The Sayfo, meaning sword in Syriac, is the name given to the mass killings and deportations of Assyrian, Syriac and Chaldean Christians in the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. Ottoman forces and allied Kurdish and other irregular groups attacked communities in the regions of Tur Abdin, Hakkari and around Lake Urmia in neighbouring Persia. Villages were destroyed, and many people were killed or died of hunger and disease in the course of expulsions. The events took place alongside the Armenian genocide. Estimates of the number of victims are uncertain but are usually put in the hundreds of thousands. Some countries and parliaments have recognized the events as genocide, while Turkey rejects that description.
Before and after
- 23 December 1913Founding of Federal Reserve System
- 1914Rise of Assemblies of God
- from 1914 to 1921Zaian War
- 1914Establishment of Swiss National Park
- 1914Sayfo
- 31 March 1914Birth of Octavio Paz
- 20 April 1914Ludlow Massacre
- 29 May 1914Birth of Tenzing Norgay
- 2 June 1914Birth of Yuri Andropov
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- 5 September 1944Founding of Benelux
The era
This moment belongs to the Modern era (1914 CE to 1945 CE), world wars and a changing world. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.