khoyada Website khoyada Website
Our beloved town of Alqosh, one of the historical symbols of Nineveh Plain, has recently witnessed a number of events that are considered by many of its inhabitants and those across the Nineveh Plain as highly unsatisfactory. These unjust actions have been met with great resentment and public rejection. Perhaps the most prominent such event has been dismissal of the Director of Alqosh sub-district, Mr Faiz Abd Jahwareh, and the appointment of Ms Lara Zera through holding formal elections of the municipal council without taking into account the view of Alqosh’s population, who showed significant support for the dismissed sub-District Director through peaceful street demonstrations advocating against the intervention in municipal affairs by political parties who have power in the area. They consider such actions as an illegitimate and non-constitutional violation of the rights and will of the local people. This situation did not stop with the removal of the Mayor, but also applied to the Mayor of Tel Kayf, Mr Basem Belo, who was similarly dismissed from his position.
Meanwhile, we have surprised lately by the memo sent to the police in Alqosh from the new sub-district Director Lara prohibiting demonstrations as well as listing names of those who participated in previous demonstrations, including some leaders and members of the ChaldoAssyrian Students and Youth Union (CSYU) who went out in the support of the dismissed sub-District Director. The alleged justification for this was that no previous approvals were obtained for the demonstrations. Nevertheless, Article 38 of the Iraqi Constitution guarantees the right of peaceful demonstration for any group within society.
Beyond this, a member of the CSYU was threatened by the husband of the new sub-District Director, himself a member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). While condemning these crude and aggressive practices, we call upon the parties concerned to hold accountable those who seek to exploit their position and those who stand behind them, whether the concerned individuals are members of the Union or not, because such practices will not only harm these individuals but also harm the entities to which that they belong. The CSYU will not only continue to issue statements and condemnations of such actions, but will use the free media to speak out and reach the wider world to reflect the reality of the of those who falsely claim to be democratic. We are well aware that all these practices, which unfortunately can only be described as arbitrary in nature, are focused on one particular objective: that is to incorporate the Nineveh plain into the referendum process that will take place on 25 of this month in the Kurdistan Region. Therefore, we, in the CSYU, declare through this statement our clear position of absolute rejection to the incorporation of the Nineveh plain in the referendum. We call on the concerned parties to review their positions to this illegitimate and unconstitutional action for the Nineveh Plain as it has never been part of the Kurdistan Region and it is imperative that all parties and governments respect the will of the Assyrian Chaldean Syriac people because we are true partners in the homeland from north to south with the other communities of Iraq. We will not accept that we share only the duties as we are the indigenous sons of this homeland.
ChaldoAssyrian Students and Youth Union
