| Chapter 11: | Great Britain, the Ottomans, and the Assyrian Tragedy |
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He told the consul that Zenal Beg would be removed from Asheetha and that the Nestorians would be allowed to return to their homeland, except the patriarch Mar Shimun and his immediate assistants. This, however, would be done only after a Turkish military force had occupied Asheetha to protect them.
Canning further mentioned that the Porte viewed Bedr Khan as a powerful leader whom it could not subdue, due to its military and economic weakness. It was simply not in the power of the Porte to punish him and to subdue him to the authority of sultan. Thus the Porte was clearly advancing cautiously in restoring its authority. The massacre of the Nestorians had sprung from the hatred existing between the various peoples, but the sudden appearance of the missionaries and the acute competition among them had been a contributing factor.42
Another example of the strong British presence and influence on the Ottoman sultans could be found in the appointment of Rashid Pasha as minister for foreign affairs with the assistance of the British ambassador at Constantinople, Canning.43
Bedr Khan’s Beg’s Account of the Massacre and Slaves
Stevens’ mission reached its peak when he successfully established contacts and relations with Bedr Khan Beg, whom he interviewed intensively from 29 June to 1 July 1844. Bedr Khan did his best to defend himself and to justify his inroad on the Assyrian tribes. He was keen to acquaint Stevens with his side of the story, representing the tribes as the aggressors and affirming that, as a Turkish official with a duty to subdue those who resisted the sultan’s rule, he had been obliged to punish them. However, he minimised the number of the victims and the amount of the loot and remained defiant on the subject of the captives, insisting that some had been freed, others had become private property by purchase, many had converted to Islam, and neither of the latter two groups would be restored. He maintained that there had been no plunder except some sheep that his fighters had killed and eaten, and a small sum of money that he had distributed among them.