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 Mar Shimun XXI Eshai asked the League of Nations to recognize the right of Assyrians to govern the area known as the " Assyrian triangle " in northern Iraq . The Assyrians suffered the Simele Massacre , where thousands of unarmed villagers ( men , women and children ) were slaughtered by joint Arab-Kurdish forces of the Iraqi Army . These massacres followed a clash between Assyrian tribesmen and the Iraqi army , where the Iraqi forces suffered a defeat after trying to disarm the Assyrians , whom they feared would attempt to secede from Iraq . Armed Assyrian Levies were prevented by the British from going to the aid of these defenceless civilians . Eventually this led to the Iraqi government to commit its first of many massacres against its unarmed minority populations ( see Simele massacre )
Simele massacre
Simele massacre
History of the Assyrian people