AINA – 16/8/18
San Francisco (AINA) — The Assyrian people in Iraq, Turkey, Syria, and Iran have been subjected to systematic ethnic cleansing for over a century. The biggest human losses suffered by the Assyrian nation happened between the years 1915 and 1933 — this period of atrocities and oppression against the Assyrian people is commemorated every year on August 7th, and is known as Assyrian Martyrs’ Day.
Turkey killed 750,000 Assyrians between 1915 and 1918, as well as one million Greeks and 1.5 million Armenians. It was a genocide against Christians.
Related: The Assyrian Genocide
Between August 7 and 11, 1933, the Iraqi military massacred more than 3,000 Assyrians in Simmele and many other villages in Iraq. Assyrians were indiscriminately slaughtered on that day. Furthermore, many Assyrian families lost their homes and were forced into exile.
Modern Turkey and Iraq have been found guilty of the Assyrian genocide and both governments have failed to acknowledge their crimes. As the two governments continue deny their actions and they campaign to erase the Assyrian Genocide from history, the Assyrian people around the world fight on and demand for justice.
The Assyrian Genocide and Research Center, in conjunction with Assyrian Associations in California, held a walk across Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco to raise awareness about the Assyrian genocides.
Hundreds of Assyrians gathered participated in the walk, waving Assyrian flags holding banners written in both Assyrian and English. The demonstrators demanded recognition of the Turkish genocide of Assyrians during World War One and the Simmele Massacre of 1933.
Emmanuel Homer Younan welcomed all participants on behalf of the Assyrian Genocide and Research Center and thanked the Assyrian American Association of San Jose, Assyrian American Civic Club of Turlock, Assyrian American Association of Modesto, the Assyrian National Council of Stanislaus County and American Mesopotamian Organization for their cooperation and endorsement of the walk.
Thirteen-year-old Tiamet Lazar spoke on the genocide, saying “We are the voice of the Assyrians throughout the world, we are the future of Assyria. I assure you that my generation, for as long as it’s alive, will not let the Assyrian cause rest. Our Martyrs will not be forgotten.”
After her speech, Larissa Petrosspour was invited to give her speech on behalf the Assyrian Genocide and Research Center. Petrosspour stated that ‘hundreds of thousands of lives were stolen in 1843, 1894-1896, 1909, 1915 by Ottoman Turks, and in 1933 by Iraqi army and most recently by ISIS in 2014 to this day in Iraq and Syria. These are all dark pages in our history and we carry these atrocities with us as our identity.”
Petrosspour concluded by saying “It is a big mistake to think that what happened in 2014, 1933, and 1915 lies in the past and should be forgotten. History is not about oblivion. It is about knowledge. It is about education. It is about the future. And, we will hold our future in our hands. We will continue to seek justice for the Assyrian people.”
©Assyrian International News Agency.