Sayfo

The Sayfo, also called the Seyfo or the Assyrian genocide, was a period of mass murder and deportation. It targeted Assyrian and Syriac Christian populations during World War I. These events took place in southeastern Anatolia and the Azerbaijan province of Persia. The perpetrators included Ottoman forces and certain Kurdish tribes. The term "Sayfo" comes from Neo-Aramaic, a language historically spoken by these groups. In that language, the word can mean "extermination" or "extinction."

Before the war, the Assyrian people were not a single political unit. They were divided into different religious groups. These included the Syriac Orthodox Church, the Church of the East, and the Chaldean Catholic Church. These groups often had different theological views. Some churches split from others due to political divisions or disagreements between leaders. Many Assyrians lived in remote, mountainous areas to avoid state control. This allowed them to avoid taxes and military service, but it also kept their communities separated.

Violence against these communities did not begin only in 1915. Tensions had been rising for many decades. In the mid-1840s, a Kurdish leader named Bedir Khan attacked the Hakkari and Tur Abdin regions. Later, in the 1880s, the Ottoman government formed the Hamidiye cavalry. This was a group of Kurdish tribes loyal to the state. These irregular soldiers were often exempt from laws. This allowed them to commit acts of violence against Christians with little consequence.

During World War I, several factors led to the Sayfo. The Ottoman Empire was trying to centralize its power. At the same time, new national movements were rising in the region. The government also wanted to settle Muslim refugees from the Balkans in lands taken from Christians. This was part of a plan to "Turkify" the region. A paramilitary group called the Special Organization was also created. This group was led by Enver Pasha and included people who had been convicted criminals.

The actual massacres occurred in specific stages across different provinces. In Azerbaijan, mass killings began between January and May 1915. In the Bitlis province, Ottoman troops joined Kurdish tribes to attack Christian populations. In the Hakkari mountains, Assyrian tribes mounted a military defense. However, they were driven out of their homes by September 1915. In the Diyarbekir province, Governor Mehmed Reshid initiated a genocide against Syriac Christians.

The scale of the loss was immense. Historians estimate the prewar Assyrian population was between 500,000 and 600,000 people. At the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, the Assyro-Chaldean delegation reported 250,000 deaths. This represented about half of their population. By the 1923 Lausanne Conference, this estimate was revised to 275,000 dead.

The Sayfo is closely related to the Armenian genocide. Both happened during the same war and involved similar causes. However, the Sayfo is often considered to be less systematic. In the Sayfo, local actors often played a larger role than the central government. The motives for the violence included a perceived lack of loyalty to the empire. There was also a desire to take over Assyrian land.

Today, the history of the Sayfo is still a subject of discussion. The Assyrian diaspora has led efforts to have the events recognized as genocide. While several countries acknowledge this, the Turkish government rejects the term. The way people describe these people also varies. Some use the terms Assyrian, Syriac, Aramean, or Chaldean. These choices are often based on political or religious identity.