On Tuesday, members of the Christian community in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region, commemorated Chaldean Martyrs Day and the massacre of the village of Suraya.
According to sources, the Christian community organized a solidarity gathering to mark the occasion in front of St. Joseph Church in the Ankawa district of Erbil.
The gathering included participation from various groups and Christian clergy in the region.
August 7 marks the 92nd anniversary of the Simele massacre and the 11th anniversary of the genocide and forced displacement suffered by the Chaldean, Syriac, and Assyrian communities in the Nineveh Plain and Mosul, as well as the Yazidis in Sinjar and other areas at the hands of ISIS.
On September 16, 1969, the former regime committed its second massacre—after the Dukan Cave massacre—against the residents of Suraya village, killing 39 civilians, including women, children, and the elderly. Among the victims were 25 Christians and 14 Muslims.
The village of Suraya is located in the Duhok Governorate and belongs to the Simele district in the Sleivani Plain, within the Batil subdistrict. It lies 5 km from the Iraqi-Turkish-Syrian border triangle and 10 km from the Khabur border crossing.
