DEM Party Mardin MP George Aslan submitted a legislative proposal to the Presidency of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye (TBMM) requesting an amendment to the Law on National Holidays and General Holidays. The proposal requested that December 25, symbolizing the birth of Jesus Christ, be declared a public holiday under the name "Christmas Day.
Christianity has a long and intricate history in Iran, predating many other regions of the world. Iranian Christian communities have preserved their faith and cultural identity for centuries. Today, Iran hosts one of the oldest continuous Christian presences in West Asia, with Armenian, Assyrian, and other Christian minorities contributing significantly to Iran's diverse religious landscape.
As conflicts continue to scar large parts of the Middle East and beyond, leading Christian patriarchs from the region used their Christmas messages this year to emphasize faith as a source of light, urging peace, reconciliation and renewed commitment to human dignity in a time of global upheaval.
North Iraq -- More than a decade after the Islamic State's assault on northern Iraq fractured the region's demographic landscape, the Christian communities of the Nineveh Plains remain largely displaced, unable to return to their ancestral homes due to the lingering dominance of irregular armed groups and a pervasive lack of security assurance.
Authorities and church bodies in parts of Iraq and Syria have announced the suspension or cancellation of several public events associated with Christmas and New Year celebrations, citing deteriorating humanitarian and security conditions. The decisions reflect a careful balancing act between preserving religious traditions and ensuring public safety in fragile environments.
Few sites have a more diverse archaeological repertoire than Ekron. Located on the Judean frontier, this Philistine city was subject to many cultural influences that shaped its history and people. Ekron was one of the five major Philistine capital cities often referred to as the Pentapolis. Ekron's story is fascinating.
Kochi, India -- As the Yuletide spirit fills the air, posters, cutouts and dolls of Santa Claus crop up everywhere, heralding the season of love and sharing. However, not many may know that Santa, the most popular symbol of Christmas, is inspired from and modelled after St Nicholas, a fourth-century bishop from Myra in ancient Turkey known for his generosity and secret gift-giving.
In 2024, St George Christian School in south-west Sydney took a gamble. Caroline Lee, the head of its senior school, noticed her students were overly stressed and were submitting an increasing number of requests for disability provisions due to anxiety. The school took a "pretty scary leap", she admits, and overhauled its assessment structure.
(AINA) -- In contemporary political discourse, the rights of indigenous peoples are too often reduced to numbers--population size, electoral weight, or demographic dominance. For the Assyrian people, this reduction is not only unjust; it is historically illiterate.
Atone Sliwo Ashur's desire to build a fence around an elevated hilltop in Simmele, a town in northern Iraq's Dohuk district, seems innocent at first glance -- just a few hundred meters of metal posts and barbed wire coiled around a mound of dirt.
North Iraq -- Alqosh-based Syriac language teacher Athra Kado has released a new educational book, designed for teaching preschoolers the Assyrian language. Designed in a simple style that accommodates young children's skills, the book encourages early learning and the development of cultural identity from their first years of school.
We declare, in clear and unambiguous terms, our firm rejection of the project to establish new government complexes within the center of the Bartella subdistrict. We caution against actions being carried out under administrative or service-related justifications that, in reality, constitute deliberate attempts to alter the demographic structure of the city and undermine the legal and historical...
(AINA) -- For three decades the Assyrian International News Agency (AINA) has served as one of the most influential and authoritative voices documenting the life, heritage, and challenges of Assyrians and their Syriac-speaking Churches, both in the homeland and the diaspora. AINA is a privately funded, independent news agency founded by Peter Pnuel BetBasoo and Firas Jatou in 1995.
(AINA) -- The recent decision by the Democratic Autonomous Administration of the Region of North and East Syria (DAARNES) to officially incorporate the Assyrian language into its website marks a significant milestone for cultural representation, linguistic rights, and digital inclusion.
(AINA) -- The Assyrian Arts Institute (AAI) is an organization founded by Nora Betyousef Lacey in 2017 and claims to support Assyrian arts. AAI has sponsored a few events since its founding, including an Assyrian women's choir.
(AINA) -- On July 12 Iraqi president Abdul Latif Rashid repealed the decree recognizing the appointment of Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako as head of the Chaldean Catholic Church and which appointed him to the office of the waqf (وقف), the endowment which oversees all church property. The details of the events leading up to this action are exhaustively covered in this report by MEMRI.
(AINA) -- In contemporary political discourse, the rights of indigenous peoples are too often reduced to numbers--population size, electoral weight, or demographic dominance. For the Assyrian people, this reduction is not only unjust; it is historically illiterate.
(AINA) -- The tragic death of Patriarch Eshai Shimun on November 6, 1975, remains a sombre and defining moment in the history of the Assyrian people. A leader devoted to preserving Assyrian heritage, faith, and identity, he had dedicated decades to guiding his Church and community through difficult times.
Kochi, India -- As the Yuletide spirit fills the air, posters, cutouts and dolls of Santa Claus crop up everywhere, heralding the season of love and sharing. However, not many may know that Santa, the most popular symbol of Christmas, is inspired from and modelled after St Nicholas, a fourth-century bishop from Myra in ancient Turkey known for his generosity and secret gift-giving.
Archaeologists in northern Israel uncover a luxurious Iron Age cremation burial, revealing elite lifestyles, long-distance trade, and Assyrian influence thousands of years ago. For a long time, life in the ancient world has been imagined as harsh, modest, and largely deprived of luxury.