Scholar Warns of the Danger of Dwindling Assyrians, Christians in the Middle East

February 19, 08

By Pierre Attallah
www.annahar.com

Beirut -- Is it possible that the future of Christians in Lebanon is better than the fate of Assyrians and Syriac Christians in Iran, Iraq and Turkey? This is a large Question that casts a heavy shadow on all observers of the evolution of the situation of the Middle Mastern Christians. Yesterday, this was the subject of a lecture at the headquarters of the "Syriac League" given by the researcher of Assyrian origins, Dr. Eden Naby, who is at Harvard University specializing in the questions of the East generally, Afghanistan and Iran in particular. She believed that "solving the issue of minorities in the Middle East is as crucial as the finding a solution to the other problems that concerns the world, hence a Middle East without Christians will not be the same and their absence from the area will bring about a fundamental change in the course of modern history."

The Researcher linked the history of the Assyrians and Syriacs and what the Christians are currently suffering, and said, "The Assyrians suffered the most among the Christians of the Middle East. They have been Christians since the advent of Christianity and always lived on this land [Mesopotamia], but today they are exposed to the risk of eradication and are disappearing from the history books." She gave an extensive background history pointing out that "the beginning of their problems started with the Mongol invasion in the 14th century, which destroyed the Assyrian civilization and language centers of culture and all the people." From the distant past history to the present, she spoke about the Assyrian's condition in Turkey, pointing out that "in 1914 they numbered about 400 thousand, but in 2006 there was only about 30 thousand left out of 70 million Turks, and this means that it's just a matter of time before the Assyrian presence completely disappears from Turkish territory and their historical sites such as Diyarbakir, Tur Abdin and elsewhere. She attributed the reason for their low numbers to the "terrible repression exercised by the Turks and reflected in the collective massacres and ethnic cleansing in addition to the narrowing of cultural, economic and social outlets."

In Iran, in 1979 the number was approximately 100 thousand out of 39 million Iranians, but they are now only 15 thousand out of 70 million Iranians, and she explained that this means that the growth rate of the Iranian people reached 80 percent while the number of Christians was negative 85 percent. She believed that the Assyrian numbers did not plummet because of fear alone, but as a result of policy practiced against them because their private schools were closed and a united Islamic educational system was adopted, and prevention of the professional Assyrians from practicing certain professions without a Muslim partner. These cultural, social and educational and economic factors combined to force the Assyrians to leave Iran.

In Iraq the situation of the Assyrians was not better. In 2002 they numbered about 1.5 million out of 24 million Iraqis, and in 2006 the number is only 200 thousand of the 27 million Iraqis. She pointed out that "the city of Basra, in southern Iraq, was inhabited by 2000 families but now there are only 200 families and they are in the process of escaping the city, after Basra became an Islamic City and a center for the armed Shiite Militias". In Lebanon the number of the Syriac Assyrians in 1975 was about 100 thousand out of three million, but today they are 70 thousand. "What is true for Lebanon also applies to Syria, where strong migration from areas inhabited by the Assyrians in Kamishly since about 40 thousand of them migrated within the last few years."

The researcher noted that the migrations of Assyrians occurred in phases, beginning first from from Turkey and Iran to Iraq, Lebanon and Syria; then followed by leaving these countries and migrating to Lebanon, which became a major refuge for them, and the problem was that they left from Lebanon to Europe, America and Australia. She stated that "the core values of the Middle East are threatened if it loses it's Christian population as is the case with the Assyrians." She presented Afghanistan as a "model of the societies in which the disappearance of the diversity transformed it into the most backward society in the world, and one that does not recognize ethnic and religious tolerance, where there is a complete breakdown in every level of culture, education and overall human civilization." She called upon the Middle Eastern Christians to be aware of these facts and avoid ignorance within the Christian groups or Muslims", and urged them to "cooperate at the cultural level to form a Christian solidarity among themselves politically. to overcome all differences for the sake of continuing to dwell in their homeland."

By Pierre Attallah
www.annahar.com

Translated from Arabic by AINA