📜 Malik Kambar and Lady Shooshan in traditional Jilu Assyrian Christian attire, 1924. Malik Kambar was commander of the Assyro-Chaldean Christian Battalion under the French Army and a representative of the Assyrian delegation to the League of Nations.
⚔️ Malik Kambar (1888–1969) was one of the most prominent Assyrian leaders of the twentieth century and the hereditary Malik of the Jilu tribe of Hakkari. Following the Assyrian Genocide and the mass displacement of the Assyrian people during and after World War I, he emerged as an important military and political figure.
As commander of the Assyro-Chaldean Battalion under French command in Syria, Kambar helped organize Assyrian volunteers and veterans who had survived war, exile, and persecution. Composed of volunteers from Hakkari, Urmia, Tur Abdin, Salamas, and other regions, the battalion brought together members of one Assyrian nation, known throughout history by various names and ecclesiastical designations, including Assyrian, Chaldean, and Syriac, in a common struggle for survival, security, and national rights following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.
🛡️ The battalion played an important role in maintaining security and safeguarding displaced Assyrian populations during a period of instability in the aftermath of World War I. Many of its members were survivors who had lost their homes during the Assyrian Genocide and the destruction of their ancestral lands.
🏛️ Following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the devastation of the Assyrian Genocide, Kambar participated in diplomatic efforts aimed at securing international protection, political recognition, and national rights for the Assyrian people. As a representative of the Assyrian delegation to the League of Nations, he advocated for the rights, security, and future of the Assyrian nation on the international stage.
👑 The traditional garments worn by Malik Kambar and Lady Shooshan offer a rare glimpse into the cultural heritage of the Jilu Assyrians of Hakkari. Their attire reflects the rich traditions, craftsmanship, and identity of a people whose presence in their ancestral homeland stretches back thousands of years.
✨ This photograph not only preserves the distinctive traditional dress of the Jilu Assyrians, but also captures two figures who symbolize the resilience, leadership, and enduring heritage of the Assyrian people. More than a century later, it remains a powerful reminder of a nation that endured persecution, displacement, and exile while preserving its identity, faith, and history.
#Assyrian #Assyrians #Jilu #Hakkari #Urmia #TurAbdin #MalikKambar #LadyShooshan #AssyroChaldean #AssyrianHistory #AssyrianHeritage #AssyrianCulture #LeagueOfNations #HistoricalPhotography #AssyrianGenocide #AssyrianPride
Iraq — Assyrian NPU (13th Regiment) inspecting the outskirts of Bakhdida city, Nineveh Plains, Assyria, a routine applied day and night to keep the area safe.
Assyrians should pray Maronites rekindle their Syriac roots, fostering pan-Syriac collaboration in Iraq, Syria & Lebanon.
Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutrous congratulates Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Mar Polis III.
Enormous potential for Maronite-Assyrian collaboration.
A rare moment of Patriarchal Unity across Assyro-Chaldean & Syriac leadership.
One blood.
One language.
One homeland.
The choice has never been clearer.
It is unity or extinction.
It is fraternity or death.
We risk the end of the oldest language & nation in Christianity.
The 1553 Schism: How Papal Involvement Divided One Assyrian People - A Call for Remediation
As an Assyrian who deeply respects the Catholic Church’s global contributions to education, charity, and the defense of persecuted Christians, I write this not out of hostility, but out of love for my people’s unity.
In the mid 16th century, the Church of the East faced a genuine internal crisis. The hereditary succession of the Patriarchate had become problematic. A group of Assyrian bishops, legitimately dissatisfied, elected the monk Yohannan Sulaqa as a rival patriarch in 1552. Seeking legitimacy, Sulaqa traveled to Rome. In 1553, Pope Julius III formally received Sulaqa, accepted his profession of faith, and consecrated him as “Patriarch of the Chaldeans”, a title created by Rome. This single act transformed an internal ecclesiastical dispute into a permanent schism. By recognising and empowering a rival hierarchy in communion with Rome, the Catholic Church of that era effectively split the Assyrian Church into two branches that exist to this day.
The Vatican’s own records confirm this sequence. Rome did not invent the initial dissatisfaction, but its decision to grant Sulaqa full patriarchal authority and a new identity (“Chaldean”) gave the division institutional permanence. What began as reform became division.
I do not question the sincere faith of my Chaldean Catholic brothers and sisters. Many of them are devout, proud Assyrians who have preserved our language, culture, and traditions. In saying that, we must be honest about history: the creation of a parallel church structure under papal authority contributed significantly to the long term fragmentation of our people.
Just as our ancestors rejected the idea that the Patriarch of the Church of the East was above criticism or reform, we must apply the same principle to the Bishop of Rome. No religious leader is infallible in matters of earthly governance and historical decisions.
Today, with instant communication and ease of travel, the excuses of the 16th century no longer apply. Several modern Popes have engaged in dialogue, yet the structural division remains. The continued existence of two separate churches from the same ancient Apostolic root; Assyrian Church of the East and Chaldean Catholic Church, represents an unfinished wound.
I respectfully call upon the current Holy Father and the Vatican to take bolder steps toward visible unity. This could include a joint commission with the explicit goal of healing the 1553 schism and exploring a model of unity that honors our shared Mesopotamian heritage while respecting legitimate diversity. This would silence any detractors continuing to sow division amongst our people. let me be clear I'm not expecting our churches to become 1 church, rather have our own council were all our people come together to organise and shepherd the 5 million Suraye around the world together.
Our people have suffered enough, from conquests and genocides to galuta. Healing this ancient division would be one of the greatest gifts the Catholic Church could offer the Assyrian nation in the 21st century.
Nationalist Kurds are so bad at history.
Not only do all genocide scholars, Assyrians and otherwise, no longer assert the 750,000 figure for Assyrians killed in the genocide, but Simko was responsible for only 3000-5000 Assyrian deaths at most.
He was, however, responsible for more Kurdish deaths and led more massacres against his fellow Kurds than he did against Assyrians.
Ankawa has been transformed from the final enclave for Christians in Iraq into a hellscape of degeneracy, harassment & abuse.
The Assyrian town is overrun by outsiders who abuse the Christian quarter as their playground.
It’s time for the KRG to clean this up.
Just 200,000 Chaldeans in Michigan are estimated to generate around $16B annually in economic output, about $80,000 per capita.
Meanwhile, 6 million Kurds in Iraq produce about $66B total GDP, roughly $11,000 per capita, much of it tied to oil revenues.
The West would gain a far more reliable, entrepreneurial, and pro-American partner by supporting a secure Christian state in northern Iraq.
Kurdistan GDP data:
https://t.co/3GZlTppUFB
Days ago, the KRG’s @IKRPresident was in the Vatican praising Christianity in Iraq.
Today? The KRG has shut down a Christian business & Kurdish media is inciting hatred towards Assyrian Christian residents.
Media reports claim a Kurdish man was kicked out of a cafe in Ankawa, the only truly Christian town, for wearing “Kurdish clothes”.
Not only was the business shut down by the court of public opinion, Christians are now being slandered across Kurdish social media.
The reality? Christian locals claim the man was harassing a family which is why he was kicked out.
Nobody actually knows what happened, but this is what you have to understand:
(1) Ankawa is the LAST urban Christian enclave in Iraq. Assyrians, now foreigners in their own land, have been relegated to a single town where they can “live freely”.
(2) In recent years, Ankawa has been transformed radically. What was once an Assyrian enclave is now being overrun by Kurds, Arabs & Syrians. Partly due to a boom in cafes & hospitality lead by Assyrian diaspora investments, but also partly because Ankawa’s homogeneity is being undermined.
The last Christian enclave is being destroyed by demographic change.
(3) Christian women are constantly harassed by strange men who visit the town. This has created a natural paranoia from locals. The Christian quarter is becoming a cesspool. A string of prostitution rings have gathered in the town, which need to be shut down.
First of ALL, Assyrians & Kurds DO live together in harmony, like brothers, and any Assyrian who comments on this post with insults towards Kurds will be BLOCKED.
However, I sincerely hope the @IKRPresident will prevent a local dispute — turned into something it isn’t — from destroying a Christian business.
To destroy the image of Ankawa itself & the reality of Assyrian & Kurdish coexistence.
If the KRG’s “protection of Christians” is real, how can a petty dispute escalate this dramatically?
How can anyone invest in a business in the KRG if it’s one social media post (and possibly a lie) away from being shut down?
Assyrians stand in solidarity with Ankawa Montana Cafe and denounce KDP Erbil governor Omed Khoshnaw, this reaction comes as indigenous Ankawis hold resentment towards the KRG for its years of oppressive policies,
Ankawa's social & cultural identity must be respected.
Assyrian priest opens the US House of Representatives with a prayer as guest Chaplain on May 21, 2026.
There should be more Apostolic Christians in Washington DC.