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Midyat kaza
Village of Ahlah: There were four families living in this village in 1915. The Kurds of the village let them live through the events of Sayfo. The families that used to live there, later emigrated to Sweden and the Netherlands.
Village of Anhel: Anhel is situated two hours on foot south of Midyat, and it is one of the major villages in Tur-'Abdin. Not one enemy of Christians has ever attacked it and no one was ever killed there. It is said to have been protected by Aziz Agha from Midyat, from the Mahmado family, and that he never allowed either the government troops or the Kurdish clans to attack it. Many Syriac families that had escaped the massacres found refuge there, until they were able to return to their villages.
Village of Arabaye: The village was also known as ‘Arbayyah in Arabic, is located 34 kilometers northeast of the city of Midyat and 7 kilometers west of the village of Kafar-Boran (Karburan). The village is situated on the slopes of Mount Izlo within the historical Syriac heartland of Tur Abdin and was administratively associated with the eastern plains of Nisibis during the nineteenth century. The most severe documented atrocities occurred during the Sayfo genocide between 1915 and 1924. Prior to the onset of these massacres, Arbayyah was inhabited by 30 Syriac Orthodox families. In 1915, the village was targeted by Kurdish forces, specifically those led by Ali Musa of Dayvan. The Kurdish perpetrators carried out a wholesale slaughter of the village inhabitants, resulting in the near-total annihilation of the local Syriac Orthodox population, with only a few individuals managing to survive the massacre. The ecclesiastical properties in Arbayyah were a primary target during the 1915 genocide. The settlement contained the parish church of Mor Sobo, a structure dating back to the eighth century. This ancient church was completely destroyed during the Kurdish-led attacks. While earlier registers confirm the church had been a site of active worship and dues collection, the sources do not provide the final individual fates of specific clergy members beyond the general slaughter of the community. After the atrocities of 1915 concluded, the settlement was left largely depopulated of its original Syriac Christian inhabitants.
Village of Arkah: About 70 Syriac families used to live in this village. It is situated north of the Mor Malke Monastery, about twenty minutes on foot from the monastery. The leaders were Joseph and Gawriye Enz. And also in this case, the inhabitants left their village, when they heard about the massacres of the Christians. They took everything they could carry and found refuge in the Mor Malke Monastery where they stayed until the end of the massacres of the Christians in Turkey.
Village of Armun: This village is situated north of Kfargussan and there were about 10 Syriac families living there. One man, Mohammed Latif, a Kurd from Kfargussan of the Hassan Shimdi family, went to the administrator of Hesno d-Kifo, and incited him against the Syriac community living in the village until the administrator took his soldiers with some Kurdish clans and raided the village. He arrested all the Syriac people that lived there and took them away from the village and finally killed them. Only about ten Syriac people succeeded in escaping the massacre.
Village of Balane: This village is situated south of Kfargussan and had about five Syriac families living there. They were all murdered by the Kurds and by the leaders of Kfargussan.
Village of Barlat: There were 10 Syriac families living in this village in 1915. Some of them were killed by the Kurds but the rest of people managed to escape the massacre.
Village of Benkelbe: This village is in the northern part of Tur Abdin and it is located behind the high mountain ridge about 6 miles north of Yardo. About 30 Syriac families lived in Benkelb and their leaders were Shabo Mushe and Malke Slibo. There were also two Kurdish leaders, Ezdin, who lived in Urdnas and Shamdin, who lived in Kfargussan and each of the Syriac leaders allied himself with one of them. When the massacres started, Ezdin took Shabo and his family ‘Ayn-Wardo and Shamdin took Malke and his family also. The other Syriac families who stayed behind in the village were attacked by the Kurds from the surrounding villages and killed all the Syriac people except for ten people in addition to the two families already mentioned.
Village of Beth Ishaq: About 20 Syriac families lived in Beth Ishaq in 1915. About half of them were killed, the others managed to save themselves and went to Beth Sbirino, where they stayed till the end of the persecutions. Then, when they returned to their village, they found that their church became a residence for the Kurdish village leader. They remained in the village until 1929 when they all emigrated to Syria.
Village of Celik: Ten Syriac families lived in this village. They were killed by the supporters of the Rammo family.
Village of Deir Qube: About ten Syriac families lived in Dair Qube. These families were urged by the Calabi Agha to flee to Hah and because of that, none of them were killed. After the massacres ended, they did not return to their villages because they were originally from Hah.
Village of Eshtrako: About 20 Syriac and 200 Kurdish families lived in this village. On the day of the Holy Apostle Thomas on July 3rd, the Kurds in the village gathered under their leaders, Latif, the son of Gemmo, and Hetto. They took all Syriac men, women and children and, cold-bloodedly, cut them down with a sword. Only twelve young men escaped the massacre. After the massacres, they returned to their village.
Village of Gerfashe: About 40 Syriac families lived in this village. The village leader was Jallo Hanna from Arbo as the people in this village were mainly from Arbo. Before the murderers could raid the village, the Syriac families fled to the mountains; they took along their belongings, furniture and food, and they found a refuge in the Mor Malke Monastery. Some of them went on to the Mor Eliyo Monastery, near Hbob.
Village of Hedil: At the time of the 1915 persecutions, there were about 20 Syriac families living in Hedel. They sought refuge in Beth Zabdai and stayed there till the end of the persecutions. From there they moved to Iraq.
Village of Marwaniye: This village is situated south of Dufne and had about ten Syriac families living there. All of them were killed simultaneously by the leaders of the village of Kfargussan.
Village of Meshti: This village is situated north of Karburan, on the south bank of the Tigris River. About 40 Syriac families used to live there and they all spoke Eastern Syriac. Ali Rammo and the Kurdish clans killed all the inhabitants.
Village of Shahirkan In this village lived about 20 Syriac families, of whom about half were murdered. The rest managed to find refuge in the Hah , Qusten, and Zaz and they stayed there until the massacres ended but they didn’t return to their village.
Village of Zangan: This village lies northeast of Karburan, on the bank of the Tigris River. All the 30 Syriac families in the village were killed by the members of the Rammo family.
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