PDF The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements: Volume II (Oxford Handbooks) by From Oxford University Press in History

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The Armenian genocide of 1915 has been well documented. Much less known is the Turkish genocide of the Assyrian; Chaldean and Syriac peoples; which occurred simultaneously in their ancient homelands in and around ancient Mesopotamia - now Turkey; Iran and Iraq. The advent of the First World War gave the Young Turks and the Ottoman government the opportunity to exterminate the Assyrians in a series of massacres and atrocities inflicted on a people whose culture dates back millennia and whose language; Aramaic; was spoken by Jesus. Systematic killings; looting; rape; kidnapping and deportations destroyed countless communities and created a vast refugee diaspora. As many as 300;000 Assyro-Chaldean- Syriac people were murdered and a larger number forced into exile. The "Year of the Sword" (Seyfo) in 1915 was preceded over millennia by other attacks on the Assyrians and has been mirrored by recent events; not least the abuses committed by Islamic State. Joseph Yacoub; whose family was murdered and dispersed; has gathered together a compelling range of eye-witness accounts and reports which cast light on this 'hidden genocide.' Passionate and yet authoritative in its research; his book reveals a little-known human and cultural tragedy. A century after the Assyrian genocide; the fate of this Christian minority hangs in the balance.