|
Kurdistan: Three days official holidays
for the Christian Easter celebrations
6.4.2007 |
|
|
|
April
6, 2007
Erbil, Kurdistan region (Iraq), -- The
Kurdish parliament in the autonomous region of
Kurdistan has for the first time proclaimed three
days of official holidays for the Christian Easter
celebrations. In an interview with Adnkronos
International (AKI) Romeo Hakkari, secretary general
of the Democratic Party of the House of the Two
Rivers - a Chaldean-Assyrian-Syriac Christian party
active in Kurdistan and in northern Iraq - said he
was thrilled. "It will be an occasion for Christians
to visit their families" he said. Christians in the
capital however are celebrating without outward
display, for fear of attacks, and many churches have
been closed.
As a politician, Hakkari said he was convinced that
"there is a well prepared plan to force Christians
out of Baghdad, Basra, Mosul, Kirkuk and from other
cities where the insurgents are operating."
He recalled the "attacks on churches, the
restrictions imposed on Christians, the kidnapping
of young girls, or their murder because they did not
wear the veil."
The situation in the Kurdistan autonomous region,
Hakkari said, is "completely different" and
Christians are "safe in going about their lives
normally."
"In Kurdistan our conditions are secure and we enjoy
significant support from the Kurdish leadership. We
do not face religious discrimination but we have
requests as a religious community that we would like
to see enshrined in the Kurdish constitution"
Hakkari said.
Hakkari was optimistic that this could be achieved.
"The Kurdish people who have suffered under racist
regimes in the past will not oppress another
people."
He criticised the new Iraqi constitution saying that
it did not guarantee their rights sufficiently and
"oppressed us more that Saddam Hussein did." He
pointed out that "a grave error was made in the
Iraqi constitution in that our people were divided
into 'Chaldeans and Assyrians' while we represent a
single Chaldean-Assyrian-Syriac people. This
denomination represents the guarantee of our unity
as a distinct national community" he added.
The vicar of the Chaldean patriarch in Iraq,
Shilimon Warduni, told Adnkronos International (AKI)
that "Christians in Iraq are in principle free to
carry out their religious rights but they are living
in an anomalous situation because of the escalation
of violence and the lack of security."
"This means the celebrations must be squeezed into
the morning and afternoon - not the evenings as is
tradition - because of the curfew, " Warduni added,
pointing out though that this is a problem shared by
their Muslim brothers.
Many Christians started leaving Iraq in the 1990s
when sanctions were imposed on the country. After
the US invasion and the fall of Saddam that
continued, Christians left for Syria, Jordan and
Turkey as the country hurtled towards civil war.
The number of Christians who have remained in Iraq
is unclear. The last Iraqi census in 1987 counted
1.4 million Christians - the current estimated are
between 500,000 and 800,000.
adnki com
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 