The Mhallami, or Mhalmites, (Arabic: محلّمى, Mḥallamī; Syriac: ܡܚܠܡܝ̈ܐ, Mḥallmāye/Mḥallmoye; Turkish: Mıhellemi) are a Semitic people originating from the Assyrian/Syriac people.
"A small minority of the Syriacs, around 1%, has converted to Islam, but remain Syriac in culture and language... The flag of the Muslim Syriac minority is a vertical tricolor of violet, yellow and green, bearing a white crescent moon and five-pointed star on the upper hoist." Sir Mark Sykes, in his book 'The Caliph’s Last Heritage', p. 578 says that 'the Mahallemi' became Muslim to be able to eat meat during a Lenten famine. He writes, 'They speak a bastard Arabic, and their women wear red clothes and do not veil."