This work explores the misconceptions pertaining to the Ottoman Süryânî community of the pre-World War I era, using a critique of the present day historiography as the context for the discussion. The works of three early twentieth century journalists, Âşûr Yûsuf in Harput, Cebbûr Boyacı in New York and Naûm Fâik in Diyarbakır, provide the material for the study. The author contends that these individuals cannot be considered as Assyrian nationalists, the traditional argument, and, furthermore, that they saw the future of the Süryânî people as best secured by the continuation of the Ottoman Empire, in which they sought a greater presence for their community.

The hopes of the Süryânî lived and died with their belief in the İttihâd ve Terakkî Cemiyeti [Committee of Union and Progress]. The rise of autocratic rule and then the killings of Christians during the First World War proved that these hopes had been misplaced, but the story of the Süryânî journalists years prior to the war will come as a surprise to those familiar only with the histories of genocide. This is the first work to examine the body of Süryânî writing in Ottoman Turkish and as such offers a previously unavailable look at this community and its place in Ottoman society.