"A Forgotten Page of A Nation"

Published in Zinda Magazine, April 23, 2005


Writer and Producer: Lina Yakubova, Ph.D candidate, author and producer of the documentary "Assyrians In Armenia"
Director: Artak Avdalyan, Director of public TV programs and of numerous documentaries and video clips
Director of photography: Karen Stepanyan, Camera-man of many documentaries, TV programs and video clips
Editor and Graphic Design: David Avdalyan


Ninety years ago the Christian population living in the Ottoman Empire became the innocent victim of the genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Government.

The Assyrian nation was one of the victims.

"A Forgotten Page of Nation" is a new documentary film about the Assyrians/Syrians/Chaldeans that now live in the present day Turkey and who were subjected to the genocide in the beginning of the 20th century.

The first part of the documentary is about the regions of Western Armenia/Eastern Anatolia that is the vilayets of Van, Erzerum, Diyarbakir, Kharberd, Sebastia and Bitlis that according to historical sources were inhabited by the Assyrians until the Genocide.

In the film we show pictures of the Tur Abdin historical region and its magnificent Mor Gabriel Monastery of the Syrian Orthodox Church. We also talk about the cities of Diyarbakir, Mardin, Midiyat, Bitlis where the Assyrian, Syrian and Chaldean communities have lived for centuries.

There are also some fragments covering the Nestorian Assyrians living in the mountainous region of Hakkiari with their spiritual Patriarch Mar Shimmun.

In the second part of the film certain facts have been used referring to genocide committed against the Assyrian nation which is proved by historians and genocide specialists that have been interviewed in the film, including David Gunt (Sodertalje University), Jan Beth Sawoce (publisher), Ulf Bjorklund (Stockholm University), Gegham Baghdasaryan (Yerevan State University), Lavrenti Barseghyan (Armenian Genocide Institute), Joseph Yakoub (Lyon University), Prof. Michael Sado (St.Petresburg-Russia) and Attiya Gamri (politician).

Archive materials, corresponding photos and documentary shots provided by the Mesopotamia Library of the Sodertalje University (Jan Beth-Sawoce), Armenian Genocide Institute (Lavrenti Barseghian) and Attiya Gamri have been used. A music especially written for the film has been composed by an Armenian prominent musician Vahan Artsruni.

The film is sponsored by the AUA Foundation (Chicago, Illinois).

"A Forgotten Page Of One Nation" documentary will be shown on Public TV of Armenia (via satellite) on 25 April and a presentation was held on 21 April.