Yamanlar, Gercüş

Yardo (today called Yamanlar) was historically inhabited by Syriac Orthodox Christians.^[9] In the Syriac Orthodox patriarchal register of dues of 1870, it was recorded that the village had 12 households, who paid 38 dues, and did not have a church or a priest.^[10] In 1914, it was inhabited by 250 Syriacs, according to the list presented to the Paris Peace Conference by the Assyro-Chaldean delegation.^[11] It was located in the kaza of Midyat.^[11] There were 70 Syriac families and 30 Kurdish families in 1915.^[12]

Amidst the Sayfo, the local Kurdish chiefs Osman Tammero and Sleyman Shamdin conspired to deceive the Syriacs at Yardo with a mutual agreement to not harm each other and subsequently one day they lured some of them out of the village under the guise of tackling cattle thieves.^[13] However, after they had reached some distance from the village, the Syriac village headman, Malke Khatun, saw the Kurds enter Yardo and realised their intention to ambush the Syriacs upon their return and thus they took refuge at a nearby ruined fortress and demanded the release of the Syriac villagers who the Kurds had taken captive.^[13] The villagers were released and joined the others at the ruined fortress, but the Syriacs were then attacked by the Kurds as they all proceeded to ‘Ayn-Wardo and only forty women and children survived who were taken captive to be kept as slaves in Muslim households.^[13]

The population was 507 in 1960.^[5] There were 110 Kurdish-speaking Christians in thirty families in 1960.^[5] Syriacs from Yardo emigrated to Germany and other European countries in the late 20th century.^[14] In 2013, there were two Syriacs at Yardo in one family.^[15]

The following is a list of the number of Syriac families that have inhabited Yardo per year stated. Unless otherwise stated, all figures are from the list provided in The Syrian Orthodox Christians in the Late Ottoman Period and Beyond: Crisis then Revival, as noted in the bibliography below.^[16]