Göttingen (AINA) -- Tilman Zülch, the founder and long-time Secretary General of the Society for Endangered People (Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker e.V. - GfbV), died on March 17, 2023 in Göttingen at the age of 83. He led the international organization for several decades. Zülch is regarded a visionary in human rights work.
Two decades after the US-led invasion of Iraq, the country's dwindling Christian community continues to fight for survival. Christians from the Assyrian, Chaldean and Syriac churches have ancient roots in the Nineveh Plain of northern Iraq, but the war made religious minorities increasingly vulnerable.
Lyon (AINA) -- The French Senate voted with overwhelming majority on February 8, 2023 in favor of a resolution calling on the government to recognize the genocide of the Assyro-Chaldeans of 1915-1918 and to make the day of April 24th a joint day of commemoration for the Armenian and Assyro-Chaldean genocides (AINA 2023-02-09). The bill is now being considered by the National Assembly.
At the beginning of this year, the Christian international network Open Doors presented data on the oppression, discrimination and persecution of Christians around the world. It was announced that between the fall of 2021 and the fall of 2022, 5,621 Christians were killed, 4,542 were arrested, and 5,259 were kidnapped. As many as 2,110 churches and church buildings were the target of violence.
The Çavuşoğlu and Salköprü neighborhoods, where almost all of Malatya's Armenians and Assyrians resided, were heavily damaged by the major earthquakes that hit southeastern Turkey in February. In both neighborhoods with old buildings, 90 percent of the houses collapsed or are severely damaged. Some 60 people from both communities lived in the neighborhoods before the quakes on Feb. 6.
BAGHDAD (Reuters) -- Iraq has begun enforcing a 2016 ban on alcoholic beverages, an official document showed, a move some Iraqis attribute to the growing clout of Islamic religious parties that they fear is threatening social freedoms. Enforcement took effect when the law was published in Iraq's official gazette on Feb. 20, seven years after its passage by parliament.
BAGHDAD (AP) -- The head of the United Nations cultural agency promised Monday to continue helping to repair the damage done to Iraq's historic sites by decades of war. In a visit to Baghdad ahead of the 20-year anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, UNESCO chief Audrey Azoulay met with officials including Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.
(AINA) --A scholarly book on the Turkish genocide of Assyrians, Greeks and Armenians was published in the Czech language in 2017. The book is titled Catastrophe of the Christians: the Liquidation of Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks in the Ottoman Empire in the years 1914--1923 (Katastrofa krestanu. Likvidace Arménu, Asyranu a Reku v Osmanské ríši v letech 1914--1923).
An ancient Assyrian archeological site in Duhok was vandalized on Friday and defaced with Islamic writings, the third time in seven years that this site has been damaged. The perpetrators are unknown. The site at Halamata cave on Zawa Mountain, south of Duhok city, is nearly 3,000 years old.
(AINA) -- In December, Patriarch Awa spoke of the possible reunification of Assyrians and Chaldeans within one Church of the East. He also mentioned an objection to the union that must be addressed first: uniatism. His words were reported as follows: With the Chaldeans, who are certainly our brothers, we are always ready to talk about unity and reunification in a single Church of the East.
Adiyaman, Turkey -- An 18th-century Syriac church in southern Türkiye was heavily damaged in powerful earthquakes that shook the region earlier this month. Built in 1701, the Mor Petrus and Mor Paulus Church in Adiyaman province is just one of the historical monuments on which the twin back-to-back earthquakes on Feb. 6 took their toll.
Qamishli, Syria (AINA) -- A monument to the Assyrian victims of the Turkish genocide in World War One was vandalized on February 25. The monument was erected on June 16, 2019 ((AINA 2016-06-19)). The Syriac Military Council reported the news of the vandalism. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Göttingen (AINA) -- Tilman Zülch, the founder and long-time Secretary General of the Society for Endangered People (Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker e.V. - GfbV), died on March 17, 2023 in Göttingen at the age of 83. He led the international organization for several decades. Zülch is regarded a visionary in human rights work.
Lyon (AINA) -- The French Senate voted with overwhelming majority on February 8, 2023 in favor of a resolution calling on the government to recognize the genocide of the Assyro-Chaldeans of 1915-1918 and to make the day of April 24th a joint day of commemoration for the Armenian and Assyro-Chaldean genocides (AINA 2023-02-09). The bill is now being considered by the National Assembly.
(AINA) -- In December, Patriarch Awa spoke of the possible reunification of Assyrians and Chaldeans within one Church of the East. He also mentioned an objection to the union that must be addressed first: uniatism. His words were reported as follows: With the Chaldeans, who are certainly our brothers, we are always ready to talk about unity and reunification in a single Church of the East.
Wurzburg, Germany (AINA) -- The 60th anniversary of the German-Turkish recruitment agreement (German: Anwerbeabkommen) was officially celebrated in many cities across the country end of October 2021. In his speech at the state commemoration event in Berlin, Germany's President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, addressed the invited guests, stating that "You helped building up Germany -- You have enriched...
During the years of World War I 75% (750,000) of the Assyrian population in the Ottoman Empire was systematically murdered. That genocide of Assyrians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire in 1915 is a fact, but it has largely been forgotten by the world.
(AINA) -- When speaking about the Ottoman Empire and Turkey today, it is not their contribution to civilization that comes to mind. Instead it is human rights violations, confiscation of land and property, genocide and genocide denials that are most frequently discussed in the public discourse. Today's Turkey is still far from being ruled by democratic principles.
For over a decade, TLC's My 600-Lb Life has hooked viewers with stories about morbidly obese individuals trying to turn their lives around. In each installment, people fly to Houston, Texas in order to get treatment. The show follows them before, during, and after their weight loss journey. Each story is different except for one fan-favorite personality, who holds the series together.
In ancient Iraq, cuneiform writing was the tool used to record the tales of gods and heroes, the transactions of merchants and kings, and the everyday lives of the people. This system of writing, using a wedge-shaped stylus to make imprints in clay tablets, was one of the earliest forms of writing in the world, and it continues to captivate and intrigue us to this day.