Sayfo; Village of Astal

Village of Astal

The village of Astal (also known as Estel) was located about 3 km west of the Midyat city center, but it is part of the city now. The population of Astal prior to 1915 was overwhelmingly Muslim, comprising members of the Muhallami ethnic group. In 1870 records, there was one registered dues payer (one household) and a single Christian church building that had no resident priest and lacked a church bell.

During the 1915 Syriac genocide, Astal served as a critical operational command site for the planned eradication of the Christian population of Midyat. A meeting was convened inside the mosque in Astal between the temporary Kaymakam Hajji Bashar Bey, local Muhallami Arab tribal chieftains, and Kurdish leaders of the surrounding clans, including Azizke of the Mahmado clan, to plan the coordinated invasion of the Christian quarters of Midyat. Warning of this planning session was secretly communicated to Syriac leaders by a Kurdish shepherd named Salimo who was present at the mosque, though the subsequent assault proceeded on July 6, 1915, led by regular Ottoman soldiers, Muhallami irregulars, and the Kurdish Omariyan tribe.

During and after the massacres in Midyat, Astal functioned as a site for the detention, forced conversion, and labor exploitation of Christian survivors. Abducted Christian children, such as Asmar 'Adoka, were taken to Astal and placed in Muslim households, including that of the Na'alband family, where children were given Muslim names such as Ibrahim and forced into Islamic religious practices until surviving relatives managed to locate and ransom them. Following the end of active military operations, surviving Syriac refugees from destroyed surrounding villages, such as Bote (Bardakçı), periodically traveled to Astal to seek manual or agricultural work. The Kurdish Agha Saleh of the Dakshuri tribe attempted to persuade these workers in Astal to return to Bote under promises of property restoration, but the refugees rejected the offer due to his documented intolerance and hatred toward Christians. Furthermore, a Muhallami soldier hailing from Astal later recounted his personal role as an Ottoman conscript in the execution of the Chaldean Catholic Bishop of Jezire, Ya'qub Abraham; after Ottoman soldiers dragged the bishop to the market to be crucified and burned, the Muhallami soldier shot the bishop to end his physical suffering. The local Christian church remained converted into a mosque.