Sayfo; Village of Bote

The Bote Massacre: A Sayfo Atrocity

The village of Bote (also spelled Boti, and known as Bardakçı in Turkish) was the site of exceptionally brutal massacres during the Sayfo in 1915. Bote is a large village located about two hours' walk north of Midyat and It was known for its pottery. Before the massacres, Bote was home to 300 Syriac Orthodox families, 10 Syriac Catholic families, and 15 Kurdish families.

The village had two Christian churches, Mor Afrem church was built like a fortress on a hill, making it a traditional and strategically defensible place of refuge and the other church, was named Yoldath Aloho (Holy Mother of God). The local agha (chief) of the village was Saleh of the Dakshuri tribe. 

In early July, as the Sayfo began, authorities in Midyat sent 20 soldiers to Bote, ostensibly to guard the village. These soldiers took over the Syriac Catholic church and used it as their headquarters and barracks. Despite initial assurances, the Ottoman government had plans to exterminate all Christians in their territory. Upon learning they were to be attacked, the villagers sought refuge, with many fleeing inside the Mor Afrem church. Approximately 1,500 people barricaded themselves inside the Mor Afrem church. 

After six days, the villagers attempted to induce the soldiers to leave the Syriac Catholic church by occupying it themselves. Instead, the soldiers called for reinforcements, who then surrounded Bote.

Kurdish tribesmen, including Jamil and Nejim (sons of Osman, who owned Bote), invaded the village, which was unprepared for defense. They stormed and destroyed the outer walls of both the Syriac Orthodox and Catholic churches.The Mor Afrem church, where the Syriacs were hiding, was besieged for 13 days in July 1915. For the last three days of the siege, the villagers had neither food nor water. A group of 150 partisans from ‘Ayn-Wardo came to Bote to attack the Turkish-Kurdish forces from the rear, causing the besiegers to flee. However, the church door proved difficult to open, and the Muslims returned to surround Bote, forcing the ‘Ayn-Wardo partisans to retreat. About 70 people managed to escape through a tunnel leading from the church.

Those remaining in the church eventually gave up and opened the doors, trusting in promises of personal safety from the Turks, but they were instead tied together and attackers then set fires in the entrances of the tunnels, leading to the death by smoke of those hiding inside. The remaining captured villagers were taken outside Bote and killed. Few are known to have survived these events. Survivors recounted walking over dead bodies upon leaving the church. Kurdish Aghas Najo and Abdallako from ‘Arnas reportedly took children from the Mor Afrem church to the roof and killed them by throwing them onto the stony ground. Kurds pursued Syriacs hiding in caves, wells, and cellars. Abdallako took a woman he liked from a well to his house.

A Kurdish woman, who took pity on the Christians, helped them attract the attention of Shaykh Fathallah. Shaykh Fathallah became angry at the brutal treatment of the Christians by Yusuf Agha and intervened. Bishop Afrem Bilgiç, a contemporary witness, noted that his brother and his wife, Yauno Batto (originally from Bote from the Beth Ge’si family), were killed and drowned in the cistern of the Church of Kafro in 1915 CE, along with their daughter Elizabeth, during the persecution. One survivor, Basna, was shot multiple times but survived and crawled to the entrance of a cave before being taken to a Kurdish farmer's house in ‘Arnas.

The Mor Afrem church is considered the most important site of group memory of the genocide in Bote. Those who fled from Bote to ‘Ayn-Wardo remained there for seven years.

After the Sayfo, some Kurds, including Saleh Agha, attempted to persuade Bote villagers to return with promises of regaining lost property, but they were not trusted due to Saleh's reputation for hatred and intolerance towards Christians. 

The village of Bote remains largely abandoned today. The Bote Committee was established in 1999 to restore the two churches, which had been plundered and neglected, with one having been converted into a mosque.