Disagree; Goga is passionate about topics and gets worked up, but I've helped to change his mind on a different topic before. This one may be too personal for him, though.
Back on topic, Goga was asking about Assyrian deep ancestry, so this may be as good a place as any to bring up Assyrian Y-DNA R1b. It's quite common among Assyrians and is a clade that cuts unexpectedly close to Western IE clades (L23+ but L11-). Does its introduction to the population predate the distinct Assyrian ethnicity, I wonder? I suspect that the fact that it is L11- indicates that it is not along an IE line, but is rather just about the closest non-IE R1b cousin we can get to the IE Western Europeans. That could help narrow down a couple of interesting problems: the origin of Western European R1b, and the earliest genetic input into the Assyrians.
There is a fine line between being passionate, and being disrespectful. This gentleman, from my perspective, has crossed that line a number of times. This includes instances where the issue being discussed pertained to Assyrians, or where an Assyrian forum member was engaged in the discussion. There is no need for it. Both Cobol19 and I respect and support the Kurds, and their pursuit for an independent homeland. But, there are Kurds (and there are Assyrians of the same ilk), who, for whatever reason, have an exceedingly myopic take on certain issues related to genetics. This may be due to an insufficient understanding of the subject, or a problem of a different sort. Whatever the case, I do not appreciate it. Regardless from which direction it comes. Be it Assyrian or Kurd.
R-L584 is swallowing up a significant chunk of our R-M269 haplotypes. R-L277 (or however it is later defined), may do the same, albeit not to the same extent. Thus far, only Armenians, Assyrians, Cohanim, and a man identifying as a "Turk of the Alevi faith," have tested positive for R-L584. The handful of European men have tested negative. Iraqi Arabs have also tested negative for the SNP.
Many populations in the ME have not been studied. But, significant R-M269 frequencies, from whatever data is available, does not appear to be limited to Armenians and Assyrians in the ME.
Relatively high frequencies of R-M269 among certain populations of NW Iran were found in a study from a couple of years ago. Forensic Sci Int Genet. 2009 Dec;4(1):e53-5. Epub 2009 Jun 5. A Y-STR database of Iranian and Azerbaijanian minority populations.
For Y-DNA data on N Syrian Alawites ("Eti" Turks), now living in Adana, Turkey: Dönbak L., Bajanowski T., Brinkmann B., Hohoff C. (2006), 'Y-STR haplotypes in populations from the Eastern Mediterranean region of Turkey', Int J Legal Med 120(6), 395-396
For recent Y-DNA data on Druze, now living in Israel: Nadia Al-Zahery , Maria Pala , Vincenza Battaglia , Viola Grugni , Mohammed A Hamod , Baharak Hooshiar Kashani , Anna Olivieri , Antonio Torroni , Augusta S Santachiara-Benerecetti and Ornella Semino (2011), 'In search of the genetic footprints of Sumerians: a survey of Y-chromosome and mtDNA variation in the Marsh Arabs of Iraq,' BMC Evolutionary Biology
The Druze, in the Al-Zahery paper referred to above (N=37), were 49% R-M269. The N Syrian Alawi, in the 2006 paper (N=104) on East Med populations of Turkey, based on 9-STR haplotypes put through Whit Athey's predictor, came out ~35%-40% R1b(likely R-M269), with more than half carrying DYS393=13.
A few Caucasian populations may also have similar rates of R-M269. See Balanovsky et al., and Yunusbayev et al.
