New Iraqi Chaldean Patriarch Seeks Interfaith Mediation

Pope Benedict XVI (R) meets in a private audience with Louis Raphael I Sako (L), the Chaldean Catholic Patriarch of Babylon and the head of the Chaldean Catholic Church, at the Vatican, Feb. 4, 2013. (photo by REUTERS/Osservatore Romano)

By: Abdel Hamid Zebari for Al-Monitor Iraq Pulse. Posted on February 12.

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Christians in Iraq are hopeful that new Chaldean Patriarch Louis Raphael I Sako will stem the tide of Iraqi Christians leaving the country.

About This Article

Summary : Louis Raphael I Sako, the new patriarch to the Iraqi Chaldeans, hopes to reverse the exodus of Iraqi Christians from Iraq, reports Abdel Hamid Zebari. Original Title: Iraq’s New Chaldean Patriarch Seeks Interfaith Mediation Author: Abdel Hamid ZebariTranslated by: Sami-Joe Abboud Categories : Originals  Iraq

Since 2003, Iraqi Christians have been subject to attacks by groups labelled as terrorist organizations. Thousands of families have been forced to leave their homes in central and southern Iraq for the Nineveh plains or cities in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Others emigrated to Europe, the US, Canada and Australia. Christian statistics show that 15,000 families have left the center and the south, heading toward Iraqi Kurdistan or abroad.

On Feb. 4, Sako, chairman of the Chaldean archbishops in Kirkuk and Sulaymaniyah, was appointed patriarch of the Chaldean Church in Iraq and around the world, succeeding Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly, who resigned from the post in December at the age of 85. Upon his return from Rome, official ceremonies were held for him in the predominantly Christian town of Ankawa, in the city of Erbil and in the city of Kirkuk, where he was warmly welcomed by citizens waving olive branches and images of the Virgin Mary. Many of them hope that Sako will bring back security and safety.

Christians in Iraq numbered 800,000 in 2003, according to statistics from global and international organizations. Their presence is concentrated in the capital, Baghdad, and in the Nineveh plains, near Mosul. They are also found in Dohuk, Erbil, Mosul, Basra, Amarah, Hillah, Baqubah, Habbaniyah and Kirkuk, among others.

In his first press statement, Sako said that "priests should set an example for us, we should not only seek their safety," especially "at this critical moment that Iraq is going through." He added that "the next Synod of the Chaldean Church will be held in Baghdad and I personally asked all other bishops, including those in the diaspora, not to miss it.”

Khaled Jamal Albert, the general manager of the Christian Endowment at the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs in the Kurdistan Regional Government, told Al-Monitor that "they are preparing for the inauguration ceremony of the new patriarch in the city of Baghdad early next March."

He added, “The Patriarchate is preparing to receive his functions and his ordination will take place on Mar. 6, 2013, in the presence of delegations from the Vatican and representatives of the church council from the St. Joseph church in Baghdad. His duties will start immediately thereafter." He added that "Sako is capable of strengthening relations between Christians and Muslims."

Sako denied recent rumors that the Chaldean Patriarchate chair might be moved to the US. "I will be staying in Baghdad because I want to be with my Christian brothers and all those who are still living and suffering there," he said.

Maliki plays the Turkmen card! (article)

Further to the Turkmens’ discontent regarding their lack of representativeness in the army, the head of Turkmeneli party, referring to a decree from Maliki,  has announced that Nouri al-Maliki has given the order to the Interior Ministry to recruit 3.000 Turkmens as security agents.

Maliki has asked the leader of that party to present 3.000 candidates.

mercredi, 13 février 2013 10:08

Irak : Maliki joue la carte turkmène!

http://french.irib.ir/info/moyen-orient/item/242364-maliki-recrute-3-000-forces-arm%C3%A9es-turkm%C3%A8nes

IRIB-Face aux tentatives divisitionnistes qui visent son pays, Maliki mutiplie les initiatives : en écho à la grogne des turkmènes contre le manque de leur représentativité dans l'armée , Nouri al-Maliki a donné l'ordre au ministère de l'Intérieur pour qu'il recrute 3.000 turkmènes à tire d'agent de sécurité   a indiqué le chef du Parti turkmène Ile, citant un décret de Maliki. Maliki a demandé au chef de ce Parti de présenter 3.000 candidats.

Briefing: A guide to defusing sectarian tensions in Iraq

IRIN Briefing

Charred body parts are among the remains of a massive suicide car bombing in Baghdad in 2007, during Iraq’s worst sectarian violence

Photo: James Gordon/Flickr

BAGHDAD, 13 February 2013 (IRIN) - Protests have rocked Sunni-dominated provinces of Iraq for almost two months, raising sectarian tensions in the country’s fragile post-war environment.

Subsequent actions and reactions have raised fears among Iraqis and in the UN of a resurgence of the kind of violence that killed tens of thousands of people during the civil strife of 2006-08.

Bombings on 8 and 11 February - the most recent in continued attacks since the withdrawal of US forces in late 2011 - have killed dozens of people and heightened those fears.

What is behind the recent escalation in tension?

The protests began in December, after Iraq’s Shia-led government arrested 10 bodyguards of a Sunni leader on terrorism charges in what was widely seen to be a political move. The guards of Rafie al-Essawi, minister of finance and a leader in the Iraqiya political Sunni alliance, were arrested just three months after another Sunni leader, Vice-President Tareq al-Hashemi, was sentenced to death in absentia for allegedly running a death squad.

Sunni protesters have expressed a rising sense of their sect’s neglect since Sunni President Saddam Hussein was deposed in 2003. Their demands include more influence on decision-making, the release of detainees (especially female detainees), cancellation of the de-Baathification law (which bans former members of Hussein’s Baath party – mostly Sunnis - from jobs in the civil service), and cancellation of a counter-terrorism law that Sunnis say is being used only against them. There are increasing calls to topple the government.

As the protests swelled, they spread to predominantly Shia provinces, where people showed their support for Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shiite, and insisted that no Baath party members be returned to power.

Last week, tensions rose even higher when on 4 February, Wathiq al-Batat, the head of Shia militant group Hezbollah in Iraq, announced the formation of the al-Mukhtar (“The Chosen”) Army. Al-Batat threatened this militia would fight against the protesters if they became controlled by al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups.

“Kurds have their militia to protect them; Sunnis have al-Qaeda; and Shiites have nothing,” he said at a press conference in Baghdad. “That is why we are forming this army - to protect Shiites and Iraqis in general from al-Qaeda and the Free Iraqi Army,” he said, referring to a newly branded Sunni militant group that says it is fighting to topple the government. “We will carry out attacks against them.”

A few days after his press conference, the government issued an arrest warrant against him, though he remains free. Sunnis have since threatened to bring the protests to the streets of Baghdad.

What are the root causes of this sectarianism?
Analysts and political figures point to a re-emergence of sectarian or ethnic identities decades ago.

Hussein’s exclusionary policies and 10 years of sanctions led to a weakening of state institutions, a decline of the secular middle class - especially doctors and engineers - and the re-emergence of communal identities as key elements governing Iraqi society.

"He chose the policy of a one party state. He eliminated all others… then he started to eliminate figures within his party… then he wanted to keep the power within his family only,” explained political analyst Ehsan al-Shimary.

Besides political affiliation to the Baath party, belonging to a certain sect or ethnic group often meant privileged channels to access employment or promotions.

After the fall of the Baath regime, and during the US occupation in the last decade, US policies further reinforced this trend by promoting the idea that Iraqi society was composed of three main communities - Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds - and creating a political system that partitioned political power among these groups.

In this new system, political affiliation and sectarian and ethnic identity had to overlap: most political parties now have a defined sectarian or ethnic nature.

The failure to rebuild an effective Iraqi state has given Iraqis little choice but to return to their sectarian identities to ensure their own security (for example, the civil conflict led to the creation of “Sunni” or “Shia” neighbourhoods within Baghdad) and affiliate themselves with sect-based political parties to access the job market, promotions or even basic service provision.

What is the way out?

Reform the political class

“We need technocrats to rule this country,” said Sheikh Ahmed al-Rahman of the Anbar tribe, who has helped lead demonstrations in Anbar Province, where protests began in December. “In this case, it would not matter to our people if the leader was a Sunni or a Shiite.”

Observers say Iraqi leaders are using sect to promote themselves, and a reversal in their behaviour would go a long way to resolving the problem.

Take Muqtada al-Sadr, a leading Shia politician, who led the Mahdi Army militia during the civil conflict but has since reached out to Sunnis. In a speech about the protests, he told them: “I am with you in your demands and will support you in them, but do not call for the return of the Baath and do not carry Baath flags and slogans.” Days after his speech, Sunni protesters stopped such acts and even carried Shiite flags of Imam Hussain and others, for the first time in Anbar’s history.

At the root of the problem is Iraq’s political crisis, which has left the Iraqi parliament in a stalemate since 2010, unable to move the country forward because of deep-rooted divisions among sectarian-inclined politicians competing for power.

“Politicians must be aware and speak with a calm tone to prevent the political crises from being reflected onto the streets,” said Ali al-Alaq, a Shiite sheikh and member of the parliament’s social affairs committee. “Sometimes a member of parliament gives a speech on TV and the next day we witness an explosion.”

“It is the duty of the Iraqi leaders to find a solution to the current political stalemate in the country,” the special representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq, Martin Kobler, said in a statement after the 8 February bombings. “It is their duty and responsibility to sit together to see what can be put in place to stop this heinous, horrible violence.”

“Sometimes a member of parliament gives a speech on TV and the next day we witness an explosion.”

The International Crisis Group (ICG) insists that the prime minister implement the power-sharing deal negotiated in 2010 and step down at the end of his term, instead of running for a third term in 2014. “In turn,” the ICG wrote in a July 2012report, “his rivals should call off efforts to unseat him and instead use their parliamentary strength to build strong state institutions, such as an independent electoral commission, and ensure free and fair elections.”

Reduce foreign interference
Another important step in diffusing tensions in Iraq is “to diffuse Iranian influence in Iraq, which tries to highlight sectarian differences,” said Walid Khadduri, an Iraq expert and former editor of the Middle East Economic Survey. This will likely prove even harder in the future as Iran loses its traditional foothold in the Middle East (Syria), and as a result looks to Iraq even more closely.

Others, like al-Alaq, point to Turkey as an instigator trying to encourage Sunnis in Iraq to rise up.


Continued...

Confronting War Ten Years On International conference

Confronting War Ten Years On International conference 9 February 2013: Speeches:

11 February 2013

Video

Around 1000 people attended the Confronting War Ten Years On international conference in London on 9 February 2013. See film report by The Real News... Keynote speakers included Tariq Ali, Owen Jones, Phyllis Bennis, Salma Yaqoob, Lindsey German, Mitra Qayoom, Manuel Hassassian, John Rees, Mitra Qayoom.

http://stopwar.org.uk/index.php/video/2240-confronting-war-ten-years-on-international-conference-9-february-2013-speeches-video-o

HICRAN KAZANCI ATTENDED THE RECEPTION CEREMONY ON THE OCCASION OF THE NATIONAL DAY OF IRAN

The Ambassador of Iran to Ankara Bahman Hüseyinpur held a reception at the Swissotel in Ankara on the occasion of the 34th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution of Iran.

Iraqi Turkmen Front Turkey Representative Dr. Hicran Kazancı also attended the reception.
Ambassador Bahman Hüseyinpur received his guests at the door of the hall where the reception was held. Bahman Hüseyinpur thanked Hicran Kazancı for accepting his invitation. Kazancı congratulated Ambassador Bahman Hüseyinpur and the people of Iran on the occasion of their day of feast.

The reception was attended by many prominent guests such as the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Taner Yıldız, Minister of Development Cevdet Yılmaz, Leader of Saadet Party Mustafa Kamalak as well as the ambassadors of various countries.

Altunköprü, Turkmeneli, Iraq

Altunköprü the ancient name of Türkmen Township
By Mofak Salman Kerkuklu


Altunköprü means 'Golden Bridge' in the Turkish language.

The history of the city of Altunköprü dates back to 228 BC.

The indigenous inhabitants of Altunköprü are Turkmens, but in the mid fifties
and also in recent years a large number of Kurds and Arabs migrated to this
town seeking work as economical migrants, especially after the Kurdish rebels
were quelled by the Iraqi Ba’ath regime in 1975.

For full text and photos (30 pages) please see:

http://www.turkmen.nl/1A_Others/ms3.11.pdf

The Turkmen and Iraqi Homeland, by Ershad Al-HIRMIZI

The Turkmen and Iraqi Homeland

Author’s Name Ershad Al-Hirmizi Publisher Kerkuk Foundation Number Of pPges 177 Publication place/year Istanbul-2003 ISBN 975-6849-07-X Language English Dimensions 12x19,5 cm Our Sale Exist Price 5,00 USD About The Book About The Author Buy The Book Read The Book (PDF)

CONTENTS

Chapter One    : The Origin Of the Turkmen
Chapter Two     : Citizenship
Chapter Three :  International treaties&Covenents
Chapter Four   : The Political Struggle of Iraqi  
                             Turkmen.
                             
Chapter Five    : The Turkmen Population Of Iraq
Chapter Six      : The Ethnic Composition Of
                             Turkmen in Iraq.
Chapter Seven : The Political Path of Iraqi Turkmen
Chapter Eight   : Current Proposals for Federalism
                               İn Iraq.
   Appendix No.1  : Constitution of the Kingdom of Iraq
1925
Appendix No.2: Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Appendix No 3  : UNITED NATIONS Declaration
Bibliography  :  FOREWORD
The existence of two million Iraqi Turks

READ THE BOOK:

 http://www.kerkukvakfi.com/english/images/kitap/EH_english.pdf

NOTIFICATION FROM ITF

07 ŞUBAT 2013

Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITC) responded to the criticism from the Arab group in the Kirkuk Province Assembly regarding the assignment of a Turkmen to the Kirkuk Education Directorate.


In a written statement issued by ITF Information Department it was indicated that according to a political agreement in 2003 the task of Kirkuk Education Directorate was assigned to the Turkmen and further that, “This duty is the legal right of the Turkmen nation. We believed that the Arab group would support us in this context”.


ITF also rejected the allegations of being “biased” made against Kirkuk Province Assembly Head Hasan Turan by the Arab group. The statement said that as ITF they had no queries regarding various tasks of the Arabs primarily the General Directorate of the Northern Iraq Petroleum Company and continued with the following:


“As the Iraqi Turkmen Front we condemn any violations carried out against Arabs. In addition, we hope that in a spirit of good will they will return the agricultural lands which were seized by the previous regime from the Turkmen nation and return these lands to their rightful owners.”


In addition Iraqi Turkmen Front Turkey Representative Dr.Hicran Kazancı made a written statement to congratulate the Turkmen candidate İmat Muhammet İbrahim and wish him success in his post as Kirkuk Province Education Director for which he was elected. In his statement Kazancı condemned the explosives attacks targeting the Kirkuk Security Directorate get past to Chief of Police Cemal Tahir and his deputy Turhan Abdurrahman.