Iraq: problems of Christians just starting

PanARMENIAN.Net - After the overthrow of Saddam Hussein and his execution, Iraqi society immediately broke up into tribal and religious groups. Suffice it to say that Shiites and Sunnis once again “remembered” their mutual hatred, not to mention the Kurds. The Kurds are a special subject - the U.S. promise on establishment and further recognition of an independent Kurdistan gave them the right to almost completely control the most oil-rich province of Iraq.

But as far as the Christian population of the country is concerned, its problems are just starting. After ex-Foreign Minister of Saddam Hussein’s Government, Christian by religion, Tariq Aziz was sentenced to death, Islamic groups livened up. Maybe it was just a coincidence, but in a region so dangerous for life there happen no coincidences. Still last year, according to the Iraqi Archdiocese of Baghdad, some 15 thousand Armenians left the city. According to the latest data, out of nearly one million Christians of Iraq there have remained only a little more than the half. It is unlikely that Armenians enjoy the special “love” of Iraqi insurgents. For Islamists, nationality plays no role; what really matters is religious affiliation. But the most interesting thing about the matter is that the Christians are leaving Iraq for Turkey, if a publication in the newspaper Le Figaro is to be trusted. According to the newspaper, dozens of Christians are arriving in Turkey, most of them being Assyrians. The wicked irony of fate is that at the time of the World War I, the Assyrians were slaughtered in the Ottoman Empire like the Armenians, but now they are fleeing into Turkey...

Spiritual leader of the Assyrians in Turkey Franchois Yakan, who has esteablished a union to assist the immigrants from Iraq, in an interview to the Le Figaro noted that the flow of Christians into Turkey is growing day by day. “Every day dozens of people come, but we believe that their number will increase, reaching 150,” said Yakan.

Just two weeks ago, on Oct. 31 about thirty militants attacked a Catholic church in Baghdad and captured 120 people. They demanded the release of the al-Qaeda terrorists, imprisoned in Egypt and Iraq. During the operation of freeing the hostages, 52 people were killed and 70 were wounded from Iraqi and U.S. forces.

The developments in Iraq cannot but worry the Christian world, and the NATO summit that opened the other day must somehow resolve the issue of the U.S. troops’ stay in Iraq. It is natural that after the withdrawal of the Americans, the country will plunge into an abyss of terror and redistribution of oil-rich provinces, but, on the other hand, their further stay may lead to the total disappearance of Iraq off the map. Turkey’s interest in this country is obvious; besides oil, there are also memories about the fact that today’s territory of Iraq was once part of the Ottoman Empire. The current neo-Ottomanism of Erdogan’s government, among other things, thirsts for revenge and return of the lands.

By the way, the situation in Iraq was predicted about 10 years ago by American author Tom Clancy in his novel “Executive Orders”. In the novel, Iran annexes Iraq, establishes an Islamic republic and introduces Sharia laws. In fact, everything seems to be coming to this. And though in the novel the Iranian leader is killed and everything resumes its normal course, the situation in Baghdad is described exactly the way it now is...