As an Assyrian[1] from Mesopotamia, Assyria has been colonized by Arab, Kurdish, and Turkish colonialists[2]. This colonialism has been going on for at least 400 years including but not limited to, taking all our lands, mass killing and raping, mass settling, forced homogenization (Kurdification[3], Turkification and Arabazation[4]).
Not many nations fought three colonialist - whos aim was and still is to exterminate us - survived to tell their tale.
Last time we fought Arabs and Kurdish Colonialists was in 1933, it ended up in massacre of 3,000+ dead, and tens of thousands forced out[5]
Just like many Assyrians, I was told at school that I was an Arab Christian and taught that "Muslims"(Arabs) from Arabian peninsula came to civilize our land. We(Modern Assyrians) are not even mentioned in school books. My community still cannot speak up, let alone call Kurdish and Arabs "colonialists". We have been slowly losing our language, because it was illegal to teach Assyrian in school.
We got recognized in 2004(before there was no such thing as Assyrians) and language was made legal to be taught in school. This so far(since 2004) has come at the cost of losing 80%+ of my nation, mostly forced out at the threat of getting killed, which many got killed. Kurdification, Arabization still continue though and ancient and religious sites are frequently desecrated.
I'm not even scratching the surface about what we go through. It's not just us, within the region there are Chaldean, Mandaeans, Yazidis, Jews (who spoke my mother tongue, have been completely exiled) and Aramaic whom we usually shared the same genocides committed by Kurdish, Arab and Turkish colonialists. Each of these have their own stories to tell.
My nation still demands independence[6] from our "progressive" Kurdish and Arab brutal regimes. These regimes are heavy western supported. We have no nation that support us, this is one of the reasons that you don't hear what we go through.
Have a read of the history of my Nation and the ones that I have mentioned, if you can't find maybe wait a few decades for researchers to siff through the documents.
I can relate to your questions because our Kurdish and Arab colonists also teach me that European colonist are very very evil, however our Kurdish and Arab colonists do not view themselves as one. This is the other reason why you do hear about colonialism in Western Asia.
You don't need to cross an ocean to be a bloody colonialist, and European colonialism isn't unique at all.
There are plenty of indigenous nations in Africa and Asia that have gone through the same and just like Assyria are still going through as I write this comment. I can name a several ones that still lives in the Arab colonized world.
