Jelek, Iraq


Jelek is a village in Dohuk Governorate in Kurdistan Region, Iraq. It is located by the Little Khabur river in the district of Amadiya and the historical region of Barwari.
In the village, there is a church of Mart Shmuni.

History

Jelek was populated by 519 Assyrians in 1957, with over 400 families inhabiting 200 houses. After the eruption of the First Iraqi–Kurdish War in 1961, the villagers were forced to flee and could not return until the war's conclusion in 1970. However, Jelek was destroyed and its population forcibly evacuated to Bersevi, near the town of Zakho, by the Iraqi army in 1979.
The construction of 62 houses, a church, hall, and school by the Supreme Committee of Christian Affairs in the 2000s heralded the return of the village's inhabitants by 2011. Jelek is largely inhabited by Assyrians.