'IRAQ AND THE PERSIAN GULF' [‎213v] (431/862)

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314 HISTORY
for their safety when it was found that the new treaty made no pro
vision for the protection of minorities. Various petitions were sent
to the League of Nations renewing the nationalist demands, and also
making an alternative request in October 1931 for settlement outside
Iraq. Meanwhile the Iraqi Government was becoming less pliant
towards the Assyrians, though ready to continue the policy of piece
meal land-settlement, and certain Baghdadi politicians were deliber
ately fomenting trouble between Kurds and Assyrians. The king,
however, and most responsible ministers stood for a conciliatory
policy. The situation was aggravated for the Assyrians by the pro
posed disbanding of the Levies, which would leave several thousands
without means of support. Unfortunately the League Committee
which was dealing with the Assyrian petitions could not report till
after the termination of the mandate had been completed; otherwise
conditions similar to those relative to Kurdish rights would probably
have been explicitly imposed upon Iraq. The final conclusion of the
League Committee took the view that the Iraqi policy of land
settlement ‘in homogeneous units so far as may be possible’ should
provide a sound solution of the problem, and explicitly rejected the
Assyrian demand for administrative autonomy within Iraq.
The Massacre. A crisis arose in 1933, in the absence of King Faisal,
that led to a disgraceful massacre, and made it difficult for the bulk
of the Assyrians to remain permanently in Iraq. The Iraqi Govern
ment, which included some ministers who were anti-British in tone and
regarded a blow at the Assyrians as a blow at Britain, demanded from
the Mar Shimun, whom they detained in Baghdad, a written pledge
renouncing among other things his claim to so-called temporal power.
Yaku Ismail, his representative in Mosul, after negotiations with the
local mutasarrif, promised to go to Baghdad for discussions with the
Mar Shimun, but instead he led a body of 800 armed Assyrians across
the Tigris into the Syrian Jazira. Apparently they misunderstood
the Iraqi proposals and believed that the French were prepared to
grant them lands in Syria, which they wished to inspect. Meanwhile
the Iraqi army moved detachments to cover the Tigris crossings with
a larger force in support. When the Assyrians decided to return
a fortnight later they were challenged by a military post, which they
attacked and destroyed; it is impossible to determine which side
fired first. Later they were engaged by the main body of the Iraqi
troops, over whom they expected an easy triumph. Instead they were
routed and chased for a week through the countryside (4-11 Aug.).
This was a great ‘victory’ for the Iraqi troops who for twelve years