Iraq's Christians Call for Political Autonomy

By Aram Eissa
www.soma-digest.com
With additional reporting by Darya Ibrahim.
January -21-2007                               

In the wake of approving the new Iraqi constitution and after releasing the draft constitution for the Kurdish region, people in Bartala, Telkef, Baashiqa and other areas in Mosul province, most of whom are Assyrians, Chaldeans and Surian Christians, are asking for the same kind of autonomy that has been granted to the Kurds.

Galawizh Shaba Jarjeez, a member of the Kurdistan Parliament, believes that the draft Kurdish Constitution denies her people their rights. Jarjeez, a member of the Central Committee of the Democratic Assyrians Movement party, sent a memorandum to Parliament and to the committee that is responsible for the draft Constitution outlining their demands. These demands are that the constitution should reflect the multi-religious and multiethnic nature of the region.

"We want the Chaldeans, Assyrians, Turkomen and the Armenians to be mentioned in the constitution side by side with our Kurdish brothers and I believe we have significant support within the Kurdish parliament for our demands," says Jarjeez.

She goes on to say that the KRG should consider including the concept of coexistence as outlined by the Treaty of Sevres and the Ankara agreement in1926. The movement is also calling for the Constitution to take into consideration the mass killing inflicted upon the group during World War I and those after the creation of Iraq, namely the mass killings at Smel in 1933 and at Suria in 1969. The group's demography was affected due to the Anfal campaign and they feel they were targeted due to their involvement in the 'September Revolution'.

Jarjeez says that her people are also taking issue with some of the wording of the draft constitution. For instance, in the draft it says 'Chaldeans and Assyrians'. While Jarjeez concedes that there are many names for their nation as she calls it, by including the 'and' it implies two not one nation; therefore they would prefer the use of 'Chaldeo-Assyrian' and Syriani for the language and culture. Jarjeez then suggests that the KRG should add another article to the draft Constitution to cover coexistence, which would cover and guarantee minorities' political, cultural, educational and administrative rights. They also demand that concerning these rights the word be guarantee not can expect.

The draft Constitution states that Talkef, Qaraqush and Baashiqa as part of the Kurdish region whereas Jarjeez and her counterparts say that they are part of the Mosul Plain and should be treated as a special autonomous region. It is special, they say, due to its multinational and religious nature and that under Article 125 of the new Iraqi Constitution, they should be allowed to achieve these rights. Jarjeez adds that the much talked about Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution, which is normally associated with Kirkuk, allows areas to determine which region they wish to be a part of. Some of the other demands that Jarjeez and her party are making are that the Kurdish region's flag and national anthem reflect all the religions and ethnicities within the region and that their national feasts such as 1 April, the first day of the Assyrian year, be recognized as national holidays.

Akram Ashur, a former member of the KRG recounts how after the fall of Saddam Hussein, Chaldeo-Assyrians met with many political parties and diplomats both from the Iraqi scene and the wider international scene and discussed the special nature of the Mosul Plain. "We came to the conclusion that the region should have its own administration. We as Chaldeo-Assyrians believe that religion and nationality should be kept separate, we have never had any religious problems in the Mosul Plain but we want to guarantee our national rights," says Ashur.

"The way to succeed on this matter is to have understanding with other nations in the region," argues Akad Murad, a member of the Assyrian Movement. "We need to be considered Chaldeo-Assyrians as a nation, but Christianity is our religion." Murad says that Chaldeo-Assyrians have a national identity problems due to their history, which dates back 7,657 years, but the Assyrian state lost its power in 612 BC. The Iraqi government's census puts the current Chaldeo-Assyrian population at 700,000 which is three percent of the population as a whole.

He highlights that due to translation into other alphabets, their names have changed. "We view the Mosul Plain as the best area to achieve our national rights, after all it is where our ancestors lived and used the same language," says Murad, who is quick to add that although they want their own autonomous area, they respect the rights of other nations and that it is not their intention to change the demographics of the Mosul Plain. "We want the population to be able to decide through a democratic vote without any pressure if they want an autonomous region."

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