Member of Bethnahrin National Council Sabah Barkho stresses importance of recalling massacres against Syriac people 

SIMELE, Iraq — Sabah Barkho, a Member of the Bethnahrain National Council (Mawtbo Umthoyo D’Bethnahrin, MUB), highlighted that the Simele Massacre remains a deeply painful memory and an ongoing wound in the history of the Chaldean–Syriac–Assyrian people. The massacre targeted 63 villages as part of a systematic genocide.

In an interview with our newsdesk, Barkho emphasized that the Simele Massacre’s anniversary, 7 August, coincides with the invasion of Nineveh Plains by the Islamic State (ISIS) in 2014. He described how the resilience of their people emerged from those historical tragedies, inspiring a determination to preserve their identity across the regions of Turkey, Iraq, and Syria, which constitute the land of Beth Nahrin (Mesopotamia).

He stressed the lasting impact of the Sayfo Genocide, the Simele Massacre, and the ISIS invasion, affirming that these memories will forever endure in the collective consciousness of successive generations.