Bakr Sidqi

The Lethbridge Herald,
18 August 1933, reporting on the Simele massacre.

In the late spring of 1933, the American representative in Iraq, Paul Knabenshue, described public animosity towards the Assyrians was at 'fever heat'. With Iraqi independence, the new Assyrian spiritual-temporal leader, Mar Shimun XXI Eshai, demanded autonomy for Assyrians within the Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq, as had been promised by the British and Russians during the First World War, and sought support from Britain. He pressed his case before the League of Nations in 1932.

His followers planned to resign from the Iraq Levies, a formidable and highly capable force, under the command of the British, which had served British interests putting down Kurdish and Arab rebellions against Britain since 1921, and to regroup as a militia and concentrate in the north, creating a de facto Assyrian enclave. However, the British prevented the plan from being realised.

In June 1933, the young Patriarch was invited to Baghdad for negotiations with Hikmat Sulayman’s government and was detained there after refusing to relinquish temporal authority. Mar Shimun would eventually be exiled to Cyprus, forcing the head of the Assyrian Church of the East to be located in Chicago, where it remained until 2015 when it was brought back to Erbil.

In early August 1933, more than 1,000 Assyrian people who had been refused asylum in Syria crossed the border to return to their villages, in Northern Iraq. The French, who controlled Syria, had notified the Iraqis that the Assyrians were not armed. However, while the Iraqi soldiers were disarming those whose arms had been returned by the French, shots were fired. It is unclear who fired first. The Royal Iraqi Army was defeated, and 30 Iraqi soldiers killed. Anti-Assyrian and anti-British xenophobia, apparent throughout the crisis, accelerated.

When news of the confrontation reached Baghdad, the government panicked, fearing disaster in the unity of their armed forces. The government used irregulars, who killed some 120 unarmed civilians in two Assyrian villages in the week of August 2, with most of the massacre occurring on August 7). Then, on August 11, Sidqi led a heavily armed force to what was then one of the most heavily inhabited Assyrian areas in Iraq, the Simele District.

The Assyrian population of the district of Simele was indiscriminately massacred, including, men, women and children. In one room alone, 81 Assyrians of the Baz tribe were massacred. Religious leaders were prime targets; eight Assyrian priests were killed during the massacre, including one beheaded and another burned alive. Girls and women were raped and made to march naked before the army commanders.

Back in Doha, 600 unarmed Assyrian civilians were murdered by Sidqi's men. In the end, around 65 Assyrian villages were targeted in the Mosul and Dohuk districts. On 13 August, Bakr Sidqi moved his troops to Alqosh, where he planned to inflict a further massacre on the Assyrians who found refuge there.[8][9][10] The main campaign lasted until August 16, but violent unprovoked attacks on Assyrians were being reported up to the end of the month. After the campaign, Bakr Sidqi was invited to Baghdad for a "victory" rally. The campaign of terror resulted in a third of the Assyrian population of Iraq fleeing to Syria.

The Simele massacre inspired Raphael Lemkin to create the concept of ""Genocide"". In 1933, Lemkin made a presentation to the Legal Council of the League of Nations conference on international criminal law in Madrid, for which he prepared an essay on the Crime of Barbarity as a crime against international law. The concept of the crime, which later evolved into the idea of genocide, was based mostly on the Simele massacre.[11] The Assyrians were living among their "hereditary enemies" the Kurds in Iraq, and it is "at the hand of the Kurds that they suffered most of the loss of life which Raphael Lemkin was to assess as genocide".[12][13][14]

In 1936, during the reign of Faisal's ineffectual son, King Ghazi, General Sidqi, then acting commander of the Royal Iraqi Army, staged what was probably the first modern military coup d'état in the Arab world against the government of Yasin al-Hashimi. Eleven Iraqi military planes dropped leaflets over Baghdad on October 29, 1936, requesting the King to take action and dismiss Yasin al-Hashimi's administration and for the installment of the ousted anti-reform Prime Minister, Hikmat Sulayman. In addition, the leaflets warned the citizens that military action would be taken against those who do not "answer our sincere appeal".

The leaflets were signed by Sidqi himself, as the "Commander of the National Forces of Reform".

General Bakr Sidqi could not have found a better time to execute his plan as the Chief of Staff, General Taha al-Hashimi, was in Ankara, Turkey. As the acting Chief of Staff, Sidqi ordered those in the army and in the air force who shared his beliefs of a military coup to adhere to his directions. Any interference by Sidqi's opponents was neutralised by Sidqi himself, who managed to send a telegram to Taha al-Hashimi ordering him not to return. In an interview conducted by Majid Khadduri, he claims that Sidqi had disclosed to Khodduri that the King had called the British Ambassador, Sir Archibald Clark Kerr, over to the Zahur Palace for advice. The ambassador suggested for the King to invite all ministers in the Royal Iraqi Government for an emergency meeting. Of those in attendance were Yasmin al-Hashimi, Nuri al-Said, General Ja'far al-Askari and Rashid Ali, Minister of the Interior.

Immediately, the King discounted any notion of a revolutionary movement, but there were reports of some bombing in Serai and the advance of troops towards Baghdad. With the exception of Nuri al Said, all those present in the palace agreed to comply with the demands of General Bakr Sidqi and allow Hikmat Sulayman to step into power. As a result, Yasin al-Hashimi resigned.

According to Khodduri, Ambassador Kerr suggested for Hikmat to be invited to the meeting. Coincidentally, Sulayman arrived at the palace to deliver the letter, written by Sidqi and Latif Nuri, to the King explaining the implications of the coup.

Jafar al-Askari, who was Minister of Defence during the coup and had served twice as the Prime Minister of Iraq prior to Yasin al-Hashimi, sought out to deter Sidqi from his plans by attempting to distract the two battalions from advancing towards Baghdad. In addition, he tried to appeal to those officers who still regarded him as instrumental in the formation of the Royal Iraqi Army. Cautious of any dissention as a result of al-Askari's actions, Sidqi's sent two of his men, Akram Mustapha, member of the air force, and Ismail Tohalla, who had participated in the Simele Massacre, to assassinate him.

The death of al-Askari was widely viewed as challenge to the old government and highlighted Sidqi's quest in ultimately gaining control of the country by first taking over the army. As a result, Nuri al Sa'id was exiled to Cairo, and Yasin al-Hashimi was exiled to Istanbul. However, the coup provoked "anti-Kurdish feelings among Arab nationalists".[15]

Despite the obvious overthrow, Sidqi found it necessary to enter Baghdad with the army and parade with the citizens. According to Khodduri, some felt that it was a move to dissuade any last-minute resistance, and others felt that Sidqi wanted to prove himself with the parade and be applauded for bringing in a new regime for Iraq.

As a result of the coup, Yasmin stepped down, insisting that the King write a formal letter accepting his resignation. Sulayman became Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, but, after overthrowing the government, it was Sidqi, who as commander of the armed forces, essentially ruled Iraq. Some other members of the new cabinet included Abu al-Timman, Minister of Finance, Kamil al-Chadirchi, Minister of Economics and Public Works, Abd al-Latif, Minister of Defence, and Yusuf Izz ad-Din Ibrahim as Minister of Education. It is important to note that although General Sidqi was instrumental in the formation of the coup, he did not want a cabinet position and remained Chief of the General Staff.

However, the murder of al-Askari created strong feelings, especially among Iraqi forces, against the new government, and Sulayman's cabinet lasted under ten months until Sidqi was assassinated. As a result, Sulayman resigned as Prime Minister and was succeeded by Jamil al-Midfai.

Sidqi was recognised as one of the most brilliant officers in the Royal Iraqi Army, known for his intelligence, ambition, and self-confidence. He also believed the army was needed to bring about reform and achieve order, a stance he shared with Atatürk and Reza Shah.