A Visit to Assyria
Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 4:38 pmA Visit to Assyria
Afram Barryakoub, reporting from Sweden
(ZNDA: Stockholm) Two members of the Swedish committee for Assyrians travelled recently to Assyria in the north of Iraq. Their aim was to evaluate the situation before instigating an aid project which is to be supported financially by the Swedish government’s office for international aid.
Margareta Viklund, the legendary chairwoman of the committee and Dinkha Elia, the secretary, spent five days visiting Assyrian villages in northern Iraq. They both say they are very content with the visit and with the information they were able to collect.
“I saw great strength and will, but also sorrow. And I saw a tremendously strong will for union among the Assyrians”, says Margareta Viklund. She continues saying: “At the same time as they feel they want to leave the area they feel they must stay, because someone has to stay and guard the land and demand the rights of the Assyrians. Many of them see it as their mission to stay there and guard the land because they have a strong commitment and they know that the land belongs to them”, explains Viklund.
Despite objections from the villagers, Kurdish authorities continue placing Kurdish guard posts around Assyrian villages, refusing Assyrian villages to be secured by Assyrian guards.
Except for a short visit in the towns of the Nineveh Plain, Margareta and Dinkha spent most days visiting the many Assyrian villages around the town of Nohadra (Dohuk).
“What surprised me in the Nohadra area is that there are so very many villages that are inhabited only by Assyrians. I never thought there were so many Assyrians before. The Assyrians are not such a small people after all,” says Margareta.
In the villages and towns Margareta and Dinkha encountered the work of the Assyrian Aid Society and the commitment of the named organization to build a future for Assyrians.
“The impression I got of them is that they are very good. They are obsessed by the idea of building schools and to have them functioning. They put much work into it and they sacrifice a lot in building these schools because they have faith that it is the younger generation and education that is the most important things. And I agree with them fully, they are doing a wonderful job and I was very impressed by their work," says Margareta.
Margareta is well informed about the Assyrians struggle to achieve some kind of autonomy in northern Iraq and she noticed that the people have high hopes.
“From what I understood they have a great hope for achieving autonomy; they have great expectations for the area and a burning desire that it will materialize. They want Assyrian autonomy because they long for security. They are convinced it will give them security”, says Margareta Viklund and points to the general fear among the Assyrians that others may be making themselves the spokesmen of the Assyrians against their own will: “I also felt that they are afraid that someone else will come and present themselves as the true voice of the Assyrians, that their true voice and true desire will be taken away from them”.
To object increasing competition between the KDP-sponsored efforts of Sargin Aghajan to undermine independent Assyrian projects, Assyrians continue to use the facilities built by the Assyrian Aid Society instead of the more modern facilities built by the Kurds. Seen here is a preschool facility in Nohadra, built by the support of the AAS donors.
Dinkha Elia describes a scene in an Assyrian town that kept him wondering about the policies of Sargis Aghajan, an Assyrian member of the Kurdish KDP party who has been financing projects in the name of the Assyrians with funds who many say should have been distributed by the Assyrians themselves and not by a KDP member.
“In one place for example, we saw that Sargis Aghajan had financed a modern kindergarden just across the street from a kindergarden run by the Assyrian Aid Society. He could have built it in another neighbourhood where there is a need, but he chose to place it in front of the already existing one. Despite the fact that Aghajan's kindergarden is a better facility, the Assyrian mothers remain loyal to the Assyrian Aid Society and take their children to the AAS facility ”, says Dinkha.
Another controversial Kurdish policy was also noticed by the two visiting Swedes:
“The Kurds place guards in and around Assyrian towns although it is against the wishes of the residents. The residents want Assyrian guards because they can trust them and because local Assyrian guards recognize who is who and they know immediately if someone is not from the area”, explains Dinkha and continues with the following example:
“In Tellesqof, a town inhabited only by Assyrians, a bomb killed a dozen some weeks ago. The bomb was aimed at the facilities of the Kurdish KDP party stationed in the centre of the town, very close to a school. Innocent Assyrian school children were killed in the bombing just because of the Kurds. The people have protested against the Kurdish presence, but the Kurds have responded by increasing their headquarters now after the bombing.”
Many Assyrian villages have experienced Kurds settling in by force despite the protests of the Assyrians. The Kurdish parties present in northern Iraq are allowing the occupation to continue.
“Kurds continue to move into Assyrian villages or build houses on the outskirts of the Assyrian villages in a completely illegal fashion. They refuse to move despite that courts have ruled that what they are doing is illegal. And the Kurdish parties are not doing anything to stop it. The Assyrians there see it as a signal from the Kurdish leadership that it is okay for Kurds to occupy Assyrian villages”, says Dinkha.
Before returning home Margareta and Dinkha had the chance to see a water channel in the village of Sarsink which was financed by the Swedish Committee for Assyrians many years ago. They were happy to see that the water channel had helped the villagers to remain.
“They are totally dependent on water for agriculture and without this water channel we financed they would not have been able to stay”, says Margareta
The Swedish Committee for Assyrians will now work together with the Assyrian Aid Society to establish a help centre for Assyrian women in Assyria.
Things have to CHANGE..., so that we can build a friendship...on fairness,coexistence and peace
Afram Barryakoub, reporting from Sweden
(ZNDA: Stockholm) Two members of the Swedish committee for Assyrians travelled recently to Assyria in the north of Iraq. Their aim was to evaluate the situation before instigating an aid project which is to be supported financially by the Swedish government’s office for international aid.
Margareta Viklund, the legendary chairwoman of the committee and Dinkha Elia, the secretary, spent five days visiting Assyrian villages in northern Iraq. They both say they are very content with the visit and with the information they were able to collect.
“I saw great strength and will, but also sorrow. And I saw a tremendously strong will for union among the Assyrians”, says Margareta Viklund. She continues saying: “At the same time as they feel they want to leave the area they feel they must stay, because someone has to stay and guard the land and demand the rights of the Assyrians. Many of them see it as their mission to stay there and guard the land because they have a strong commitment and they know that the land belongs to them”, explains Viklund.
Despite objections from the villagers, Kurdish authorities continue placing Kurdish guard posts around Assyrian villages, refusing Assyrian villages to be secured by Assyrian guards.
Except for a short visit in the towns of the Nineveh Plain, Margareta and Dinkha spent most days visiting the many Assyrian villages around the town of Nohadra (Dohuk).
“What surprised me in the Nohadra area is that there are so very many villages that are inhabited only by Assyrians. I never thought there were so many Assyrians before. The Assyrians are not such a small people after all,” says Margareta.
In the villages and towns Margareta and Dinkha encountered the work of the Assyrian Aid Society and the commitment of the named organization to build a future for Assyrians.
“The impression I got of them is that they are very good. They are obsessed by the idea of building schools and to have them functioning. They put much work into it and they sacrifice a lot in building these schools because they have faith that it is the younger generation and education that is the most important things. And I agree with them fully, they are doing a wonderful job and I was very impressed by their work," says Margareta.
Margareta is well informed about the Assyrians struggle to achieve some kind of autonomy in northern Iraq and she noticed that the people have high hopes.
“From what I understood they have a great hope for achieving autonomy; they have great expectations for the area and a burning desire that it will materialize. They want Assyrian autonomy because they long for security. They are convinced it will give them security”, says Margareta Viklund and points to the general fear among the Assyrians that others may be making themselves the spokesmen of the Assyrians against their own will: “I also felt that they are afraid that someone else will come and present themselves as the true voice of the Assyrians, that their true voice and true desire will be taken away from them”.
To object increasing competition between the KDP-sponsored efforts of Sargin Aghajan to undermine independent Assyrian projects, Assyrians continue to use the facilities built by the Assyrian Aid Society instead of the more modern facilities built by the Kurds. Seen here is a preschool facility in Nohadra, built by the support of the AAS donors.
Dinkha Elia describes a scene in an Assyrian town that kept him wondering about the policies of Sargis Aghajan, an Assyrian member of the Kurdish KDP party who has been financing projects in the name of the Assyrians with funds who many say should have been distributed by the Assyrians themselves and not by a KDP member.
“In one place for example, we saw that Sargis Aghajan had financed a modern kindergarden just across the street from a kindergarden run by the Assyrian Aid Society. He could have built it in another neighbourhood where there is a need, but he chose to place it in front of the already existing one. Despite the fact that Aghajan's kindergarden is a better facility, the Assyrian mothers remain loyal to the Assyrian Aid Society and take their children to the AAS facility ”, says Dinkha.
Another controversial Kurdish policy was also noticed by the two visiting Swedes:
“The Kurds place guards in and around Assyrian towns although it is against the wishes of the residents. The residents want Assyrian guards because they can trust them and because local Assyrian guards recognize who is who and they know immediately if someone is not from the area”, explains Dinkha and continues with the following example:
“In Tellesqof, a town inhabited only by Assyrians, a bomb killed a dozen some weeks ago. The bomb was aimed at the facilities of the Kurdish KDP party stationed in the centre of the town, very close to a school. Innocent Assyrian school children were killed in the bombing just because of the Kurds. The people have protested against the Kurdish presence, but the Kurds have responded by increasing their headquarters now after the bombing.”
Many Assyrian villages have experienced Kurds settling in by force despite the protests of the Assyrians. The Kurdish parties present in northern Iraq are allowing the occupation to continue.
“Kurds continue to move into Assyrian villages or build houses on the outskirts of the Assyrian villages in a completely illegal fashion. They refuse to move despite that courts have ruled that what they are doing is illegal. And the Kurdish parties are not doing anything to stop it. The Assyrians there see it as a signal from the Kurdish leadership that it is okay for Kurds to occupy Assyrian villages”, says Dinkha.
Before returning home Margareta and Dinkha had the chance to see a water channel in the village of Sarsink which was financed by the Swedish Committee for Assyrians many years ago. They were happy to see that the water channel had helped the villagers to remain.
“They are totally dependent on water for agriculture and without this water channel we financed they would not have been able to stay”, says Margareta
The Swedish Committee for Assyrians will now work together with the Assyrian Aid Society to establish a help centre for Assyrian women in Assyria.
Things have to CHANGE..., so that we can build a friendship...on fairness,coexistence and peace