www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?eo20030227a2.htm
Unlike the Kurds, the Assyrians are all but ignored in discussions over Iraq's future. Over the centuries the Assyrians have been oppressed by the Persians, Mongols, Turks, Kurds and Arabs. In World War I, they lost nearly two-thirds of their population, including their archbishop. Iraq's Assyrian Christians are centered in three main areas -- approximately 200,000 in their traditional homeland in northern Iraq, 1 million in central Iraq -- mostly in Baghdad -- and a few thousand more in southern Iraq. Approximately 4 million Assyrian Christians live outside Iraq, primarily in Iran, Syria, Jordan, Canada, the United States, Australia and Europe. Wilfred Alkhas, editor of an Assyrian Diaspora magazine, notes that "one of the little known facts concerning the Middle East is the role of the Christians. Before the rise of Khomeini in Iran, Islam was generally a tolerant religion. They have built 40 schools, and nearly 8,000 children are being taught Aramaic for the first time in generations. Assyrians have had a difficult life under the regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Although they are not Arabs, they have been forced by the government to sign forms that require them to renounce their ethnic identity, religion and to declare themselves to be Arabs under a program aimed at "Arabizing" all citizens. An informal Kurdish Parliament has evolved under the umbrella of the no-fly zone. However the Assyrians living in this area have been granted only five of its 105 seats. They are extremely apprehensive of any post-Hussein government, fearing that even that small representation may be taken away. In the absence of international assurances of independence, they could once again be at the mercy of Muslim Kurds, who have slaughtered them in the past. State Department is now trying to assemble a coalition of Iraqi nationalist groups to establish a future government. As the only non-Islamic group participating in this process, the Assyrian Christians are at a considerable disadvantage. According to Assyrian Carlo Ganteh, "It has been our prayer for generations that we will be able to regain our country. Assyria was promised a nation under the League of Nations Treaty of Serves in 1928. Discussions covered the establishment of political parties, what land would constitute an independent Assyria and a constitution. Following the election of an Islamic-oriented government in Turkey, threats have been made in Ankara to seize territory in northern Iraq in the event Baghdad is defeated. The leaders of the Kurdish Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan publicly say they have no plans to establish an independent Kurdistan, but in recent weeks they have drawn up a constitution, convened their Parliament and taken other steps to establish an independent Kurdistan encompassing the Assyrian Christian areas. The next few months will be extremely crucial as plans for a post-Hussein Iraq are finalized. He was a delegate from Asia at the recent Assyrian Representation Meeting in London. Latest news, business, sports and arts from Japan delivered to you!
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