Assyrian homeland

{{see also|Nineveh Plains}}

{{see also|Nineveh Plains}}

[[File:Iraqvillagealqosh7.JPG|thumb|A traditional Christian Ceremony of "Oshana"]]

[[File:Iraqvillagealqosh7.JPG|thumb|A traditional Christian Ceremony of "Oshana"]]

During World War I the Assyrians suffered the [[Assyrian genocide]] which reduced their numbers by up to two thirds. Subsequent to this, they entered the war on the side of the British and Russians. After World War I, the Assyrian homeland was divided between the [[British Mandate of Mesopotamia]], which would become the [[Kingdom of Iraq]] in 1932, and the [[French Mandate of Syria]] which would become the [[Syrian Arab Republic]] in 1944.David Gaunt, "The Assyrian Genocide of 1915", Assyrian Genocide Research Center, 2009Akçam, Taner (2012). The Young Turks' Crime against Humanity: The Armenian Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing in the Ottoman Empire. Princeton University Press. pp. xx–xxi. {{ISBN|978-1-4008-4184-4}}. Retrieved 26 February 2015.Genocide Scholars Association Officially Recognizes Assyrian Greek Genocides. 16 December 2007. Retrieved 2010-02-02Khosoreva, Anahit. "The Assyrian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire and Adjacent Territories" in The Armenian Genocide: Cultural and Ethical Legacies. Ed. Richard G. Hovannisian. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 2007, pp. 267–274. {{ISBN|1-4128-0619-4}}.

During World War I the Assyrians of Anatolia suffered the [[Assyrian genocide]] which reduced their numbers by up to 40-50%. Subsequent to this, they entered the war on the side of the British and Russians. After World War I, the Assyrian homeland was divided between the [[British Mandate of Mesopotamia]], which would become the [[Kingdom of Iraq]] in 1932, and the [[French Mandate of Syria]] which would become the [[Syrian Arab Republic]] in 1944.David Gaunt, "The Assyrian Genocide of 1915", Assyrian Genocide Research Center, 2009Akçam, Taner (2012). The Young Turks' Crime against Humanity: The Armenian Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing in the Ottoman Empire. Princeton University Press. pp. xx–xxi. {{ISBN|978-1-4008-4184-4}}. Retrieved 26 February 2015.Genocide Scholars Association Officially Recognizes Assyrian Greek Genocides. 16 December 2007. Retrieved 2010-02-02Khosoreva, Anahit. "The Assyrian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire and Adjacent Territories" in The Armenian Genocide: Cultural and Ethical Legacies. Ed. Richard G. Hovannisian. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 2007, pp. 267–274. {{ISBN|1-4128-0619-4}}.

Assyrians faced reprisals under the [[Hashemite monarchy]] for co-operating with the British during the years after World War I, and many fled to the West. The Patriarch [[Shimun XXI Eshai]], though born into the line of Patriarchs at Qochanis, was educated in Britain. For a time he sought a homeland for the Assyrians in Iraq but was forced to take refuge in [[Cyprus]] in 1933, later moving to Chicago, Illinois, and finally settling near San Francisco, California.Travis, Hannibal. "[https://ssrn.com/abstract=950428 Native Christians Massacred: The Ottoman Genocide of the Assyrians During World War I]." Genocide Studies and Prevention, Vol. 1, No. 3, December 2006.

Assyrians faced reprisals under the [[Hashemite monarchy]] for co-operating with the British during the years after World War I, and many fled to the West. The Patriarch [[Shimun XXI Eshai]], though born into the line of Patriarchs at Qochanis, was educated in Britain. For a time he sought a homeland for the Assyrians in Iraq but was forced to take refuge in [[Cyprus]] in 1933, later moving to Chicago, Illinois, and finally settling near San Francisco, California.Travis, Hannibal. "[https://ssrn.com/abstract=950428 Native Christians Massacred: The Ottoman Genocide of the Assyrians During World War I]." Genocide Studies and Prevention, Vol. 1, No. 3, December 2006.

The [[Chaldean Christian]] community was less numerous{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} and vociferous at the time of the British Mandate of Mesopotamia, and did not play a major role in the British rule of the country. However, with the exodus of [[Assyrian Church of the East]] members, the Chaldean Catholic Church became the largest non-Muslim religious denomination in Iraq, and some Assyrian Catholics later rose to power in the Ba'ath Party government, the most prominent being Deputy Prime Minister [[Tariq Aziz]]. The Assyrians of Dohuk boast one of the largest churches in the region named the Mar Marsi Cathedral, and is the center of an Eparchy. Tens of thousands of [[Yazidis|Yazidi]] and Assyrian Christian refugees live in the city as well due to the [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant|ISIS]] invasion of Iraq in 2014 and the subsequent [[Fall of Mosul]]{{cite web|url=http://www.ishtartv.com/en/viewarticle,35601.html|title=Mar Narsi church – Dhouk|website=www.ishtartv.com}}

The [[Chaldean Christian]] community was less numerous than the Assyrian refugees that were displaced during World War I{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} and vociferous at the time of the British Mandate of Mesopotamia, and did not play a major role in the British rule of the country. However, with the exodus of [[Assyrian Church of the East]] members from Anatolia, the Chaldean Catholic Church became the largest non-Muslim religious denomination in Iraq, and some Assyrian Catholics later rose to power in the Ba'ath Party government, the most prominent being Deputy Prime Minister [[Tariq Aziz]]. The Anatolian Assyrians that settled in Dohuk boast one of the largest churches in the region named the Mar Marsi Cathedral, and is the center of an Eparchy. Tens of thousands of [[Yazidis|Yazidi]] and Assyrian Christian refugees live in the city as well due to the [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant|ISIS]] invasion of Iraq in 2014 and the subsequent [[Fall of Mosul]]{{cite web|url=http://www.ishtartv.com/en/viewarticle,35601.html|title=Mar Narsi church – Dhouk|website=www.ishtartv.com}}

[[File:Church in Tesqopa.jpg|thumb|A Chaldean Catholic church in [[Tesqopa]]]]

[[File:Church in Tesqopa.jpg|thumb|A Chaldean Catholic church in [[Tesqopa]]]]