self-rule Archives

Why Christians Need Self Rule in Iraq

March 30, 2018 by administrator

Pictured: Soldiers of the Nineveh Plain Protection Units (NPU), an Assyrian security force, in a training exercise. (Image source: NPU)

by Uzay Bulut,

“These murders are giving us yet another signal that there is no place for Assyrian Christians in Iraq.” — Ashur Sargon Eskrya, President of the Assyrian Aid Society-Iraq.
“The only way for us to have a bright future is to establish a local administration in the Nineveh Plain lands, which will be a safe haven for all persecuted communities, including Yazidis… [It] should be protected internationally. This would also include forming a no-fly zone, and having the province monitored by international powers for a temporary period until we strengthen our military force and reconstruct our areas.” — Athra Kado, the head of the Assyrian Democratic Movement, Alqosh, Iraq.

On March 8, three members of an Assyrian Christian family — Dr. Hisham Maskoni, his wife, Dr. Shadha Malik Dano, and her elderly mother — were stabbed to death in their home in Baghdad. The two doctors, who had left Iraq, the country of their birth, in 2003, returned five years ago to work at St. Raphael Hospital in the capital.

The victims, who lived in a neighborhood controlled by a Shiite militia, had been tortured, according to Ashur Sargon Eskrya, president of the Assyrian Aid Society-Iraq, in an interview with Gatestone.

Eskrya also said that the motive behind the killings — as in the case of an innocent Christian killed in Baghdad in February — had not been established, and that so far, no suspects have been arrested. “These murders,” he added, “are giving us yet another signal that there is no place for Assyrian Christians in Iraq.”

An indigenous people of the Middle East, Assyrians have been targeted and murdered over the centuries for their religion and ethnicity. Yet they were once the rulers of the ancient Assyrian Empire. The traditional Assyrian homeland contains parts of Turkey, Iran, Syria and Iraq.

The Assyrian legacy to civilization is significant. Ancient Assyrians were pioneers in science, mathematics, astronomy, medicine, literature, art and technology. They were also exceptional builders, as shown by archaeological sites, including those at Ashur, Nimrud and Nineveh in Iraq. With the rise of Islam and the Arabian conquests of the 7th century, however, Assyrians and other eastern Christian peoples fell to a subordinate status — “dhimmitude” — which forced them to pay a tax, the jizya, in exchange for “protection.” Since then, they have been persecuted repeatedly. According to the Assyrian International News Agency, every fifty years, an Assyrian massacre took place, but the 1914-1923 Christian genocide in Ottoman Turkey dwarfed previous massacres and resulted in the systematic extermination of around 750,000 Assyrians – nearly three-quarters of their prewar population.

After the end of World War I and with the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, Assyrians were excluded from the new forging of nation-states in the region. In spite of their having been severely persecuted and displaced by Muslims, Assyrians were not granted independence or autonomy in their ancient lands. Instead, they were left to the “tender mercies” of Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Iran and the Kurds.

Devoid of a government or security force, Assyrians in Turkey, Iran and Syria have been largely erased from their indigenous homeland. In Iraq’s Nineveh Plain, however, Assyrians still form the majority and wish to establish a sustainable and democratic form of self-governance. Assyrians currently have a security force in the region: The Nineveh Plain Protection Units (NPU).

In an interview with Gatestone, Athra Kado, the head of the Assyrian Democratic Movement in the town of Alqosh in Iraq and Director of the NPU media center, said:

“Our nation has suffered for centuries. The latest genocide by ISIS, as well as recent murders, such as those in Baghdad, are deeply affecting our people physically and psychologically. The only way for us to have a bright future is to establish a local administration in the Nineveh Plain lands, which will be a safe haven for all persecuted communities, including Yazidis.

“The new administration that needs to be established in the Nineveh plain should be protected internationally. This would also include forming a no-fly zone, and having the province monitored by international powers for a temporary period until we strengthen our military force and reconstruct our areas. In order to make this a reality, our Nineveh Plain Protection Units should be supported in both military and logistical terms.”

Eskrya concurred, recounting for Gatestone:

“Throughout the bloody history of the region — including the 1914-1923 Christian genocide, the 1933 massacre in Simele, the 1963 Iraqi-Kurdish War, the dictatorial regime of Saddam Hussein and the 2014 ISIS genocide — Assyrians have lost their trust in governments that rule them, and they have even lost their trust in their own neighbors who engaged in kidnapping or even killing Assyrian Christians and raping women.

“Even today, Assyrian Christians still face genocide and discrimination in Iraq and the Middle East in general. During the ISIS invasion of the Nineveh plain, for example, terrorists grabbed our lands and destroyed our churches and historical sites. The result of all this persecution has been forced demographic change against Assyrian Christians.

“But through a local administration in Nineveh, economic and infrastructural developments can take place. The region is suffering from inadequate resources, so the new province should get a higher budget from the central government in Baghdad and should possess the right to self-rule.”

Juliana Taimoorazy, founding president of the Iraqi Christian Relief Council and a senior fellow at the Philos Project, has been advocating serious security measures, economic development and the rebuilding of homes for Assyrians. In an interview with Gatestone, she said:

“We fear crimes such as the murder of the Assyrian family in Baghdad will chip away at the hope that has returned to the hearts and minds of those who have decided to return to their towns in the Nineveh plain. However, our resolve is steadfast, and we will not be shaken. I liken our Assyrian nation to a tree that is standing tall amidst terrible winds. Although our branches may break, our roots will always remain solid in the earth of Nineveh.”

Uzay Bulut is a Turkish journalist born and raised in Turkey. She is presently based in Washington D.C.

Turkey: 20 self-rule resistance detained as thousands Kurd are forced to leave Silopi

January 4, 2016 by administrator

ŞIRNAK – ANF

As the self-rule resistance of people continues in Şırnak’s Silopi district for the 22nd day, Turkish military and police forces are intensifying their attacks on neighborhoods in an effort to force the people to leave the town.

Heavy tank and artillery attacks on Barbaros and Şehit Harun neighborhoods, which are protected by local self-defense units, continue ceaselessly since last night.

In the meantime, reports are coming through that around 7 thousand people in Barbaros neighborhood have been forcibly evacuated from their houses since last night. According to reports, all these people were first taken to the indoor sports facility in Yenişehir neighborhood, and later forced to leave Silopi.

Among these people who all were subjected to criminal record check, over 20 youths have been taken into custody. While no information is available as to where the youths were taken to, families remain concerned about their security of life.

In Yeşiltepe neighborhood, some 20 people who have taken shelter in a basement of a house have run out of food and basic daily needs. Babies are being fed with sugared water due to a lack of infant formula.

Resistance continues in Barbaros, Şehid Harun and Karşıyaka neighborhoods despite all the attacks that are getting severer every day.

By next Turkeys Election almost all Kurd candidate will be in Jail, Hakkari co-mayors detained over ‘self-governance’ claims

August 20, 2015 by administrator

Hakkari co-mayors Dilek Hatipoğlu (Photo: DHA)

The co-mayors of the Hakkari Municipality were detained in an operation on Thursday, one police launched after claims of a declaration of autonomy in the municipality.

The co-mayors — Dilek Hatipoğlu and Nurullah Çiftçi –– were detained early on Thursday.

The co-mayors of the Sur and Silvan districts of the southeastern province of Diyarbakır have also been detained. Sur Co-mayors Seyid Narin and Fatma Şık Barut, Silvan Co-mayors Yüksel Bodakçı and Melikşah Teke, and pro-Kurdish Democratic Regions Party (DBP) official Ali Rıza Çiçek were detained in operations staged in Diyarbakır on Wednesday.

people’s assemblies in the southeastern districts of Silopi, Cizre and Nusaybin, as well as in the province of Şırnak, declared “self-governance” on Aug. 10, following clashes between terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) supporters and police in Silopi that killed four people, including a police officer. The Yüksekova district of the southeastern province of Hakkari and the Varto and Bulanık districts of Muş followed suit soon thereafter.

In a statement on Aug. 12, the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), an umbrella group that encompasses the PKK, said the assemblies in Silopi, Cizre, Nusaybin and Şırnak have announced that they do not recognize any state institution, have declared autonomy and “exercise their legitimate right to self-defense if [their] self-governance is attacked.”

Source: Zaman

Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) says declaring self-rule now only option for Kurds

August 13, 2015 by administrator

The Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), an umbrella group that encompasses the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), has said there is no option for Kurds in Turkey other than declaring autonomy for themselves. report zaman

The KCK’s executive committee asserted in a statement on Wednesday that the so-called people’s assembly of Silopi, Cizre, Nusaybin and Şırnak had previously declared that they would not recognize any state institution, declare self-rule and “use their legitimate self-defense rights if their self-rule is attacked.”

Recalling statements by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday in which he said an aerial campaign against PKK targets will continue until terrorist organizations stop posing a threat against the country, the KCK statements said, “there is no option other than autonomy for Kurds in the face of a political mentality which insists on a nation-state and which does not recognize local democracy.”

In a speech at a ceremony at the presidential palace late on Tuesday, Erdoğan vowed to continue military operations against the PKK “until not one terrorist is left.” He emphasized that stopping armed attacks would not be enough to maintain security, insisting that the “guns should be buried in cement.”

“Our fight will continue until terrorist organizations stop posing a threat to our country; until guns pointed at our state and our people are buried. I would like to put an emphasis here. Stopping gunfire is not enough. The guns should be laid down and buried. I insist on that. Our fight will continue until the guns are buried in cement and not one terrorist is left within our borders,” he said.

The Turkish military has ratcheted up pressure on the terrorist group with a fresh round of air strikes in southeastern Turkey, as the PKK claimed responsibility for the bombing of a police station in İstanbul on Monday.

Warplanes pounded 17 targets in the province of Hakkari on Monday and Tuesday, the military said, part of a renewed crackdown on the PKK.

Early results show landslide support in Donetsk and Lugansk regions for self-rule (Video)

May 11, 2014 by administrator

Election commissions in Donetsk and Lugansk are still counting the ballots, but preliminary results show the majority of eastern Ukrainians supported self-rule, despite intensified military operation by Kiev which resulted in several deaths.

Follow RT’s LIVE UPDATES on Eastern Ukraine

After the last polling stating closed in Lugansk and Donetsk regions at 23:00 local time (20:00 GMT), election commissions began counting the votes.

According to preliminary results – based on phone call reports from local commissions – in Donetsk region 89.7% of votes were cast in favour of political independence from Kiev. In Lugansk region preliminary results have not yet been announced, but the leader of the local “people’s front” said only around 5% voted against the “Act of state self-rule of the Lugansk People’s Republic.”

Central election commissions are yet to receive the official reports from the polling stations across the regions. Earlier it was said the documents would not be transported until the morning over the fear of possible attacks and provocations.

Despite fears that amid Kiev’s intensified military crackdown – which killed at least two civilians on referendum day – the turnout will be low, in both of the region it was unexpectedly high. In Donetsk it reached 74.87%, while in Lugansk the central election commission says 81% of eligible voters came to the polling stations.

With such a huge turnout, the referendums have been recognized as valid by both election commissions.

Kiev however, calling the regional voting on self-determination illegal, sent its recently formed paramilitary forces in an apparent move to disrupt referendums.

As armored military vehicles blocked passage to polling stations, voting in four towns across Lugansk region was disrupted. In the Donetsk town of Krasnoarmeysk, the National Guard shot at a crowd and killed two civilians who were protesting their attempt to seize a polling station.

The final results are expected be announced during region wide rallies on Monday.

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