The ethnicity of Christians in Kurdistan

[Rumtaya]

The ethnicity of Christians in Kurdistan

The Kurdistan region has eight Christian denominations; 'The Assyrian Church of the East', 'The Ancient Assyrian Church of the East', 'The Chaldean Catholic Church', 'The Syrian Orthodox Church', and 'The Syrian Catholic Church'.

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These five Churches are Semitic and use Syriac as their liturgical language. The other three; 'The Armenian Orthodox Church', 'The Armenian Catholic Church', 'The New Advent Church'. These three Churches are Arian and use Armenian and Kurdish respectively as their liturgical Language. The focus of this report is on the ethnicity of the Syriac Churches, which form the majority bloc of Christians in Kurdistan. All of these five Churches have four things in common; Firstly, they are the aboriginals of Kurdistan and have continually inhabitated it since at least the 'Assyrian Empire'.

Secondly, their mother tongue is Syriac, similar to ancient 'Assyrian'. Thirdly, they are all ex-members of the 'Church of The East', rooted in 'Assyria'. Fourthly, they are all of Semitic stock and so cannot be ethnically Kurdish, (the Kurds are of Aryan stock, or at least have been Arianized by Indo-European Invaders). So given the facts why do the Chaldean and Syrian Churches refuse to unite under the Assyrian banner.

There are two self-made obstacles to this unity. Firstly the name by which all three Churches refer to themselves is 'Soorayeh' or in English 'Syriacs' and secondly, the interference of Church leaders in national politics, particularly 'Rome'. Why have they chosen 'Syriac' the name of their language as their national identity, instead of their proper geographical name 'Assyria'? Possibly, out of fear of the ancient Medes and Chaldeans who overthrew the Assyrian Empire, its inhabitants named themselves after their newly acquired language, a sort of compromise between accepting the new kingdoms identity and letting go of their old Assyrian tag.

Or perhaps the term was used by the succeeding empires to distinguish them from the Aryan community whose land they shared. It seems they were stuck between two worlds. Could that same dilemma be true today? It seems so. So, are they Assyrian, Syriac, or Kurdistani? 'The Assyrian Church of the East' (as well as the 'Ancient Assyrian Church of the East' which is just a small splinter group form this Church) realized this with the enlightenment of the British Missioners in the 19th Century and naturally reverted to their original ethnic name 'Assyrian', however privately they still occasionally refer to themselves as 'Soorayeh'.

'The Syrian Church' (Orthodox and Catholic) don't deny their Assyrian heritage, but insist on using the term 'Syrian', which means Syriac in 'Arabic', this title was also encouraged by the 'Greeks' (the Greek word for 'Assyrian' is 'Syrian'). Their identity matters little though to Kurdistan as they number less than a thousand souls. 'The Chaldean Catholic Church', out of the three Churches of Assyrian origin, blatantly deny their habitual geo-historic location 'Assyria'.

The fear of reverting to their original Nationality might subsequently lead to the abandonment of their Catholic faith and to the return to the 'Assyrian Church of the East', which they were members of, for one thousand eight hundred years. The Catholic hierarchy would not be pleased; if they adopt the 'Assyrian' nationality then they automatically qualify as Kurdistanis because Assyria is now called Kurdistan.

Chaldea on the other hand is now the heartland of Arab Shiites, an area between Baghdad and Basra, far far away. It's a fact; Pope Julius III gave the term 'Chaldean' to the new 'Catholic Church of the East' in 1553, to differentiate them from the 'Assyrian Church of the East'. The Pope unwittingly re-named a Nation, instead of a new Catholic Rite for the East. Now, Chaldeans have taken it a step further, they claim they originate from 'Babylon' the 'Chaldean Capital' and have at some point in history immigrated to Kurdistan.

However, their claim is fraudulent, as there is not a single piece of historical text referring to the Syriacs of Kurdistan as 'Chaldeans' prior to 1553, and they don't have a shred of evidence to prove that they emigrated from southern Iraq to Kurdistan. Yet, they insist on their Chaldean ethnicity, the truth is their brand of faith might be labelled 'Chaldean' but they are the ancestors of Assyrian land and modern day Kurdistan, whether they care for it or not. The 'Chaldeans' are in a dilemma, a catch 22 situation.

If they admit to their 'Assyrian' origin then they have to admit to being ex-founder members of 'The Church of the East'. If they deny it, then unlike the Assyrians they are aliens to Kurdistan and not of 'Northern stock'. So maybe, their southern roots might explain why they voted for Ayad Allawi rather than Masoud Barzani. During the Saddam years, they ticked 'Arab' in Iraqi census reports, rather than being labelled Assyrian. They have for a long time shrugged off unity with the Assyrians.

Kurdistan could be next to feel the resoluteness of the Chaldean Christian. Their lack of confidence in their 'Chaldean' identity is very evident; they have only one small insignificant political party formed two years ago and no Chaldean schools or Satellite TV stations. Compared to Assyrians, who have at least four wellestablished political parties and three ministerial posts, dozens of independent schools dedicated to teaching the Assyrian Language, two international Satellite TV stations, one national TV station, newspapers, magazines and much more besides.

Keep in mind as well, that Assyrians are a fraction of the Chaldean consistency in Kurdistan. The majority of Assyrians on the other hand are happy to consider themselves Kurdistani before being Iraqi. They have continued to support the Kurdistan Democratic Party since its inception in 1946 and have given numerous Martyrs including, Margaret George, Hormiz Malik Chiko and Franso Hariri, to name a few. To this day, the KDP has a number of Senior Posts held by Assyrians, whilst the Chaldean population who outnumber them 3 to 1 have very few if any Party members at all.

It's worth noting that a large number of Kurds were originally Christian and members of 'The Church of the East' (Kanisey Rojhalat) before converting to Islam, including the inhabitants of the infamous 'Barzan' Area. Kurdistan is littered with hundreds of old monasteries and churches every single one belonging to 'The Church of the East', in fact, there are few villages without having at least a trace of an old church, or 'Dair' as it's called locally. Since the 'Syrian Church' has its roots elsewhere in the Middle East and since 'Chaldea' is not within the borders of Kurdistan, and Rome, well, it's nearly a million miles from 'Arbil'.

One must then assume 'The Assyrian Church of the East' is 'The National Church of Kurdistan' because 'Assyria' is simply the ancient geographical name of 'Kurdistan'

[dyaoko]

yeas thats thats a very good articlle that KBU news published !

[Diri]

Thank you Rumtaya - That was VERY interesting - I read with great excitement...

But tell me - why did you post it??? I am very curious about that... Because according to this article the Assyrians don't demand a State for Assyria...??? Right..?

And the "Chaledeans" say they are from Babylon... SO - they don't call themselves Kurdistani... Then what?

I am SOOOOO curious Rumtaya - tell me!

[Rumtaya]

just so i wanted to post something and that one had to do with assyrians and kurdish people lol.

No the reason was that you can see the so called chaldeans and syric people are all assyrians and this name has been forced just for dividing our nation. get my point?

and so it would be easier for us to get our rights(own state).

One must then assume 'The Assyrian Church of the East' is 'The National Church of Kurdistan' because 'Assyria' is simply the ancient geographical name of 'Kurdistan'



that is very important to know

[Mosul]

i think assyrians will have to live with kurds, becuase the land they claim is all the land we claim. and i dont think the kurds will ever let them take it, they calim dahuk,mosul,kirkuk, the heartland of our nation. They can live with us in peace, but they need to stop all this assyrian talk.

[Diri]

Mosul... I think they can have YOUR city

Nineveh is the ancient capital of Ashûr - and so it should be part of a future Ashûrî state... But naturally - Kurds have ALWAYS lived in the mountains around Nineveh and in the Duhok/Kirkuk areas - which also are mountainous/valley areas...

[Mosul]

diri assyrians will never get a land of their own, becuase the land they claim is all the land of kurds. rumtaya says there 1.5 million assyrians in iraq bullsh*t!! , they are 500,000 at the most and thats even a exaggeration, considering that alot of them are fleeing to syria. mosul is half kurdish, half arab, thats how its always been, and never will assyrians have any of that, nor any land in kurdistan.

you dont understand the situation diri, you just like to disagree, everyone here has told you how these assyrians are, but you still like to open your mouth, why dont you listen?

[Diri]

Mosul - this is a warning - rudeness towards ANY member will not be tolerated!

but you still like to open your mouth

Be open to others thoughts and discuss in a civil and polite manner...

[Mosul]

i have to be rude to stupid remarks like you just posted.

[Rumtaya]

Come on Mousl dont talk so much shit.

there are enough assyrians in iraq you and some of arabs or kurdish propagandist make them just few even there are some saying we are kurdish christians.

before you talk about something think.

before the 3 gulf war started there had been like 150 000-250 000

you want to know why they live this big cities cause the arabs start to make propagand to kill any kafar(nonbelivers in that part christians)

so what do you think should they all let themself be killed.

the number of assyrians have been reduced to much to often.

but assyria is part of this worl and they belong to it till it wont exist anymore.

even mosul isnt kurdish so take your ass out of it.
you have done agood thing in first world war and killed all assyrians from the hakkari mountains. so what do you want to take the other assyrian places to to you claim that nineveh, ashur, nimurd ist kurdish.


DID YOU COUNTED THE ASSYRIANS OF IRAQ.

AND CHALDEAN(KATHOLIC9 ARE ALSO ASSYRIANS SOWHAT.

SORRY MY FRIENDS IF I HAVE TO SAY THAT BUT LUCKY FOR THE PEOPLE IN MIDDLE EAST ASSYRIANS HAVE BEEN GENOCIDED YOU JUST FEAR THEM THAT YOU WRINTING THIS SHIT ABOUT US.

[Delal]

Rumtaya,
This is warning from one of the KBU Forum Moderators....please tone down your language. No one is talking S*** about the Assyrians, or meaning to make a personal attack against you in some way. Those that have used language that could be deemed as offensive have already been given a warning as well.
Please keep the debate civil.
Thank you.

[Rumtaya]

ok i respect that


but he shouldnt write things he did hear something and make them here that that is the opinion of all assyrians.

kepp kirkuk in your arms we dont want it.

[Diri]

The number of Assyrians isn't important... The fact is that they are a separate nation and as one should be given the nationals right - such as selfdetermination... And I think that it is only FAIR that we as Kurds - who have been through so much evil and bad times - should understand the pain that the Assyrians have been through...

Ashur, Nineveh, Hatra - these are all ancient Assyrian cities and should be a part of the Assyrian Federal Region... I support their wish for statehood...

[Mosul]

all the land the assyrians claim, are kurdish lands, ninveh isnt even in mosul its close to it. the day assyrians get anyland in iraq, ist he day pigs fly, the kurdish regional government, is making sure that they stay quite, if they dont then we will put them all in a truck and send them to syria.

[Delal]

ok i respect that

Thank you.