Assyrians, Kurds, and Ottomans: Intercommunal Relations on the Periphery of the Ottoman Empire
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Assyrians, Kurds, and Ottomans: Intercommunal Relations on the Pe ...

Chapter 11:  Great Britain, the Ottomans, and the Assyrian Tragedy
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Badger’s assignment was carefully supervised and directed by the Foreign Office. Instructions were sent to Canning to assist Badger in his mission to Assyrians, with a memorandum of instruction to Badger on his departure to Kurdistan mentioning:

It appears from a communication which has just been made to me by the Archbishop of Canterbury that Reverend George Percy Badger has been selected by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel and by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge for the proposed mission to the Nestorian Christian Church…Caution him as to his proceeding; and to warn Mr. Rassam not to mix himself in proselytism.6

2. Great Britain Expresses Its Concern on the Assyrian Question

While Badger was at Mosul, the Assyrian tribes that he had come to help and to establish firm relations with were subject to the Kurdish invasion and massacre. Thus the newly established relations were overshadowed by the tragedy, which, however, gave Great Britain a further opportunity to establish its presence and influence among the tribes, which resulted in rooting that influence. In doing so, Great Britain was assisted by its advanced position at the Porte and its influence over the sultan and his government as protector of the ailing empire. The Turkish government took advantage of Great Britain’s support, while at the same time, it tried to justify Bedr Khan Beg’s action against the Assyrian tribes.

3. British Efforts to Free the Captives

The new British-Assyrian friendship was put to the test for the first time during and after the massacres. The records of the events from the summer of 1843 to 1847 are full of British involvement in the affairs of the victims.