Iraqi political parties and organizations commemorate Simele Massacre

ARBA’ILO, Kurdistan Region of Iraq — In a solemn gathering, churches, political groups and local institutions across Iraq yesterday marked the 92nd anniversary of the Simele Massacre.

The 1933 Simele Massacre saw thousands of Chaldean–Syriac–Assyrian civilians slaughtered by the Iraqi Forces.

This year’s commemoration, known as Chaldean–Syriac–Assyrian Martyrs Day, reinforced messages of justice, opposition to demographic engineering and strengthening coexistence in Iraq and Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI).

The Assyrian Church of the East’s Patriarchate released a statement characterizing the Simele as an unhealed wound in Syriac-Assyrian collective memory, noting the massacre deliberately targeted innocents for their ethnic identity.

The Patriarchate urged prayers for the martyrs’ souls and for all Christians who have perished throughout history defending their faith and values.

Meanwhile, the Chaldean–Syriac–Assyrian Popular Council demanded redress for victims and condemnation of the perpetrators, framing the massacre as part of an ongoing genocide against Christian communities, starting from the 1915 Sayfo Genocide and Massacre of Simele, Sorya, and Anfal, as well as the 2014 Islamic State (ISIS) invasion of Nineveh Plains and the Mar Elijah Church attack in Syria.

The Council pressed Iraq’s government to implement plans for a Nineveh Plains Governorate with clear geographic and administrative boundaries as a safeguard against demographic manipulation.

In Arba’ilo (Erbil), KRG President Nechirvan Barzani issued a statement memorializing the Simele Massacre which obliterated over 60 villages across Nineveh and Nohadra (Duhok) in 1933.

Barzani reaffirmed the KRI’s enduring commitment to protecting pluralism and coexistence as foundational principles securing all communities’ futures.

The Municipal Government of Kerkeslokh (Kirkuk) held a symbolic vigil outside the governorate building, commencing with a minute’s silence for the victims.

The gathering united local officials, activists, minority representatives, clergy and cultural figures, a powerful demonstration of shared resolve to secure official recognition of the tragedy as genocide.

Nine decades later, Simele endures as both a symbol of unhealed collective trauma and a stark reminder that Iraq and the region must preserve this living memory, using history’s lessons to build a future of genuine peace guaranteeing equality and dignity for all citizens.