ketsemanian // January 8, 2014 in Featured, Headline, Interviews
BOSTON, Mass. (A.W.) -Exploiting an opportune moment during World
War I, the Ottoman government carried out its intent to eliminate the
empire's Christian elements. Although a vast amount of scholarship has
been conducted on the annihilation of the Armenians, one aspect of the
genocide remains obscure-the extermination of the Assyrians. In the
interview below, Sabri Atman, the founder and director of the Assyrian
Genocide and Research Center (Seyfo Center), brings to light some of
the various characteristics of the Assyrian Genocide (or Seyfo).
Sabri Atman
Atman is one of the most well-known lecturers on the Assyrian
Genocide. He was born in Nsibin (Tur Abdin) in southeast Turkey, moved
to Austria due to political reasons, and to Sweden five years later.
He has studied economics at the University of Gothenburg and
has a master's degree on human rights and genocide studies from
Kingston University in London, Siena University in Italy, and Warsaw
University in Poland. Atman continues to contribute immensely to
worldwide awareness of the Assyrian Genocide. He is currently a
doctoral student in genocide studies at Clark University in Worcester,
Mass. His dissertation is on the Assyrian Genocide and the involvement
of the Kurds.
Varak Kestsemanian-What is the primary sequence of events that
constitute the Assyrian Genocide?
Sabri Atman-We Assyrians call the genocide of 1915 Seyfo, meaning "the
sword." The reason we called it the sword was that the perpetrators
were using Seyfo as a weapon for the killings. Seyfo is a term that
seeks to highlight the Assyrian share of the genocide, perpetrated
against the Armenians and Greeks as well, during the First World War.
The genocide that wiped out more than half the population of the
Assyrians took place mainly in southeastern Turkey, but also in the
northwestern town of Urmiya in Iran.
The Assyrians initially put the number of their victims at 250,000
people in both the Turkish territories and Urmiya, Iran. But, the
Assyrian delegation to the Lausanne peace talks of 1923 presented the
number of victims as 275,000, since they had collected more information
on the numbers of those who perished. But, according to some scholars,
up to 400,000 civilian Assyrians perished in the systematic killings,
which were ordered and carried out by the Ottoman state, with the
collaboration of its Kurdish subjects and with troops and divisions
of the regular Ottoman military and police forces combined.
The 1915 genocide did not target only the Armenians but also the
Greeks, Assyrians, and the Ezidis. The strategy that the perpetrators
had in mind was ethnically annihilating all non-Muslim citizens living
under the Ottoman occupation, with the objective of homogenizing
Turkey in accordance with their goal to create a nation of "One
Religion." Indeed, their motto was "One Nation, One Religion." To
achieve their goal, jihad (or holy war) was declared on Nov. 14,
1914 in all of the Ottoman mosques. Jihad was declared against all
Christian subjects living within the Ottoman territories without
having a particular victim. The main plot was to get rid of all the
Christian minorities of Turkey.
The execution of their primary plan to create one Muslim-Turkish
nation started with attempts to assimilate the non-Turkish Muslim
populations like the Kurds and other immigrants from the Balkans.
These Muslim groups were relocated to such cities as Ankara, Adana,
and Konya, and spread among the Turkish majority. The next step
was the removal of the non-Muslim groups from Turkey. Two million
Christian (mainly Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks) were massacred,
starved to death and deported as a result of that policy.
V.K.-How does the Assyrian Genocide differ from the massacres
perpetrated against the Greeks and Armenians?
S.A.-The witnesses I've interviewed all have wanted to clarify that
neither the architects nor the perpetuators [of the genocide] made
any distinction between any ethnic Christians. They were claiming that
"An onion is an onion, whether it's red or white. All must be chopped!"
This was a direct reference to the planned and calculated slaughter
of the Assyrian, Armenian, and Greek Christians.
While a large number of Armenians died during the deportation, many
Assyrians were killed in their villages and towns.
V.K.-What are the primary sources that make up the research material
for your dissertation?
S.A.-The primary sources for my research are the oral testimonies of
the events, which I've collected over the past decade. These sources
include unpublished interviews-that I and many other people conducted
with survivors of the genocide-which we will transcribe, translate,
and put into both historical and socio-political context.
Most of the sources addressing and documenting the Assyrian Genocide
are scattered and written in languages that are not easily accessible
to genocide scholars. These sources are either written in Assyrian,
Arabic, or Turkish.
Furthermore, oral history and testimonies are entirely ignored
by academia since most scholars concerned with the 1915 genocide
have little knowledge of the Assyrian language. However, these
oral testimonies of genocide survivors are central and immensely
important, as they can shed light on many opaque aspects of the
Assyrian Genocide. These oral testimonies represent an extensive pool
of information ready to be subjected to academic scrutiny.
Although the written sources are of paramount importance, they have
not yet been translated to modern European languages, rendering them
inaccessible to most genocide studies scholars. To mention a few,
they include Isaac Armalto's eye-witness account that he published in
Arabic in 1919 in Lebanon; and Mar Israel Audo's documentation of the
tragedies, which is available in an unpublished manuscript in Assyrian.
Many of our oral history documentations gathered at the Seyfo
Center are first-hand testimonies of eye-witness accounts. I had the
opportunity to interview and record many survivors, and they not only
provided me with valuable information then, but their testimonies
continue to provide me with an endless moral boost in what I do.
Today, we have been able to extract much information regarding the
1915 massacres from eye-witness accounts who reported back to their
respective embassies. The following are some examples:
-American Ambassador Henry Morgenthau, Jr. in Constantinople gave
reports about his contacts with the government of the Young Turks.
-A document was published already in 1916 entitled "The Treatment of
Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, 1915-1916" by James Bryce, a British
expert in political science, and Arnold Toynbee, a historian. Over
100 pages of this document are about the Assyrians.
-Johannes Lepsius, a German missionary who lived in Anatolia, informed
the authorities in Berlin about what was happening at the time. The
documentation was published in 1919 in Potsdam.
-Prof. David Gaunt together with Dr. Racho Donef published the book
Massacres, Resistance, Protectors in 2006 and covers the fate of all
the Christian groups of eastern Anatolia during World War I.
V.K.-What is the primary function of the Seyfo Center? How does it
contribute to genocide scholarship?
S.A.-The Seyfo Center has a big pool of sources and provides
research assistance to scholars, writers, journalists, filmmakers,
and government agencies. We also document the Assyrian Genocide by
collecting oral histories and publishing written evidence; presenting
the Assyrian Genocide in parliaments and government bodies; educating
non-Assyrians in political and academic forums; participating in
activism on behalf of [recognition of] the Assyrian Genocide; and
publishing books, reports, brochures, and other media. We lobby
[for recognition].
I am very glad to say that we have made great strides in the last
ten years regarding the Assyrian Genocide. First of all, the word
Seyfonow is more known on both the national and international
levels. For example:
-On May 13, 2009, a press conference took place in the Swedish
Parliament. A Kurdish intellectual called Berzan Boti apologized for
the genocide of 1915 and, as an act of restitution, handed back his
property to its rightful owners, Assyrians. The deeds of his property
were then transferred to the Seyfo Center.
-On March 10, 2010, the Swedish Parliament recognized the Assyrian
Genocide.
-Thanks to the Assyrian Universal Alliance (AUA) and the efforts by
the Assyrians in Australia, a monument was erected on Aug. 7, 2010,
for the Assyrian victims during World War I and the Simele Massacre.
-On May 1, 2013, the Australian Parliament of New South Wales (NSW)
recognized the Assyrian and the Greek Genocide.
-On April 25, 2012, the Assyrian Genocide Monument was unveiled in
capital city of Armenia, in Yerevan.
-On April 27, 2013, the third Assyrian genocide monument was unveiled
in France.
I am sure that in the very near future, we will have more monuments
erected around the world, and the number of countries who recognize
the Assyrian Genocide will have increased dramatically.
V.K.-What are the primary demands of the Assyrian people from the
Turkish government?
S.A.-First of all, we want the Republic of Turkey to stop the lies
they have been practicing now for 98 years and recognize the Assyrian,
Armenian, and Greek genocides.
Denial is a form of continuation of the genocide. It is to be killed
twice. Failure to recognize the genocide has led to even more genocides
against Assyrians in their homeland.
We Assyrians also don't understand the fact that the Republic of
Armenia has not recognized the Assyrian Genocide yet. Today, I am
very happy that so far about 26 countries have officially recognized
the 1915 Armenian Genocide.
March 10, 2010 and May 1, 2013 are historical days especially for us as
Assyrians and Greeks. The Swedish and Australian Parliaments passed a
resolution and recognized the Assyrian and Greek Genocides in addition
to the Armenian Genocide. I hope other countries will follow suit.
Our Armenian friends living in Armenia and around the world have to
help us and add the Assyrian and Greek Genocides on the international
agenda.
Remember: Assyrians and Greeks were subjected to the genocide in
Turkey, too. We also demand that today the whole world officially
recognize this fact. Of course, the Republic of Armenia, for many
reasons should be one of the first countries in the world to recognize
the Assyrian Genocide!
We are would very much like to have a strategy based on friendship
between Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks. We, who were subjected to
the same genocide, should finds ways and means of an internal dialogue
and then speak with one voice.
http://www.armenianweekly.com/2014/01/08/remembering-the-assyrian-genocide-an-interview-with-sabri-atman/