History
Assyrians and Armenians have had contacts since ancient times, as the Kingdom of Urartu was the regional rival of the Assyrian empire from 825 BC to 608 BC. Today's Assyrian population in Armenia are mostly descendants of settlers who came starting in the early nineteenth century during the Russo-Persian War (1826-1828), when thousands refugees fled their homeland in the areas around Urmia in Persia. In the beginning of the 20th century, many came from what is today Southeastern Turkey, specifically the Hakkari region, where it was common to have Assyrians and Armenians living in the same villages. Assyrians, like their Armenian neighbors, suffered during a genocide by the Ottoman Turks, in which an estimated 275,000 Assyrians perished. As many Armenians fled Anatolia for what is today Armenia, many Assyrians followed as well, citing it as the only "Christian haven" in the region,although many also fled to Georgia (see Assyrians in Georgia). Throughout history, relations between the Assyrians and Armenian majority have tended to be very friendly, as both groups have practiced Christianity since ancient times and have suffered through Islamic persecution.
| “ | The mixed Assyro-Armenian marriages are quite high on the percentage scale, this situation being also noted in Iraq and Iran, and in the Diaspora with adjacent Armenian and Assyrian communities . Historically, the Assyrians have always been described as men of gallantry, nearly always siding with the Armenians in rebellious situations. Along with other Christian populations they have been the subject of genocide within the Ottoman Empire and the Arab and Islamic world. The Armenian and the Assyrian nations have always been attached not only by confessional consensus, but rather by many centuries of collaboration and the correlative historical predestination. | ” |
Nonetheless, the Assyrian Church of the East is considered heretical by the Miaphysite Armenian Apostolic Church, as the latter condemns the patron saint of the former, Nestorius. However, the Armenian Catholic Church and the Assyrian Chaldean Catholic Church are in full communion, and have brotherly relations.
Read more about this topic: Assyrians In Armenia
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