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A delegation from Iraq’s Council of Representatives meets with the United Nations Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs

On Tuesday evening, January 23rd, a delegation from Iraq’s Council of Representatives met with Mr. Miroslav Jenca (United Nations Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs).

Mr. Miroslav stressed the United Nations’ keen interest in the national and religious components of the country, to work for the return of the displaced, and reconstruction and rehabilitation of their areas. He also emphasized on the importance of participation from the components and their role in political and economic fields and avoiding the demographic change that may occur during wars and clashes.

The Deputies presented their views on the grim reality throughout the displacement phase. Noting that migration is offset by the scarcity of the government’s role due to the security, political, and financial crises that the country is facing. In addition to the remaining destroyed areas, houses and infrastructure during ISIS’ period of controlling the region, which impedes the return of IDPs to their homes. There are also other practices and policies that do not conform to the criteria of citizenship, as well as the internal conflicts that negatively affect the existence and security of the components regions that require an important role from the United Nations to come out with peaceful, constitutional and equitable solutions that support security and stability in the country, which will lead to prosperity and stability of all the components in Iraq.

The components’ delegation was represented by MP Yonadam Kanna (head of Al-Rafidain Bloc), Haji Kandor (representing Yezidis), Mala Salim Al-Shabaki, Harith Al-Harith (representing Sabians Mandeans) and Wiliam Warda (minority coalition).

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  3. Assyrian Democratic Movement declares...
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Assyrian Democratic Movement declares its coalition (Al Rafedain Coalition) in the upcoming Iraqi Elections and stresses that the doors of the coalition are open to all of our people’s political parties to join.

The Assyrian Democratic Movement declares its coalition (Al Rafedain Coalition) to participate in the upcoming elections and stresses that the doors of the coalition are open to all of our people’s political parties to join.

Mrs. Hanan Awisha (ADM Central Committee Member) stated that a short period of time separates us from the new elections in which Iraqi people will choose their representatives in the Iraqi Councils of Representatives.

With the Iraqi legislative elections approaching, scheduled for May 2018, many Iraqi political parties entered into alliances that resulted in many titles of Political Coalitions running in the upcoming elections.

Among these coalitions, the Assyrian Democratic Movement entered the legislative election in a coalition under the title (Al Rafedain Coalition). The coalition includes the Assyrian Democratic Movement, Assyrian Patriotic Party, and a number of elite and skilled members of our Chaldean Assyrian Syriac community.

The coalition came as a result of some of the nationalistic stances and confrontation of important issues which our Chaldean Assyrian Syriac people faced in different stages during the past several years, in addition to the convergence of views and opinions on some issues such as the Brussels Conference and the KRG referendum. The coalition is open to all willing political parties to join the slate, and we hope to expand the coalition, added Hanan Awisha.

Today we have to put our differences aside and move forward for a possible strong, unified political project to address the requirements of the next stage that our people will face in our homeland.

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  3. Dr. Marleen Awisha Hormiz...
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Dr. Marleen Awisha Hormiz receives her PhD from the College of Media at the University of Baghdad

On Thursday, January 1st 2018, at the College of Media, University of Baghdad, and after hours of thesis dissertation, the researcher Marleen Awisha Hormiz was awarded a PhD with excellence on her research thesis titled, Employment of Social Networking Sites in the Psychological War Directed to the Iraqi Society (Daash messages in Twitter for example).

The researcher received a Master’s Degree from the College of Media at the University of Baghdad in 2010 for her thesis titled, The Syriac Press in Iraq from 1972-2007 – Bahra Newspaper (Diaa, for example).

Professors, teachers, and government officials, were in attendance such as MP Yonadam Kanna: ADM Secretary General, Mr. Mazhar Mohammad Saleh: Adviser to the Iraqi Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Hanan Awish: ADM Central Committee Member, and Rommel Mushi: Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Iraqi Media Network. The audience also consisted of family members and friends.

It is worth noting that researcher Marleen Awisha has assumed the following tasks and responsibilities in different media and national institutions:

1 / Editor, news and programs reporter on Radio Ashur Arbil and Dohuk and the short wave SW.

2 / Editor, news and programs reporter in Ashur TV, in Arbil and Dohuk, administrating Ashur Satellite TV in Baghdad.

3 / Editing Manager of Bahra Newspaper in Syriac language.

4 / Writing articles in a number of national newspapers and magazines.

5 / Presenting programs in Al Iraq Hurra Channel from 2010 – current.

6 / Teaching at the College of Isra University – Baghdad from 2013 – current.

7 / Former member of the Central Committee of the Assyrian Democratic Movement.

We would like to congratulate Dr. Marleen Awisha for her PhD from College of Media and wish her more success and progress in her career.

 

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  3. MP Imad Youkhana visits...
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MP Imad Youkhana visits several important departments in Kirkuk Province.

Member of the Security and Defense Committee MP Imad Youkhana visited Kirkuk Municipality Department, the General Directorate for the Education of Kirkuk and the Commander of the Anti-Terrorism Squad.

MP Imad Youkhana discussed the security status of Kirkuk province with Major General Maan al-Saadi, and demanded the Anti-Terrorism Squad to be a part of solution and neutrality when dealing with Kirkuk’s components due to sensitivity of the situation in the province.

MP Youkhana stressed that preserving security is not by imposing intensive presence of military vehicles between allies and civilians but by intelligence efforts and creating an atmosphere of love and respect between citizens in order to cooperate with the security measures in favor of the province.

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  3. Photos: Christians Celebrate Christmas...
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Photos: Christians Celebrate Christmas in Iraq Without Islamic State: ‘People Have More Hope

Iraqi Christians who live in Iraq or in the U.S. support President Trump for recognizing the genocide ISIS committed against Christians. They hope that Trump will change Christians’ life for the better in the future.An estimated 50,000 Christians returned home in Iraq in time to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ on Christmas after facing genocide at the hands of Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) jihadists who forced them out of their homeland in 2014, reveals the president of the Assyrian Aid Society branch in Iraq (AAS-I).

“We hope the United States keeps its policy of saving Christians and other religious minorities in Iraq,” AAS-I President Ashur Sargon Eskrya told Breitbart News, noting that conditions have improved under U.S. President Donald Trump.

The recent successes of the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS in Iraq and Syria made it possible for the Iraqi Christians to form part of the nearly two billion Christians who celebrated Christmas around the world this year.

However, about 100,000 Christians remain displaced by ISIS, including an estimated 50,000 inside Iraq and 50,000 others in nearby Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, and other countries, AAS-I President Ashur Sargon Eskrya told Breitbart News.

Although “security in general” for ethnoreligious minorities in Iraq “is now better than last year,” ISIS still poses a “threat” to Christians, declared Eskrya, echoing U.S. officials.

The aid worker explained:

There is no comparison between now and when ISIS was in power — now is better in general. People have more hope. They were able to celebrate Christmas at their homes in liberated areas in Nineveh plain, but there are still other places people can’t return home because of a lack of security, infrastructure, and destroyed homes.

n July, U.S.-backed Iraqi troops and their allies announced the liberation of Iraq’s second largest city Mosul, once considered ISIS’ largest bastion in Iraq.

Yet, only “a few” families have returned to the city “because they have lost trust in the government and security forces,” noted Eskrya.

Mosul is the capital of northern Iraq’s Nineveh province — the historical homeland of the Christians in the region.

The Nineveh Plain, once home to the largest concentration of Christians and other religious minority groups in the region, is also considered the cradle of Christianity.

Eskrya stressed that he is “cautiously optimistic” about the future of Iraqi Christians, one of the oldest Christian groups in the world. He argued that the conditions for Christians in Iraq have improved under President Trump who has vowed to help them.

 

Eskrya told Breitbart News:

Iraqi Christians who live in Iraq or in the U.S. support President Trump for recognizing the genocide ISIS committed against Christians. They hope that Trump will change Christians’ life for the better in the future.

The Trump administration has already launched some activities to help Christians and other religious minorities who have been targeted by ISIS, and the efforts are a step in the right direction. We hope that [the] Trump administration will maintain its efforts to help Christians in Iraq resettle in their home again and provide protection to the Nineveh Plain.

Eskrya did point out that the Trump administration could do more to help Christians, noting, “The activities to help Christians on the ground are still not enough.”

Martha Hudson, a longtime advocate for minority groups in Iraq who has repeatedly traveled to the country, also commended the Trump administration’s efforts to help Christians.

“The Trump Administration is moving in the right direction by focusing on political solutions within Iraq and more broadly throughout the region,” she told Breitbart News. “Without political solutions, there will be no security.”

“Additionally, President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have expressed a strong commitment to helping Christians, Yezidis, and other minorities to return home,” she added. “For several years, the minority communities have asked for direct support, and it seems that the Trump Administration agrees.”

In October, Pence told attendees at the In Defense of Christians summit in Washington, DC, that Trump had ordered the U.S. State Department to directly fund persecuted Christians instead of paying for United Nations humanitarian programs.

Eskrya identified the ongoing friction between northern Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Baghdad over the Kurds’ ongoing independence efforts as a threat to Christians in the region.

“Security in general now is better than last year, especially after ISIS’ losses, but there are still other threats to the Christian region including the possible division of the Nineveh Plain between the central government in Baghdad, the KRG, or different groups of forces or militias,” explained the humanitarian aid worker.

Northern Iraq’s Nineveh plain region lies outside of the KRG-controlled areas. However, both the KRG and Baghdad claim ownership of some areas in Nineveh.

“Christian families who returned back home in Nineveh plain fear the unstable situation between Iraqi forces and Kurdish peshmerga especially,” declared Eskrya.

Overall, 9,500 Christian families (about 50,000 people) have returned to Iraq since October of last year, the majority of them under the Trump administration, revealed the aid worker.

Citing “growing Islamic radicalism” in Iraq, Eskrya said the Christian population has drastically fallen by more than 75 percent from 1.5 million to about 350,000 today.

Served by:www.breitbart.com

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Ceremony marking the completion of the first phase of The Assyrian Journey Film

Director Frank Gilbart announced the completion of the first phase of filming the long narrative film, The Assyrian Journey, which represents and embodies the immortality of the martyrs Yousip, Youbert, and Youkhana. This took place in a ceremony attended by governmental officials, church clergy, and actors, under the slogan “by the holy blood of our martyrs, the path of freedom was laid for our nation”.

The ceremony began with a moment of silence honoring our martyrs. ADM Secretary General MP Yonadam Kanna, several clergy members, President of the Iraqi Union of Artist, Iraqi actors, Journalists and large number of our people in Baghdad were in attendance. The ceremony included a number of speeches from MP Yonadam Kanna, Director Frank Gilbart, and several others which praised the cinematic work.

During his speech MP Yonadam Kanna expressed his appreciation towards the film crew for presenting the lives of the three heroes: Yousip, Youbert, and Youkhana, who devoted and sacrificed their lives for protecting our rights and for our nation’s cause. “We will continue their struggle for the sake of our nation’s cause and our national and historical identity, and we will sacrifice our lives if anyone tries to compromise our rights”, emphasized MP Kanna.

The Director of the film, Frank Gilbart, gave a speech about the film and its events in the 1980s and the suffering of the immortal martyrs. The film embodies a stage of the dark former regime that imposed its dictatorship onto our people and prevented them from speaking truthfully and freely. It simulates the execution of the three martyrs and gives us a glimpse into how they were tortured in the prisons of the former regime and exposed to different forms of humiliation, and shows how the three heroes insisted on the national cause and did not waiver from it, in order to prove a national and ethnic existence.

At the end of his speech, he thanked the film crew and everyone who helped him financially and morally, and provided everything necessary for the success of this film.

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The Assyrian Democratic Movements holds their Foundational Congress among 522 members in Nohadra-Duhok

Under the slogan “Unity of Speech and Continuing the Struggle to Counter the Effects of Genocide in order to Strengthen Our National Presence”, the Foundational Congress of the Assyrian Democratic Movement was held in Nohadra (Duhok) on Saturday December 16, 2017 for the purpose of Registration with the Independent High Electoral Commission.

The Conference was held in response to the Law of the Political Parties and in accordance with the instructions from the Political Parties and Organizations Department in the Independent High Electoral Commission, which called for holding the Conference to enforce the party’s license to carry out its work in accordance with the laws and legislations.

522 members from various regions and Governorates attended the Conference, which was hosted at the Assyrian Cultural Center. The Conference began after welcoming the attendees and representatives of the Political Parties Department, followed by a moment of silence honoring our Nation and Movement’s Martyrs, and Iraq’s Martyrs. The proposed Presidency Committee was then approved to administrate the Conference’s agenda.

MP Yonadam Kanna (Secretary General of the Assyrian Democratic Movement) opened with a speech in which he mentioned the founders since the emergence of ADM. In his speech, MP Kanna expressed his appreciation towards the participants for attending the Conference and enduring the struggles of long distance travel despite the difficult circumstances that the Kurdistan Region of Iraq is facing. He stated that we are completing the legal necessary requirements to enforce the party’s license and looking forward to the next phase. MP Kanna added that our Movement is stronger and more effective and able to challenge others, to achieve the aspirations of our people and strengthen our existence to achieve our legitimate rights.

The Conference Presidency Committee preceded and presented the Conference’s documents (the bylaws, political program, recommendations, and decisions). The participants approved the submitted documents after reading and going through each paragraph. At the end, the Conference approved the results of the 8th ADM Conference (March 2017) of the Elected Leadership (the Secretary General and the members of the Central Committee) to continue their tasks for the next phase.

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  3. MP Lina Ezarya in...
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MP Lina Ezarya in a high-level KRG Parliamentary meeting

KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani and his Deputy, Qubad Talabani met on December 13, 2017 with the Presidency Committee of KRG parliament and the Presidency of each of the Legal, Financial, Industrial, Energy and Natural Resources Committees.

Representatives of the components in KRG parliament attended the meeting which came to discuss Financial and Administrative conditions in the region and focus on the financial report, natural resources revenues, disbursements, and the special report on draft decisions to reform the public employees sector, retirees, salaries and sectors of civil, military and security.

MP Lina Ezarya Bahram, member of the Legal Committee in KRG Parliament and representative of our Chaldean Assyrian Syriac people, stressed on the need to secure and continue to pay the salaries of employees and retirees. She called on the Prime Minister and his Deputy to work seriously to combat financial and administrative corruption in the region.

In addition, checking and cleaning up the records and lists of employees, military personnel and retirees (civilians and military) and records of the salaries of martyrs and political prisoners, depending on the relevant laws to reach the real number of employees, military personnel, and retirees in the KRG and to exclude the ineligible and remove them from the KRG budget.

MP Lina Ezarya pointed out the financial and administrative corruption in the region as the main cause of the serious economic crisis in the region, noting that it is not only related to financial matters and disagreements with the federal government and cut-off budget of the region. She demanded the Prime Minister to work more seriously and in cooperation with the Parliament and the Integrity Commission to combat corruption in the region.

Additionally, MP Lina Ezarya stressed on the role of the government to set an obligation of all ministries to provide accurate statistics on their actual staffing, including the names of employees and their addresses and those who continue to serve regularly, and the budget of ministries according to the importance of the ministry and the size of its employees and services.

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  3. Completion of the NPU...
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Completion of the NPU camp in Bakhdeda, Nineveh Plain

On November 25th, 2017 Nineveh Plain Protection Units (NPU) celebrated the completion of its new Camp in Bakhdeda, Nineveh Plain.

“The new camp is the headquarters of the Nineveh Plain Protection Units, and considered as the headquarters for leading the force in areas of deployment in the Nineveh Plain”, said Mr. Gevara Zaia, NPU Political Coordinator.

“It is the second headquarters to be built for the NPU after constructing the first headquarter in Alqosh in 2015 as a camp for the units located in the district of Tel Keppe and its towns”, added Mr. Gevara Zaia. The camp has been constructed on an area of seven acres, including several sections: administrative section, emergency forces section, and service sections (meeting hall, lobby, and dormitories). The camp has more sections under development that have been postponed because of the financial resources.

The construction of the camp took a little over three months (June – October ‘17) using self-sustained efforts both from the financial and construction aspect. Construction was mainly completed by our NPU fighters depending on each one’s professional expertise. In addition, the residents held a great role in providing facilities and equipment for construction along with spending lots of time and effort to complete this security structure, which is the first of its kind in the Nineveh Plain.

The new headquarters can be a place to receive requests for volunteers and organize their records. This would be in addition to the possibility of training them militarily and also to recruit our youth to the possibility of protecting our areas to defend our land after the failure of the forces that existed before the occupation of ISIS in the Nineveh Plain.

The camp will promote security in the region, reassure our internally displaced people, and encourage stability to rebuild their lives

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ADM Illinois Sector hosts roundtable discussion amongst young local activists

On Friday, December 1st, the Assyrian Democratic Movement’s Illinois Sector hosted a roundtable discussion amongst young adult Assyrian activists entitled “Diaspora’s Role in the Assyrian National Struggle”.

Four main points were covered in the discussion:

* Policy: Iraq & United States of America

Erasing Assyrians: How the KRG Abuses Human Rights, Undermines Democracy, and Conquers Minority Homelands

* Social Media: Leveraging our presence to make a difference

* Mobilization: Taking action locally, nationally, and internationally on a united front

The discussion was led by Illinois Sector Director, Alexander David, along with contributions from a variety of activists that elaborated on the topics and brainstormed advancement suggestions.

This was the second roundtable event hosted by our Sector in recent months and we hope to continue these discussions with local members of our community interested in our national cause.

 


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