Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Maliki supports Assyrian request for own province
Security, Minorities
(AINA) - Assyrian Christians in Iraq have made a formal request for a Province of their own inside the war-torn country, and many see this as the only way to persuade thousands of refugees outside the country to return. The Assyrian Province, under the same legal framework as neighboring Kurdistan, is seen as a key to bring the Northern part of Iraq into stability.
In a wide-ranging, exclusive interview in Tokyo for ANS with Ken Joseph Jr., Iraqi President Nouri al Malaki affirmed the Assyrian Christians' right to have a Province of their own, which could be provided for under the Iraqi Constitution. Malaki said: "I have a bias towards the Assyrian Christians. They are the indigenous people of our country and our most nationalist and good people."
He added: "We want them to be inside the country and active and able to retake their rights. We will do all we can to help them. At the same time, if they feel they need an area, a province of their own as the Constitution provides, I support this fully."
In a wide-ranging, exclusive interview in Tokyo for ANS with Ken Joseph Jr., Iraqi President Nouri al Malaki affirmed the Assyrian Christians' right to have a Province of their own, which could be provided for under the Iraqi Constitution. Malaki said: "I have a bias towards the Assyrian Christians. They are the indigenous people of our country and our most nationalist and good people."
He added: "We want them to be inside the country and active and able to retake their rights. We will do all we can to help them. At the same time, if they feel they need an area, a province of their own as the Constitution provides, I support this fully."
Reacting to large numbers of refugees in neighboring countries, Malaki said: "We do not consider them refugees. They are displaced, and we are doing all we can to create a situation where they can return. They are our responsibility and we do not need help from others to take them in -- they will return home."
Malaki was addressing questions concerning the minorities, many of whom are in neighboring, countries including an estimated nearly 500,000 Assyrian Christians. During the interview, Malaki appeared upbeat about the future of his country in contrast to the daily bad news coming out of Iraq.
Malaki was addressing questions concerning the minorities, many of whom are in neighboring, countries including an estimated nearly 500,000 Assyrian Christians. During the interview, Malaki appeared upbeat about the future of his country in contrast to the daily bad news coming out of Iraq.
Labels: Assyrian province, Assyrians, constitution, northern Iraq, Nouri Al-Maliki
Monday, April 16, 2007
Islamists threaten Assyrians to convert or die
Security, Religion
(AINA) - An unidentified Islamic group has been threatening the Chrisitan Assyrians (also known as Chaldeans and Syriacs) in the Dora district of Baghdad, a traditionally Assyrian area. The Islamic group issued an ultimatum yesterday to Assyrian families, telling them to leave Christianity and convert to Islam within 24 hours or they would all be killed.
The Islamic group also issued a fatwa (a religious edict) to confiscate the property of all Christians, to force Assyrian women to veil themselves, to forbid genuflection (making the sign of the Cross) and the wearing of the Cross. Earlier the same Islamic group forcefully removed the Cross from the churches of St. John and St. George. An affiliated Islamic group in Northern Iraq occupied the Assyrian monastery of Raban Hormuz.
Labels: Assyrians, Dora, Islamists
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Minorities in Iraq may be given safe haven in Ninevah
Humanitarian
(AINA) Iraq's Christians suffer much from persecution and are fleeing the country. Iraq's non-Muslim minorities, most of them Assyrians (Syriacs and Chaldeans) face systematic cleansing in the shadow of the Iraq war. Now even the U.S department for Foreign Affairs is ringing the alarm bell exclusively for Metro by stating that they regard the situation seriously and that they have taken several measures in order to stop the persecution. One of the solutions can be a safe haven. In talks with Metro the U.S department for Foreign Affairs has opened up for the possibility to give Christians, and other minorities, in Iraq an area of their own, where they will be safe.
In the north of Iraq, just south of Kurdistan, there is an area named Nineveh which is almost entirely populated by Iraq's minorities, most of them Christians. Many are now calling for this area to become an administrative area of its own, a protective zone, where Christian Iraqis can feel safe.
We are working to enhance the consciousness among members of Congress and request from the American Congress to support that Assyrians/Chaldeans/Syriacs and other minorities who live parallel to them in the north part, which is called the Nineveh Plaines, shall have their own administrative area. There is support for this in the Iraqi constitution says Michael Youash from the think-tank called Iraqi Sustainable Democracy Project in Washington.
The President of the Assyrian Federation of Sweden, Simon Barmano, says he supports the proposition and wants the Swedish government to act so the Assyrians may have a sanctuary. That is also the standpoint of Fredrick Malm, spokesman of the Swedish co-governing liberal party, Folkpartiet, on issues of political refugees. "I support autonomy for the Assyrians in Nineveh," he says, "But their safety and security must also be guaranteed."
Another reason for wanting a safe haven is the possibility that the large number of refuges, now living under terrible circumstances in the neighbouring countries, may return. Many Iraqi refugees escape to Sweden.
In the north of Iraq, just south of Kurdistan, there is an area named Nineveh which is almost entirely populated by Iraq's minorities, most of them Christians. Many are now calling for this area to become an administrative area of its own, a protective zone, where Christian Iraqis can feel safe.
We are working to enhance the consciousness among members of Congress and request from the American Congress to support that Assyrians/Chaldeans/Syriacs and other minorities who live parallel to them in the north part, which is called the Nineveh Plaines, shall have their own administrative area. There is support for this in the Iraqi constitution says Michael Youash from the think-tank called Iraqi Sustainable Democracy Project in Washington.
The President of the Assyrian Federation of Sweden, Simon Barmano, says he supports the proposition and wants the Swedish government to act so the Assyrians may have a sanctuary. That is also the standpoint of Fredrick Malm, spokesman of the Swedish co-governing liberal party, Folkpartiet, on issues of political refugees. "I support autonomy for the Assyrians in Nineveh," he says, "But their safety and security must also be guaranteed."
Another reason for wanting a safe haven is the possibility that the large number of refuges, now living under terrible circumstances in the neighbouring countries, may return. Many Iraqi refugees escape to Sweden.
Labels: Assyrians, Iraqi constitution, Ninevah, Sweden, U.S department for Foreign Affairs
Monday, March 19, 2007
Assyrians forced to pay 'protection tax'
Security
(AINA) - Muslims in the Dora neighborhood of Iraq are forcing Assyrians (also known as Chaldeans and Syriacs) to pay the jizya, the poll tax demanded by the Koran which all Christians and Jews must pay in exchange for being allowed to live and practice their faith as well as being entitled to 'Muslim protection' from outside aggression.
At least two cases have been reported to a government employee -- who wishes to remain anonymous -- in which the Christian Assyrian wives were instructed to go to a certain mosque and pay, which they did out of fear. The stated reason for the payment was "we do the fighting and you pay to support." The jizya has been collected since the arrival of Islam in 630 A.D. The last systematic collection was by the Ottomans (Turks), which came to an end only in 1918, when the Ottoman empire was defeated and partitioned in World War One.
At least two cases have been reported to a government employee -- who wishes to remain anonymous -- in which the Christian Assyrian wives were instructed to go to a certain mosque and pay, which they did out of fear. The stated reason for the payment was "we do the fighting and you pay to support." The jizya has been collected since the arrival of Islam in 630 A.D. The last systematic collection was by the Ottomans (Turks), which came to an end only in 1918, when the Ottoman empire was defeated and partitioned in World War One.
Labels: Assyrians, Dora, jizya
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Assyrians oppose Kurdish attempts to annex Kirkuk
Security, Politics
(AINA) Iraqi Assyrians wrapped up a three-day meeting in İstanbul yesterday with a statement opposing Kurdish attempts to establish control over the ethnically mixed city of Kirkuk. In a statement released after the meeting, the Assyrians said Kirkuk was part of Iraq, not of the Kurdish region. "The Kurdish region is not as big as claimed (by Kurds)," said group member Barem Behram. "If you look at the history, you will see that Assyrians were populating the area that is claimed to be the Kurdish region today."
Iraqi Assyrians discussed the overall situation in Iraq during their three-day meeting at the Conrad Hotel in İstanbul. The meeting was originally planned to be held in Baghdad, but the plans had to be changed after participants from other countries were denied entry visas by Iraqi authorities. The meeting was attended by some 43 participants, 17 of whom were from Iraq. The participants included US, Australian and German citizens.
Iraqi Assyrians discussed the overall situation in Iraq during their three-day meeting at the Conrad Hotel in İstanbul. The meeting was originally planned to be held in Baghdad, but the plans had to be changed after participants from other countries were denied entry visas by Iraqi authorities. The meeting was attended by some 43 participants, 17 of whom were from Iraq. The participants included US, Australian and German citizens.
COMMENT: A referendum that was scheduled to occur in July has been postponed by the Kurds and the Turks for another two years. The referendum was expected to decide whether Kirkuk will be annexed to the semi-independent Kurdish entity in the north. It is currently administrated by Baghdad. Kirkuk's population is made up of Turkomen, Arabs, Assyrians and Kurds. The first three groups are allied in that they do not want to become part of Kurdistan and believe they have as much say in the city's future as the Kurds.
The last ethnic-breakdown census in Iraq was conducted in 1957. That count showed 178,000 Kurds, 48,000 Turkomen, 43,000 Arabs and 10,000 Assyrian-Chaldean Christians living in Kirkuk. That was before Saddam began his program to move Arabs to Kirkuk, followed by the Kurds moving back there since 2003. COMMENT ENDS.
Labels: Assyrians, Kirkuk, Kurdistan
Monday, March 12, 2007
Kurds prevent use of Assyrian language in business
(AINA) -- Kurdish authorities are preventing Assyrian businesses from using Assyrian names or putting up signs using the Assyrian language on the front of their stores, according to the Assyrian website assyrian4all.net. Kurdish authorities have informed businesses that they may use Kurdish or English only. An Assyrian businessman observed that this policy is no different from that under Saddam's regime, when Assyrians were forced to use Arabic instead of Assyrian names.
COMMENT: Assyrians are an ethnic group whose origins lie in what is today Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria. Most Assyrians speak a modern form of Syriac, an Eastern Aramaic language whose dialects include Chaldean and Turoyo as well as Assyrian. All are classified as Neo-Aramaic languages and are written using Syriac script, a derivative of the ancient Aramaic script. Assyrians also may speak one or more languages of their country of residence.
As a result of persecution, mostly during the last century, there is now a significant Assyrian diaspora. Major events included the Islamic revolution in Iran, the Simele massacre, and the Assyrian genocide that occurred under Ottoman Turkish rule in the early 1900's. The latest event to hit the Assyrian community is the war in Iraq; of the one million or more Iraqis reported by the United Nations to have fled, forty percent are Assyrian, despite Assyrians comprising only three to five percent of the Iraqi population. Assyrians adhere to Christianity. Under MAPS on the left look at the Distribution of ethnic and religious groups to see Assyrian areas in Iraq.COMMENT ENDS.
As a result of persecution, mostly during the last century, there is now a significant Assyrian diaspora. Major events included the Islamic revolution in Iran, the Simele massacre, and the Assyrian genocide that occurred under Ottoman Turkish rule in the early 1900's. The latest event to hit the Assyrian community is the war in Iraq; of the one million or more Iraqis reported by the United Nations to have fled, forty percent are Assyrian, despite Assyrians comprising only three to five percent of the Iraqi population. Assyrians adhere to Christianity. Under MAPS on the left look at the Distribution of ethnic and religious groups to see Assyrian areas in Iraq.COMMENT ENDS.
