The Assyrians of Northern Iraq

[King Ashurbanipal]

Editor's note: the following reported was presented at the European Parliament Conference on "Iraqi Turkmen: The Human Rights Situation and Crisis in Kirkuk."

European Parliament, Brussels -- Dear Secretary-General, members of Parliaments, delegates, ladies and gentlemen, Good afternoon:

The focus of the international community, since the beginning of the war in Iraq, has been the perplexing insecurity. The primary cause of the prevailing environment of insecurity has been the country's deeply rooted communal war and sectarian conflicts.

In Iraq, as well as in other Middle East regions, where there prevails material lawlessness and persisting animosity among the rival groups, there has been wide-spread abuse and discrimination of persons who belong to particular groups such as a gender (women), age (children and students), religious (Christians and other non-Muslim minorities in the Muslim states), sectarian affiliations (the Shiites, the Sunnis, the Catholics, etc.) and ethnicities (e.g., Assyrians, Turkmen, etc.). As a result, the persons in the targeted groups are subjected to numerous and repeated instances of persecutions, Killings, tortures, displacements, separation of families and other cruel and humiliating treatments.

Due to their distinct ethnic and religious identity, the Assyrians have been habitually persecuted under various regimes, until this day for refusing to recant their ethnicity and their religion. They face systematic and serious assaults on their fundamental human rights on a daily basis by different levels of authority and denying them peace in their multi-ethnic ancestral nation-state: Iraq. The purpose and principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are flagrantly violated and the lack of consistency in the enforcement of equal and inalienable rights of all Iraqis, most specifically in Northern Iraq where the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) claims, as per their website, to "believe in the rights and freedoms of all peoples".

Although Iraq's history speaks for itself, allow me to briefly introduce to you the Assyrian people. The Assyrians are indigenous people of the present day Iraq, descendants of the first people of Mesopotamia. The Assyrian communities, that are predominantly Christian, presently inhabit areas of Tur Abdin and Hakkari in south and eastern regions of Turkey, Jazira in north-eastern Syria, Urmi in north-western Iran, and the Iraqi provinces of Ninawa, Dohuk, and Arbil that is precisely where the Assyrians' ancestral homeland (Assyria) is located.

Since inception of Iraq as a sovereign country, its successive governments and particularly the Ba'ath regimes have consistently targeted and persecuted the Assyrians on national, ethnic, and religious grounds, as part of the regimes' totalitarian and Arabization policies. In the recent history, -- during WWI, WWII, and the years that followed -- the Assyrian population was disproportionately massacred, displaced, and inflicted with widespread persecutions and hardships. They have had their population massacred over the last century.

Forced migrations and now Kurdification policies have scattered Assyrians in nearly fifty countries where they have had to start from scratch struggling to survive and preserve their identity, culture, and history (Diaspora Assyrians). Kurdish authorities have allegedly been expropriating Assyrian lands and villages to deliver them to Kurds according to the American Department of the Secretary of State.

Under these horrifying circumstances which are mostly untold and unreported, Assyrians are driven out of their ancestral homeland. They seek refuge in neighbouring countries where they hope for a safer life.

The wilful disregard of the international community about the Assyrians situation is an outrage and commensurate to the acts of those who have perpetrated these crimes against this indigenous and ancient nation...
For the complete report visit:

http://www.aina.org/news/20070330155634.htm

By Mary Younan
Executive Secretary
Assyrian Universal Alliance

[Balci]

why do you keep posting stuff about Assyria and Assyrians ? you should rather find another forum which actually could fit your posts better, just an advise. i'm for free speech, so for gods sake, keep on posting, but, yeah...

[King Ashurbanipal]

why do you keep posting stuff about Assyria and Assyrians ? you should rather find another forum which actually could fit your posts better, just an advise. i'm for free speech, so for gods sake, keep on posting, but, yeah...

Kurds need to know this information because they are occupying my county...If you notice this forum is divided into sections, the second is Iraq and I as an Assyrian native indigenous of Iraq post my new messages in that section only.

[K4L_2007]

If the sumers knew who the kurds were, and they were the first inhabitants of mesopotamia, doesnt that mean the kurds were there before the assyrians?

[Vladimir]

Does it matter who was before someone? Greeks were orignally in Izmir/Istanbul, etc before the Turks. Probable some other people were before them. The majority of people living in Istanbul now are Turks. If Greece wants "Istanbul" back, it has to kill all non-Greek inhabitants of Istanbul. The same goes for the Assyrians. They are a very small minority in Iraq and most of them live outside of "Assyria", in the diaspora. If they want to create a homogenous Assyria in cities like Duhok/Hewler/Kerkuk/etc, they have to kill all non-Assyrians or deport them. It looks like the Assyrians picked up a "victim" role, like the Kurds, too. They portray themselves as an ancient Christian people, doing nothing wrong, being killed by all Muslims (including Kurds). Is this true? KRG supports an Assyrian region in Mosul.

[Rumtaya]

If the sumers knew who the kurds were, and they were the first inhabitants of mesopotamia, doesnt that mean the kurds were there before the assyrians?

The Kurds are Mountain people, what is so hard to understand???
Assyria is to 90% plain land!!! just soem mountaiins in dohuk provinc!

Kurti=Mountainers....!!!!
IF you talk about sumerian source then do it exactly!



for you an map with mountain areas in Iraq...you see it, mountains are far northeast! and not in mosul...or arbil or other parts who are claimed as Kurdistan....,

Barzani said it self...Kurdistan has its natural boards i.e. THE MOUNTAINS!!!

Still noone will force Kurds out of their inhabited areas, just out of the assyrian occupied areas in north ninawa and dohuk!!!

[Rumtaya]

Does it matter who was before someone? Greeks were orignally in Izmir/Istanbul, etc before the Turks. Probable some other people were before them. The majority of people living in Istanbul now are Turks. If Greece wants "Istanbul" back, it has to kill all non-Greek inhabitants of Istanbul. The same goes for the Assyrians. They are a very small minority in Iraq and most of them live outside of "Assyria", in the diaspora. If they want to create a homogenous Assyria in cities like Duhok/Hewler/Kerkuk/etc, they have to kill all non-Assyrians or deport them. It looks like the Assyrians picked up a "victim" role, like the Kurds, too. They portray themselves as an ancient Christian people, doing nothing wrong, being killed by all Muslims (including Kurds). Is this true? KRG supports an Assyrian region in Mosul.

Lool...where is that region, I didnt see an action done...

Its all bla bla bla bla!!!

Why dont start Kurds with giving assyrian autonomy in eastern dohuk...there are many Assyrians too....

Assyrians dont potray themselves in a vicitim role!!!

[Rumtaya]

Here something what I found..., the homeland of Kurds is Kurdistan...Mountainistan in my eyes:

According to the British scholar G. R. Driver, the earliest account of the Kurds comes from a Sumerian cunieform clay tablet in 3rd millennium BC, on which the name of a land called Karda or Qarda is inscribed. This land south of Lake Van, was inhabited by the people of Su or Subaru who were connected with the Qurtie, a group of mountain dwellers. It is with this name Qurtie that Driver makes his first etymological connection.

south lake van...what is it Mountain...

In the earliest recorded history, the mountains overhanging Assyria were held by a people named Gutii, a title which signified "a warrior", and which was rendered in Assyrian by the synonym of Gardu or Kardu, the precise term quoted by Strabo to explain the name of the Cardaces.[12] These Gutii were a tribe of such power as to be placed in the early Cuneiform records on an equality with the other nations of western Asia, including Syrians and Hittites, the Susians, Elamites, and Akkadians of Babylonia; and during the enitre period of the Assyrian Empire, the Gutii seem to have preserved a more-or-less independent political position.

The first records of the name Kurd appeared in Assyrian documents around 1000 BCE. Assyrians called the people living in Mt. Azu or Hizan (near Lake Van) by the name Kurti or Kurkhi. The country of the Kurkhi included regions of Mount Judi and districts that were later called by the names Sophene, Anzanene and Gordyene. The Kurkhi fought numerous battles with Tiglath-Pileser I who eventually defeated them and burnt down 25 of their towns.

this one was made by my forfathers...and where is the homeland mountains....

The Kurds came in to the plain land of Northern Iraq i.e. Assyria with the rise of Islam!!!

So yes historicly most of Northern Iraq is Assyria, but todays Assyrian population inhabits maybe some 10%-15%!

[K4L_2007]

Here something what I found..., the homeland of Kurds is Kurdistan...Mountainistan in my eyes:

According to the British scholar G. R. Driver, the earliest account of the Kurds comes from a Sumerian cunieform clay tablet in 3rd millennium BC, on which the name of a land called Karda or Qarda is inscribed. This land south of Lake Van, was inhabited by the people of Su or Subaru who were connected with the Qurtie, a group of mountain dwellers. It is with this name Qurtie that Driver makes his first etymological connection.

south lake van...what is it Mountain...

In the earliest recorded history, the mountains overhanging Assyria were held by a people named Gutii, a title which signified "a warrior", and which was rendered in Assyrian by the synonym of Gardu or Kardu, the precise term quoted by Strabo to explain the name of the Cardaces.[12] These Gutii were a tribe of such power as to be placed in the early Cuneiform records on an equality with the other nations of western Asia, including Syrians and Hittites, the Susians, Elamites, and Akkadians of Babylonia; and during the enitre period of the Assyrian Empire, the Gutii seem to have preserved a more-or-less independent political position.

The first records of the name Kurd appeared in Assyrian documents around 1000 BCE. Assyrians called the people living in Mt. Azu or Hizan (near Lake Van) by the name Kurti or Kurkhi. The country of the Kurkhi included regions of Mount Judi and districts that were later called by the names Sophene, Anzanene and Gordyene. The Kurkhi fought numerous battles with Tiglath-Pileser I who eventually defeated them and burnt down 25 of their towns.

this one was made by my forfathers...and where is the homeland mountains....

The Kurds came in to the plain land of Northern Iraq i.e. Assyria with the rise of Islam!!!

So yes historicly most of Northern Iraq is Assyria, but todays Assyrian population inhabits maybe some 10%-15%!

Yes, but what your saying is that Assyria rule north iraq right?
But that cant happen, since they were defeated, there arent many left.

Its like taking the indians back to north America to rule it like they used to, but they are history. 15% of northern iraq is extremely few.

Assyrians might have been there before anybody else, but they didnt survive it.

[Darkseid]

If the Iraqi government denounces the seperation of Kurdistan, then the Kurds should form an alliance with the Assyrians and Iraqi Turkmen. They should promise the Assyrians their own little country and probably the same for the Iraqi Turkemen (which should probably be the only ones called Iraqis, since Shi'a Iraq is going to join Arabistan and Sunni Iraq is likely to become a Saudi Emirate).

Look at it like this: the Assyrians only want so little, so give them that and they'll do anything in return. Well they'll do just about anything. They won't give up their religion, ethnic identity, nationality, country (once they have one), nor language. But they will contribute a lot to a military alliance to establish permanent stability for both Assyria and Kurdistan.

It is time that the two groups decided to join forces and work together towards a common goal, which is the establishment of a Kurdish State and an Assyrian State.