AMSTERDAM — The genocide of the Suroye (Syriacs–Arameans–Assyrians–Chaldeans), know as the Sayfo, is now explicitly included in a Dutch history textbook used in secondary education, marking a milestone in a decades-long campaign by Suroye organizations to bring the history of the 1915 genocide into Dutch classrooms. The genocide is addressed in Feniks – Geschiedenis 3, a secondary-school history textbook, where Suroye and Greeks are identified as victims of the mass violence carried out in the Ottoman Empire during the First World War, according to…

SYDNEY — The Cyprus Community of NSW joined the Armenian community at the Parliament of New South Wales in Australia this week for a commemoration that placed remembrance, historical truth, and Australia’s humanitarian response at the center of discussions about the genocides of the early 20th century. The event, held on Tuesday, brought community representatives together to honor the victims of the Sayfo Genocide and reflect on the broader destruction inflicted on the Suroyo (Syriac–Aramean–Assyrian–Chaldean), Armenian, and Pontic Greek peoples during the final years of the Ottoman Empire.

By Musa Ergin The province of Erzurum was one of the regions where the Armenian Genocide was experienced most severely in 1915. Major massacres and deportations took place in Erzincan, Bayburt, Erzurum, Kars, Ardahan, and Iğdır. The overwhelming majority of the Armenian population was either exterminated or uprooted from the province. According to witnesses, there were certain Turks whose names we do not even know.

CANBERRA — The Syriac (Aramean–Assyrian–Chaldean), Armenian, and Greek communities in the Australian capital of Canberra commemorated the 111th anniversary of the Sayfo Genocide committed against the Syriac, Armenian, and Greek peoples under the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1923. The official ceremony, held on Thursday, 2 July, brought together a broad range of diplomatic, political, and academic figures, alongside representatives of civil society organizations.

SYDNEY — Suraye (Chaldean–Syriac–Assyrian) organizations and institutions in the homeland of Beth Nahrin (Mesopotamia) and the diaspora held commemorative events to mark Assyrian Martyrs’ Day and the 93rd anniversary of the Simele Massacre, carried out by the Iraqi Army in cooperation with its British counterpart against members of the Suraye people. Among the events was a commemoration organized in Sydney by…

BETH ZALIN, Beth Nahrin — The Assyrian Democratic Party (ADP) has announced its support for a boycott of official celebrations marking the centenary of Beth Zalin (Qamishli), saying the event fails to adequately recognize the historic role of the Syriac (Aramean-Assyrian-Chaldean) people in the city’s founding and development. The party said in a statement issued Thursday that it stood in solidarity with the Assyrian Democratic Organization (ADO), Syriac Union Party (Gabo d’Ḥuyodo Suryoyo, SUP), and the Syriac Orthodox Church, which have decided not to participate in the centenary celebrations over what they described as the marginalization of the city’s Syriac heritage.

CANBERRA — Representatives of Armenian, Suroye (Syriac–Aramean–Assyrian–Chaldean), and Greek communities renewed their campaign for Australia’s federal recognition of the 1915 genocides during a day of meetings with lawmakers at Parliament House in Canberra on Tuesday. The delegation was organized by the Joint Justice Initiative (JJI), a coalition established in 2020 by the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU), the Assyrian National Council–Australia (ANCA), and the Australian Hellenic Council (AHC) to jointly advocate for recognition of the mass killings and deportations of Armenians, Suroye, and Greeks in the Ottoman Empire during the First World War and its aftermath.

By Musa Ergin On 2 July 1915, Hacı Başar Bey gathered the Kurdish and Arab tribal leaders of Midyat, seeking their support for attacks against Christians. Ali Batte’s response was, "Whoever attacks the Christians will find me standing against them." This clear and resolute stance helped prevent potential mass massacres in the area. The Heverki tribe saved the lives of hundreds of people by taking the Syriacs and Armenians in Tur Abdin under their protection.

For more than a century, the history of modern Turkey has been shaped by a question that remains deeply contested: how should a nation understand the violence, displacement, and demographic transformations that accompanied the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the creation of the Republic? For the Syriac (Aramean–Assyrian–Chaldean) people, one of the oldest Christian communities of Beth Nahrin (Mesopotamia), this question is not merely an academic debate.

By Musa Ergin The history of Kastamonu offers a crucial perspective on the diverse forms of resistance against the Armenian Genocide. Local officials in the province refused to implement the deportation orders, a stance that directly saved the lives of thousands of Armenians. The words of Kastamonu Gendarmerie Commander İzzet Bey symbolize an unwavering belief in historical judgment: “In the future, you will be held accountable for what you have done.”

WORCESTER, Massachusetts, USA — Historian and sociologist Taner Akçam announced the forthcoming publication of his new book, Empire of Violence: A New History of the Armenian Genocide, which he describes as the culmination of more than 35 years of research on the Armenian Genocide. The 288-page book will be published by Princeton University Press in January 2027. It examines the period from 1878 through the 1930s through what Akçam describes as a “new understanding of continuity,” placing the Armenian Genocide within a broader history of anti-Christian violence in the late Ottoman Empire that also affected Greeks and Suroye (Syriacs–Arameans–Assyrians–Chaldeans).

BAGHDAD / YEREVAN — Two painful events in the history of the Suraye (Chaldean–Syriac–Assyrian) people are marked on 7 August, namely the 1933 Simele Massacre in Iraq and the 1915 Sayfo Genocide, perpetrated against Suraye, Armenians, and Pontic Greeks by the Ottoman army and allied Kurdish tribes during World War I. On the occasion, calls have been renewed for official recognition of these tragedies, as well as for justice, the protection of diversity, and the promotion of peaceful coexistence.

JERUSALEM — The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem expressed its "profound disappointment" after a proposed resolution calling for the official recognition of the Armenian Genocide was removed from the agenda of measures scheduled for a vote in the Israeli Knesset. The Patriarchate said the decision raises serious questions about the independence of Israel's decision-making process and has reignited political and diplomatic debate over one of the region's most sensitive historical issues.

ZURICH — The Treaty of Lausanne, signed on 24 July 1923, laid the foundations for a Turkish nation-state built on the “one people, language, one religion” concept of Turkishness and Sunni Islam, according to Switzerland-based scholar Dr. Toros Korkmaz, who argues that its political legacy continues to shape Turkey and the wider Middle East more than a century later. In an interview with Kurdish news outlet…

URISHLEM — Israel has suspended a planned parliamentary vote that would have formally recognized the Sayfo Genocide 1915, which acknowledges only the Armenian victims, delaying a decision that many had viewed as a historic shift in Israeli policy and prompting renewed calls for equal recognition of the Syriac (Aramean–Assyrian–Chaldean) and Pontic Greek genocides. An Israeli official confirmed that the vote in the Knesset had been postponed ahead of the legislature's summer recess and the country's 27 October national elections, leaving last month's unanimous Cabinet decision without the force of formal state recognition.

By Musa Ergin Not all names from Tur Abdin have yet been documented. Therefore, I would like to turn the social media comment made by our reader into an open invitation that applies to everyone carrying similar family histories: I invite anyone who knows a documented or orally transmitted story of a protector or defender from Midyat or Tur Abdin during the Sayfo Genocide, regardless of their origin or religion, whether Christian, Muslim, Kurdish, or Syriac, to share this story along with names, locations, and, if possible, sources.