Yusuf Malek (; March 28, 1899 – 1959) was an Assyrian politician, author, and
Allied interpreter. He initially served with the
British Army
The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
as an interpreter during the
Mesopotamian campaign of the
First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. Captured by the
Ottomans
Ottoman may refer to:
* Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire
* Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II"
* Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...
after the disastrous
Siege of Kut, he was eventually released and found his way back into the employ of the British. After the war, he became a politician in the
Kingdom of Iraq
The Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq was the Iraqi state located in the Middle East from 1932 to 1958. It was founded on 23 August 1921 as the Kingdom of Iraq, following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the Mesopotamian campaign of the First World W ...
and worked to support the cause of the Assyrians both domestically and globally.
During the early 1930s, when Iraq was granted independence by the British, Malek worked to petition the British government for a firmer response to Iraqi atrocities such as the
Simele massacre of 1933. After he was forcefully expelled from his office after independence, he went into exile in
Cyprus
Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...
. He later published a book,
The British Betrayal of the Assyrians, in which he criticized the British government for their "betrayal" of the Assyrians and abandoning them to the massacres of the Iraqis. Malek died in 1959, his vision of an independent Assyria unfulfilled.
Early life and career
Malek as a youth
Yusuf Malek was born in
Baghdad
Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...
on March 28, 1899, to Assyrians from Tel Keif in the district of
Nineveh
Nineveh ( ; , ''URUNI.NU.A, Ninua''; , ''Nīnəwē''; , ''Nīnawā''; , ''Nīnwē''), was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located in the modern-day city of Mosul (itself built out of the Assyrian town of Mepsila) in northern ...
, the ancient Assyrian capital.
He eventually gained the nickname of "Tel Kef's son" among his fellow Assyrians.
There, he attended the Latin college. He had also attended the American college in
Basra
Basra () is a port city in Iraq, southern Iraq. It is the capital of the eponymous Basra Governorate, as well as the List of largest cities of Iraq, third largest city in Iraq overall, behind Baghdad and Mosul. Located near the Iran–Iraq bor ...
before
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
broke out.
During the British occupation of Basra in 1914, he was working as an interpreter for them. This military service ended on November 25, 1915, when British troops, Malek among them, attempted to capture Ctesiphon, a city 26 miles southeast of Baghdad. This was the first attempt to capture Baghdad from the Ottoman Empire and it had failed. After the Ottomans had routed the British, they besieged them for five months at Kut el-Amara, ending in a British surrender along with 10,000 casualties. The survivors, including Malek, were sent on a death march to Turkey to work in railroad chain gangs.
Remarkably, he was able to escape Turkey two months later and was re-employed by the British in 1917.
Political beginnings
After the war ended, Malek was appointed as an assistant to the governor of Samara. However, due to his belief that a future Assyria depended on the sale of oil to Western nations from Bet-Nahrein (which coincided with French and British political developments in that region), he was able to get a promotion to Secretary Inspector for the State of Nineveh. Because this sale would also benefit the newly established Turkey, a perpetrator of the
Assyrian genocide during the First World War, Malek worked with other Assyrian leaders to establish an autonomous and sovereign Assyrian nation. Equally pressing was the formation of the new country, Iraq, in 1921 that could mean the end of any hope to establish an Assyrian country. Placed as the ruler of Iraq by the British was Faisal Al Husain, whom Malek would come to hate in later years.
Discontent with the government
Betrayal
Nineveh
Nineveh ( ; , ''URUNI.NU.A, Ninua''; , ''Nīnəwē''; , ''Nīnawā''; , ''Nīnwē''), was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located in the modern-day city of Mosul (itself built out of the Assyrian town of Mepsila) in northern ...
was given to Iraq in the 1924 Conference of Constantinople.
Hakkari though, also had a great many Assyrians living there. Being in Turkish territory, the Turks have decided to drive them out of Hakkari and into Northern Iraq. Trying to resolve the issue, the
League of Nations
The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...
mandated that the Mosul Vilayet was to be ceded to the British and that Hakkari was to stay as part of Turkey. The Assyrian homeland was thus split in two.
On August 16, 1930, Malek was promoted to mayor of Sheehan in Northern Iraq. Two days later, the Minister of the Interior ordered him to be transferred to Nassiriya, at least 400 miles southeast of Malek's current station. Because there was really no reason as to why he must do this, Malek refused, thus angering the officials in the Iraqi government. he was not able to hold his position for long. Three months later in November, the U.K. decided to hand over control of Iraq to the Arab majority, not the Christian-Assyrian minority. This resulted in many high ranking Assyrian officials to be removed from office, Malek included.
Fighting back
Much embittered by how much the British had abandoned the Assyrians, Malek left Sheehan and went to
Beirut
Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...
, a city under French rule, where he wrote publications attacking the British and Iraqi governments.
Only a few days after the
Simele massacre occurred, where Assyrians in Northern Iraq were killed under the orders of Faisal, Malek went into exile in
Cyprus
Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...
in 1933.
There, he met with the patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, Mar Ishai Shimun, and went to Europe to speak for the "Assyrian Cause".
Although he was turned down for an audience in Switzerland, London, and France; Malek lectured many politicians on what was happening in the Middle East. The "Assyrian Cause", though, would only become international with the release of his book.
''The British Betrayal of the Assyrians''
Published in 1935, ''
The British Betrayal of the Assyrians'' allowed for the "Assyrian Cause" to reach the eyes and ears of a global audience. Blaming the British government for supporting an incompetent ruler such as Faisal, he further expressed his anger at the British for their lackluster response to the
Simele massacre of 1933. Although he stated that he "personally
newmany English gentlemen who had done all in their power to make the Assyrian position tolerable and are now ashamed to find the Assyrians persecuted", the British government had erred in their support of the "cruel" Arabs and abandonment of their Assyrian allies. He also criticized the British suppression of the Kurdish revolt against the Iraqis, stating that the British should have supported the vision of an independent
Kurdistan
Kurdistan (, ; ), or Greater Kurdistan, is a roughly defined geo- cultural region in West Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, languages, and national identity have historically been based. G ...
instead of supporting Faisal no matter the cost for the sole purpose of protecting their oil interests in Iraq. Malek expressed outrage that the British had neglected to fulfill their promise of an independent nation, leaving the Assyrians to be helplessly murdered by the Arabs.
See also
*
Assyrian Levies
*
Our Smallest Ally
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Malek, Yusuf
Politicians from Baghdad
Ottoman Assyrian politicians
Assyrians from the Ottoman Empire
Interpreters
1959 deaths
1899 births
20th-century translators