Evon Sworesho - ܕܢܘ ܣܒ݂ܪܝܫܘܥ

2- When the drums of war rang out and the #Ottoman authorities called for a 'Jihad' against all Christian nations in Anatolia, the Kurds took up the cause. Although #Seyfo was orchestrated by the #Turks, for Assyrians the #Kurds committed the vast majority of the genocide.

3- However the Rekan Assyrians were not affected. The genocide never reached the Rakan mountains and it was all thanks to the Rekan Kurds, who, over centuries, had developed an unbreakable bond with their Assyrian neighbours in the region.

4- Unlike almost all other Kurdish tribes that took the call of the Ottomans as a way to gain land and women from the #Armenians and #Assyrians. The Rekan Kurds refused to follow such acts. In fact the extreme opposite was true.

5- Amongst Rekanaye, the story goes that after receiving the word to commit "jihad" against all Christians, the Rekan Kurdish Agha (Chieftain), replied by saying "These are our [Rekan Kurd] Christians, we will not let them be harmed by anyone else but us"

6- Basically, the Assyrians under his authority were to remain unharmed unless he himself sent out the call to harm them. This was extremely brave as the Rekan Kurds were not prominent, powerful or wealthy. In fact, they were much weaker than neighbouring Kurdish tribes.

7- When the call came from Mar Benyamin Shimun for ALL Assyrians to flee from Hakkari mountains and settle in Urmia, the story goes that the Rekan Assyrians were gearing up to march with their fellow Assyrians across into Persia.

8- After hearing of this, the Rekan Kurds demanded for the Assyrians to stop and did not allow them to leave. The Agha is remembered saying "there is no need to run, we [Rekan Kurds] will all die before anyone lays one hand on any of you"

9- So, as all Assyrians were being massacred, and all of Hakkari was ethnically cleansed of Assyrians and Christians, the Rekan Assyrians did not flee, but rather they stayed in their villages and continued life as normal.

10- That is why the saying "While everyone else was crying, we were laughing" is, although seldom, stated by some Rekanaye. Weddings, celebrations, funerals, etc. etc. all continued just as they had been for centuries.

11- The extremely close bond between Rekan Assyrians and Kurds continued in the 1960s when the Rekan Kurds and Assyrians fought against Barzani Kurds in Rekan. Barzanis invaded from Turkey, and Rekan was their first target, both Kurds and Assyrians fought together in that battle.

12- Rekan being a minor tribe stood no chance against the major Barzani tribe. the story goes that even though Rekan Kurds and Assyrians killed 3 men for each of their own dead, Barzanis, outnumbering them 10 to 1, ultimately were victorious.

13- Thus, in the 1960s the villages of Rekan were burned by the Barzanis and the villagers forced to flee. They returned after the war and once again continued their close bond with one another.