The majority of Assyrians living in what is today modern Turkey were forced to flee to either Syria or Iraq after the Turkish victory during the Turkish War of Independence . In 1932 , Assyrians refused to become part of the newly formed state of Iraq and instead demanded their recognition as a nation within a nation . The Assyrian leader Shimun XXI Eshai asked the League of Nations to recognize the right of the Assyrians to govern the area known as the " Assyrian triangle " in northern Iraq . During the French mandate period , some Assyrians , fleeing ethnic cleansings in Iraq during the Simele massacre , established numerous villages along the Khabur River during the 1930s
Simele massacre
Simele massacre
Assyrian people