Kani Balavi ( ar, كاني بلافي or ,
, syr, ܟܢܝ ܒܠܦ̮)
is a village in
Duhok Governorate in
Kurdistan Region,
Iraq. It is located in the district of
Amadiya and the historical region of
Barwari Bala
Barwari ( syr, ܒܪܘܪ, ku, بهرواری, Berwarî) is a region in the Hakkari mountains in northern Iraq and southeastern Turkey. The region is inhabited by Assyrians and Kurds, and was formerly also home to a number of Jews prior to thei ...
.
In the village, there is a church of
Mart Maryam
Maryam may refer to:
* Maryam Castle, a castle in Kermanshah Province, Iran
* Maryam (name), a feminine given name (the Aramaic and Arabic form of Miriam, Mary)
* Mary in Islam
* Maryam (surah), 19th sura of the Qur'an
* Maryam, Iran, a village in ...
.
History
Kani Balavi was inhabited by 20-30
Assyrian families in 1850. After the
Assyrian genocide in the
First World War, Assyrian refugees from
Ashitha in
Turkey settled at Kani Balavi, and the village had a population of 110 people by 1933, in which year it was looted and burned by the Iraqi army during the
Simele massacre. In 1938, 20 families populated Kani Balavi. The village had a small
Jewish community of several families until their departure in 1949.
The population increased to 190 Assyrians by the
Iraqi census of 1957, and in 1961, there were 70 families in 35 houses. The village's population temporarily fled and took refuge elsewhere during the
First Iraqi–Kurdish War in the 1960s, and later returned. Kani Balavi was destroyed by the Iraqi army, and its population forcibly expelled, during the
Al-Anfal campaign
The Anfal campaign; ku, شاڵاوی ئەنفال or the Kurdish genocide was a counterinsurgency operation which was carried out by Ba'athist Iraq from February to September 1988, at the end of the Iran–Iraq War. The campaign targeted rur ...
in 1988.
15 Assyrian families returned and rebuilt Kani Balavi, but it was reported that Kurds from neighbouring villages had illegally seized the village's water sources and constructed houses on villagers' land in 1992.
In early 2009, 72
displaced Assyrians, with 19 families, resided at Kani Balavi. By 2011, the
Supreme Committee of Christian Affairs had constructed 39 houses, a church, and community hall, and developed the village's infrastructure.
In 2012, it was estimated that 15 Assyrians, all adherents of the
Assyrian Church of the East
The Assyrian Church of the East,, ar, كنيسة المشرق الآشورية sometimes called Church of the East, officially the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East,; ar, كنيسة المشرق الآشورية الرسول ...
, inhabited Kani Balavi. In August 2014, the
Assyrian Church of the East Relief Organisation reported there were 45 displaced Assyrian families in the village, and the Assyrian Aid Society provided humanitarian aid in November.
As of 2021, 29 Assyrians inhabit Kani Balavi.
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
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Assyrian communities in Iraq
Populated places in Dohuk Province
Historic Jewish communities in Iraq
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