We welcome you to The Mesopotamian News, a no-nonsense informative Assyrian periodical that aims to bring to you accurate news and events from our homeland and Diaspora.

We at The Mesopotamian News perceived the need to redress the imbalance of reporting the status quo, and the political process relating to our nation unfolding within the Iraqi national framework without sugar-coating, nor tweaking the facts to serve the interests of any one political group. We believe that it is the patriotic duty of all Assyrian political parties to unite for one common purpose of bringing together a distinct nation that share one historical land rich in its 6754 year history, a people with one glorious and immortal language, a people with one exuberant culture and a people with one religion handed down directly by the Apostles of our Lord, Jesus Christ. We pledge that we will support all those that work towards this end, for ultimately our national aspirations genuinely override any party loyalties. We therefore call upon the Assyrian Universal Alliance, Bet-Nahrain Democratic Party, Chaldean National Congress, Assyrian National Organization, Assyrian Patriotic Party and others to join in the efforts of the party of martyrs – the Assyrian Democratic Movement in its quest to band together our fragmented nation and rise up from the ashes of our bloody past and into the dawning of a new era that many of us cherish so very dearly.

It almost seems an eternity since the downfall of one of the most repressive dictatorships of the twentieth century. Saddam was Iraq and vice-versa. A harsh ruler that wreaked death and destruction upon his own people and preoccupied the world with his conquests of regional supremacy that resulted in twelve years of crippling sanctions sandwiched in between two catastrophic wars. In the period after the liberation, we have seen new threats emerging out of the “New Iraq”, one of which affects all Iraqis irrespective of their religious and ethnic characteristics and another specifically the Assyrian Christians, the indigenous people of Iraq. No doubt, militant Islam and its call to Jihad is the main threat to our survival, but we have been fortunate to have had a political movement working in tandem with the secular Iraqi government to combat and defeat this scourge of civil society. Since its inception in 1979, the Assyrian Democratic Movement has blossomed to command the respect and recognition of foreign governments, particularly the United States, the new Iraqi government and our own Assyrian political groups. The following is a brief testimony to this reality.


Timeline of Significant Events

We turn back the hand of time to October 1998. President Clinton signs the Iraqi Liberation Act (ILA 1998) and allocates 97 million dollars to support the transition to democracy in Iraq through regime change. Initially seven Iraqi political groups were named under the ILA of 1998 to receive financial assistance of which none were Assyrian. Following the 911 attacks, the noose begun to tighten around Saddam’s neck as the United States began to make its case for the liberation of Iraq. In December 2002, President Bush issued a Presidential determination of designations under the ILA of 1998 and named the Assyrian Democratic Movement (Zowaa) as eligible to receive assistance under the aforementioned act.

Also in December 2002 an Iraqi Opposition Conference was convened in London, England. Representing the Assyrian nation were the “Assyrian G8” consisting of two independents and five Assyrian political groups, namely, the Assyrian Democratic Movement, Assyrian Universal Alliance, Assyrian Patriotic Party, Assyrian National Congress and Bet-Nahrain Democratic Party. Mr Yonadam Kanna, Secretary-General of the Assyrian Democratic Movement was unanimously elected by the G8 to represent the Assyrian nation. It is prudent at this stage to point out that the Assyrian G8 knew unreservedly that the desired intentions of the Assyrian Democratic Movement was the unification of our nation through the compound name ChaldoAssyrians. Clearly the name by which our nation would be represented in the new Iraq wasn’t deemed a contentious issue; otherwise the unanimity of the vote would have been severely affected.

Shortly after Iraq was liberated, the Coalition Provisional Authority announced the formation of the Iraqi Governing Council (IGC). Together with the 25 members was Mr Yonadam Kanna our nations representative amongst the elite in Iraq. August and September 2003 saw two further ChaldoAssyrians being appointed by Mr Kanna to high profile positions. The first, Professor Hikmat Hakim, who holds a PhD in Political Science and Constitutional Law was appointed to the 25 member Iraqi constitutional committee, and Mr Behnam Zia Paulus who was appointed as Minister of Transportation.

In October 2003, all the various religious denominations of our nation, together with political groups, associations, technocrats, academics and many more gathered in Baghdad from all corners of the globe to participate in the Chaldean Syriac Assyrian General Conference hosted by the Assyrian Democratic Movement and the Assyrian Democratic Organization (M’Takasta). The conference concluded that the name by which our nation would be represented constitutionally in Iraq would be “ChaldoAssyrian” and that our language be known as “Syriac”. This name was finally included within the Transitional Administrative Law (Interim Constitution) that was passed by the IGC in March 2004.

Following the dissolution of the IGC in June 2004 the new Iraqi Interim Government was established. According to the interview conducted with Mrs Pascal Eshoo Warda, our ChaldoAssyrian Minister of Immigration and Refugees, stated that her appointment came via the recommendation of Mr Yonadam Kanna.

At the conclusion of the Iraqi National Conference that was held during August 2004, four ChaldoAssyrians were elected to serve as members of the National Assembly, they are:

Yonadam Kanna – Secretary General Assyrian Democratic Movement
Hikmat Hakim - Independent
Ibtisam Gewargis Bahnam – Member of the Patriotic Union of Bet Nahrain
Wijdan Michael – Member of the Constitutional Monarchy Movement


KDP

One needs only to look back on the last twelve months or so to note the significant advances made by the Assyrian Democratic Movement amidst all the uncertainty and instability. So we have come to know this distinct tree by the fruit it has produced in a relatively short period of time, and much more is expected. The Chaldean Syriac Assyrian General Conference final declaration included the resolution that the Plains of Nineveh must be under the administration of the ChaldoAssyrians. This was later incorporated within the Transitional Administrative Law (TAL) under article 53D. This has certainly caused a great deal of anxiety amongst the Kurdish political group, the KDP of Masoud Barzani. Over the years this Kurdish group has sought to nullify our national struggle by referring to our people as Kurdish Christians, distinguishing between the various branches of our one nation, building settlements in our towns and villages, assassinating political figures and financially rewarding members of our nation to undermine our march towards nationhood. It was the KDP that tried to block the participation of the Assyrian Democratic Movement from the Iraqi National Conference in both cities of Arbil and Dohuk. During the Conference which took place between 15-18 August 2004, the KDP once again meddled in the affairs of our nation when it tried to install two of their stooges namely, Abd Al Lahad Afram a member of the KDP and secretary of the Chaldean Union Democratic Party and Romeo Nissan Hakari Secretary General of Bet Nahrain Democratic Party to the 100 member Iraqi National Assembly.

The following article written by Mr.Fred Aprim appeared in Zinda Magazine’s www.zindamagazine.com issue dated 24 August 2004.

On August 21st, Mr. Toma Khoshaba, an Assyrian Democratic Movement Executive Committee member appeared on Ashur TV live. He explained the circumstances and events that took place during the Iraqi National Conference that took place between August 15th and 18th in Baghdad in which the members of the National Assembly were elected and/or selected.

Mr. Khoshaba stated that the Iraqi National Conference selected 81 delegates from the 1,300 gathered to be part of the Interim Iraqi Parliament (National Assembly). Added to these 81 were 19 from the dissolved Iraqi Governing Council for a total of 100 representatives in the Interim Parliament. He added that ChaldoAssyrians had over 50 delegates in the conference and expected to show a strong presence. However, when the time came to elect our representatives from these delegates, we were not given the opportunity to select our own.

Khoshaba stated that there were two issues important for us: the percentage of representation and the right to choose our own delegates.

After lengthy discussions and deliberations, it was decided that we would have 4%, i.e. four members. The election of our own representatives turned out to be a more complex issue.

Therefore, the ChaldoAssyrians at the Conference decided to make a list and present it to the 50+ ChaldoAssyrian delegates to vote on it.

We had thought that the fall of Saddam regime would bring democracy to Iraq; however, it seems that Saddam's breath is still present within some of those participants at the conference.

What we witnessed here was: First, the 4% percentage allocated to us was dropped to 3%. Second, the removal of one name from the list and the inclusion of another by the KDP (Kurdistan Democratic Party). This act was non-democratic and disrespecting to our nation.

Our people had many groups and individuals present at the Conference, including members of the APP (Assyrian Patriotic Party), BNDP (Bet-Nahrain Democratic Party), Abd al-Ahad Afram (Chaldean Democratic Party) and others. It was these groups that contacted the KDP and stated that they did not like the set up and how elections were to be conducted and asked for the KDP's interference.

These groups realized that they have only ten (10) people out of the 50+ and that they would have no chance to get in if a simple and straight forward voting took place. Mr. Khoshaba stated that "we have pride in people like Dr. Hikmat Hakim, who works closely with the ADM and Ibtisam Giwargis, who is very active among our people. However, added Khoshaba, we did not like the method that was applied and forced upon us to elect our representatives and the interference of the KDP in our affairs. How could these groups claim to be patriotic?"

"What was more painful during the conference," continued Khoshaba, "was when we saw a declaration signed by Mar. Giwargis Sliwa, Archbishop of the Assyrian Church of the East and Mar Addai II, Patriarch of the Ancient Church of the East (Old Calendar) asking to have George Bakos as our representative in the Interim Parliament.”

Copy of letter signed by Mar Addai II, Patriarch of the Ancient
Church of the East and Mar Gewargis Sliwa, Archbishop of the
Assyrian Church of the East, requesting that George Bakos be
appointed our representative in the interim parliament.

"The bigger problem yet and what hurts us the most was that we did not know about this from our own people, rather we knew about it when 'Aarif Tayfour, an official with the KDP, presented the declaration to us in the conference. Why would we have to hear about an Assyrian issue from a Kurdish official?", asks Mr. Khoshaba.

" Well, if this is how we carry ourselves, the Kurds will not only be able to stick their hands in our affairs, but they can stick their legs in our affairs as well. Our clergy have told us repeatedly that they do not want to interfere in politics and they want to stick to the religious matters only. However, they continue to prove otherwise and interfere in politics to a large degree."

This is what happened during the conference. This is what our political groups did during the conference. All they cared about is not to have the ADM in the parliament; they cared less about the damage they were bringing to our nation.

"The KDP," added Khoshaba, "was forcing Romeo Nissan Hakkari to join the parliament. However, we knew this earlier because the KDP told us this in plain language. The KDP told us clearly and openly that one of those 3 or 4 ChaldoAssyrian representatives must be a person who is close to them [KDP]; someone who is with them. We told the ChaldoAssyrian delegates that we do not care even if Raabi Yonadam Kanna was the only member from the ADM in the parliament; however, we needed to elect the other representatives ourselves. There were 46 delegates who were supporters of the ADM in the conference. We believe that it is not fair and not right for the 10 delegates who did not agree with the rest to go to the KDP and force their way in."

Khoshaba concluded that in few months (perhaps January or February 2005), new elections would take place in Iraq. It is time that we learn from our past. It is time to understand how much damage the "I" is doing to our nation and cause. This selfish "I" and only "I" is breaking our backs. Khoshaba said: "We in the ADM care less about holding chairs and positions; however, we want to see real patriotic and intelligent politicians occupying those chairs. History has shown that we have been hurt more by our own people than foreigners have hurt us and we must learn from that."

We have to ask ourselves: Why did the KDP demand that a close person to the Kurds be in the parliament? Just ask yourselves that question, why? It is time that Assyrians know what is going on in Iraq. We need to be sober and smart and understand why things happen the way they do in order to be able to face the big challenges of the future.

Mr Fred Aprim is a distinguished political commentator and historian and has published a book called the “Indigenous People in Distress” together with scores of other articles relating to our nation.

This has been the story so far and by no means the end. The onus is now upon us all to support our leadership in Iraq to deliver us to our ancestral lands, and if we fail them, we have failed our nation.

This is your call to nation building.