1924 Kirkuk massacre

The Kirkuk massacre of 1924 was a massacre towards the people of Kirkuk by the Assyrian Levies on May 4, 1924 after the Assyrian Levies were attacked in Kirkuk in 1924 and in previous years after settling in Iraq. One notable attack which led to hostility between the Assyrians and Turkmens was in August 1923 in Mosul in which two Assyrian children were killed by Muslims and no one was brought to justice.

In early 1924 the British deployed the Assyrian levies to Kirkuk province in order to capture the city of Sulaymaniyah, which was controlled by Kurd Sheikh Mahmud. The Muslims in Kirkuk threatened to attack Assyrian women as soon as the Assyrian Levies left Kirkuk to Sulaimanya.

On 4 May, an argument broke out between an Assyrian Levy and a Turkmen shopkeeper in Kirkuk's central market over prices which led to physical fighting. After the dispute, two more Assyrian Levies were wounded by Turkmens after they were hit from behind with heavy sticks during a dispute. The Turkmens were also taunting the Assyrians stating, "Now that half of you have gone to Chemchemal; we are not frightened of you." According to British documents, "Two Assyrian battalions then went back to the town, on the way they savagely assaulted number of Turkmens sitting in coffee shop, destroying furniture and beating the customers." This occurred after Turkmens in the shop made remarks towards the passing Assyrians, starting a riot between the groups. The Turkmens of Kirkuk then began shooting at the Assyrians which resulted in several Assyrian deaths. The Assyrians Levies returned fire on the armed Turkmens which resulted in 200-300 Turkmens in Kirkuk being killed. The total number of Assyrians killed was five.