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# Betraying Jesus Christ and historical truth in the name of Kurdification
- URL: https://www.assyriapost.com/betraying-jesus-christ-and-historical-truth-in-the-name-of-kurdification/
- Published: 2026-10-18T15:48:13.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-18T15:51:22.000Z
- Description: New academic research exposes historical distortions behind attempted Kurdification of the indigenous Assyrians of Hakkari.
- Author: The Assyria Post
- Tags: History

A newly published academic research paper by Dr. Daniel Sadadelivers a rebuttal to controversial claims advanced by Kurdish Protestant pastor Ender Peker, challenging his attempted reclassification of the Indigenous Assyrians of Hakkari as ethnically Kurdish. 

Published on Academia.eduunder the title *The Continuing Kurdification of Assyrian History, Land, and People: Historical Anachronism, Distortion of Evidence, and Abuse of Ecclesiastical Authority*, the study exposes serious chronological anachronisms, misinterpretations of historical sources, and unsupported genealogical assertions employed in narratives attributing Kurdish ancestry to established Assyrian communities. 

The controversy followed Peker's October 2026 Rudaw interview, during which he claimed that historically Assyrian communities – including Tyari, Tkhuma, Jilu, Baz, Diz, and Ashitha – were Kurdish in origin. 

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5d/f5/5df5a6c1-1f57-4975-951e-ddd33d31dec7/content/images/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-18-at-17.45.32.png)

Kurdish pastor Ender Peker

### **Historical Evidence Versus Ethnic Reclassification** 

Drawing upon medieval chronicles, historical manuscripts, linguistic evidence, and ethnographic scholarship, Sada critically examines the writings of al-Masʿūdī, Ibn al-Athīr, Marco Polo, Mark Sykes, and Mehrdad R. Izady, alongside remarks attributed to Turkish historian İlber Ortaylı. 

The study's central finding is unequivocal: the historical authorities examined do not substantiate the proposed Kurdish ancestry of Hakkari's Indigenous Assyrians. The research demonstrates that references to Christian Kurds, Kurdish political authority, or shared ecclesiastical traditions cannot establish the ancestry of separately identifiable Assyrian populations. 

Particular attention is directed towards Izady's historically problematic reconstruction and his interpretation of Mark Sykes, whose 1908 ethnographic survey questioned the inclusion of Hakkari's Nestorian Christians within Kurdish classifications. 

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5d/f5/5df5a6c1-1f57-4975-951e-ddd33d31dec7/content/images/2026/10/IMG_C4B5BE6A2A2F-1.jpeg)

Assyrians from Hakkari. Photo unknown. 

### **Ecclesiastical Authority and the Betrayal of Historical Truth** 

Beyond the historical controversy, the publication raises serious questions about the responsibility of religious figures who invoke ecclesiastical authority to advance unsupported claims concerning another people's ancestral identity. 

Christianity is a religious affiliation, not an ethnic genealogy. The historical existence of Christian Kurds is not disputed; what the research challenges is its misuse to retrospectively reclassify Assyrian communities. 

For a Christian priest, the controversy raises a profound moral question: How can the teachings of Jesus Christ—truthfulness, justice, and love of one's neighbour—be reconciled with the promotion of historical assertions that the documentary evidence does not substantiate? 

The accusation of betraying Christ is a moral judgment arising from that question, rather than a claim that the research establishes Peker's personal intentions. 

The publication situates the controversy within the wider phenomenon of Kurdification, examining how retrospective ethnic narratives may distort the historical identity, ancestral settlements, language, and cultural heritage of Indigenous Assyrians. 

Rather than attempting to reproduce the extensive existing scholarship on Hakkari's Assyrians, the investigation focuses on the historical authorities invoked to justify their proposed reclassification. 

The research is available on Academia.eduin both languages for scholars, journalists, historians, human-rights advocates, and the wider public. 

English [edition](https://www.academia.edu/179024171/The%5FContinuing%5FKurdification%5Fof%5FAssyrian%5FHistory%5FLand%5Fand%5FPeople%5FHistorical%5FAnachronism%5FDistortion%5Fof%5FEvidence%5Fand%5FAbuse%5Fof%5FEcclesiastical%5FAuthority?source=swp%5Fshare ), Arabic [edition](https://www.academia.edu/179073226/%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B1%5F%D8%AA%D9%83%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%AF%5F%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%AE%5F%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A2%D8%B4%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%8A%D9%86%5F%D9%88%D8%A3%D8%B1%D8%B6%D9%87%D9%85%5F%D9%88%D8%B4%D8%B9%D8%A8%D9%87%D9%85?source=swp%5Fshare ).