The defeat of ISIS in Iraq came at the cost of strengthening militias. The pandemic has given many regional governments an opportunity to centralize authority. But Iraq's militias have resisted similar attempts by Baghdad. For those observing this dynamic, it brings memories of a past filled with hardship and history of increased persecution.
Chicago -- Backed by a coalition of more than a dozen global organizations, the Assyrian Policy Institute (API) published a letter on Friday calling for recognition by the Iraqi government of the Simmele Massacre of 1933 and urged proper maintenance of relevant sites and other recommended government actions.
August 7th marks Assyrian Martyrs Day, a time when we Kurds should focus on how we can help secure justice for the victims of the crimes committed against this persecuted community. Assyrians, also known as Syriacs and Chaldeans, are an indigenous people of the Middle East, and heirs of the oldest civilization of the region. They are the first converts to Christianity.
Elishwa never thought she would return to Bartella. She fled the village in northern Iraq four hours before an Islamic State attack in August 2014, and she never thought she would see its sand-washed masonry again. But after three and a half years in exile, she returned in January 2018 from Duhok in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
(AINA) -- On the 87th anniversary of the massacre of Simmele, where the Iraqi Army systematically massacred the inhabitants of more than one hundred Assyrian villages in north Iraq, Joseph Yacoub, honorary Professor of political science at the Catholic University of Lyon, published an article in French titled Le drame des Assyro-Chaldéens ne commence pas aujourd'hui (the Drama of the...
It's been three years since the guns fell silent in Mosul, the onetime capital of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). With the Caliphate finally pushed out, it seemed the nightmare of extremist rule was finally coming to an end, giving Iraq's Christian minority a chance to reclaim their homes after years spent sheltering under brutal conditions, fleeing to refugee camps, or taking flight...
Some estimates count 250,000 Assyrian people massacred in Turkey, northern Iraq, northwest Iran and northeast Syria by Ottoman Turks and allied Kurds between 1915 and 1918 -- but the Assyrian Genocide is an often-overlooked moment in history.
Eric Esshaki has a unique perspective when it comes to the Middle East. He is the son of an Iraqi Chaldean Catholic immigrant, and as a Michigander, is part of the largest Chaldean community outside of Iraq. He's also running for Congress as a Republican in Michigan's 11th congressional district, on the outskirts of Detroit.
Tehran -- Three historical churches, dating back to different historical eras in the northwestern West Azarbaijan province, have undergone restoration, a provincial tourism chief has said. Petrus Polis, Chamaki's Saint Merry and Nakhjavan Tappeh's Saint Merry churches due to their damages and destructions are being restored, CHTN reported Jalil Jabbari as saying on Tuesday.
COVID-19 continues exacerbating the challenges already faced by the Nineveh Governorate. Lockdown restrictions have increased expenses and worsened living conditions. Militias continue as an unwelcome presence, and concern was raised that ISIS is using lockdown for recruitment purposes. Residents continue asking the question of whether immigration or returning home is preferable.
Kurdish, Arab and Assyrian political blocs from Qamishli, a city in the northeastern province of Hasakah, have announced the establishment of the "Peace and Freedom Front" to ease coordination on a political solution in Syria.
'POC' shouldn't be the umbrella term to stuff non-White people under. It was about two years ago. I was announced on stage by the compère as a 'WOC comedian'. I was puzzled -- why on earth was I being introduced as a round-bottomed cooking vessel? As it turned out it was my first encounter with the term 'Person (or in my case woman) of Colour'.
(AINA) -- On the 87th anniversary of the massacre of Simmele, where the Iraqi Army systematically massacred the inhabitants of more than one hundred Assyrian villages in north Iraq, Joseph Yacoub, honorary Professor of political science at the Catholic University of Lyon, published an article in French titled Le drame des Assyro-Chaldéens ne commence pas aujourd'hui (the Drama of the...
(AINA) -- An ecumenical memorial for the victims of the Turkish genocide of Assyrians, Greeks and Armenians has been erected in Berlin by the The Association for the Promotion of an Ecumenical Memorial to Genocide Victims in the Ottoman Empire (FÖGG).
Chicago (AINA) -- In September of 2014, Attorney Robert DeKelaita was indicted for helping a handful of Assyrian (also known as Chaldean or Syriac) asylum seekers obtain asylum. The government, represented by the US Attorney's Office, alleged that the means used to obtain asylum for the handful of the witnesses chosen to testify against DeKelaita was fraudulent.
(AINA) -- On May 4-5 the Salahaddin University in Erbil, Iraq and the French Institute of the Near East (IFPO) organized a workshop titled Christianity in Iraq at the turn of Islam. Its aim was to discuss important institutional changes for Christians in areas of the collapsed Persian Empire and retreated Byzantine Empire which were conquered by Muslims.
During the years of World War I 75% (750,000) of the Assyrian population in the Ottoman Empire was systematically murdered. That genocide of Assyrians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire in 1915 is a fact, but it has largely been forgotten by the world.
(AINA) -- When speaking about the Ottoman Empire and Turkey today, it is not their contribution to civilization that comes to mind. Instead it is human rights violations, confiscation of land and property, genocide and genocide denials that are most frequently discussed in the public discourse. Today's Turkey is still far from being ruled by democratic principles.
'POC' shouldn't be the umbrella term to stuff non-White people under. It was about two years ago. I was announced on stage by the compère as a 'WOC comedian'. I was puzzled -- why on earth was I being introduced as a round-bottomed cooking vessel? As it turned out it was my first encounter with the term 'Person (or in my case woman) of Colour'.
Human beings have been using bows and arrows to hunt animals and kill their enemies for tens of thousands of years. But in the seventh century B.C., a new, especially lethal version of the weapon appeared in the Near East, which would change the face of battle: arrows with wooden shafts to which the arrowheads were attached with sockets.