(AINA) -- Assyrian leaders in north Iraq held a second meeting on October 29 to discuss the situation of the Assyrians, who were driven from their homes and villages in the Nineveh Plains two years ago by ISIS. Nearly 200,000 Assyrians were displaced when ISIS pushed into Assyrian territory after it captured Mosul in June of 2014.

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The meeting was attended by political and religious leaders, as well as six Assyrian political parties.

In joint statement issued after the meeting, the leaders called for unifying the three Assyrian militias operating in North Iraq and protecting the Nineveh Plains, which are north and east of Mosul, for Assyrians.

Here is the English translation of the statement and the original in Arabic.

The Chaldean Syriac Assyrian political organizations held a meeting on October 29, 2016 to continue discussions from their previous meeting that was held on October 21, 2016. The meeting was hosted by Bishop Mar Yokhana Putrus Moshe with the presence of representative of His Holiness Patriarch Mar Georgis Third Saliwa at the headquarters of the Syriac Catholic Diocese.

During the meeting, they discussed ways to unite the efforts of the military and security coordination in the Nineveh Plain areas in order to enable the people of the region to management the security file. It was agreed that the military forces formations of our people are the fundamental forces to protect towns and villages in the Nineveh Plain. Seeking unity for the joint military efforts and coordination of security leaders by holding joint meetings between the stakeholders for this purpose.

The meeting parties also emphasized to keep Nineveh Plain areas out of any future political conflicts, especially since the region and its inhabitants suffered greatly as a result of these conflicts that have no legitimacy among the dominant political forces. Whereas the meeting parties also called for the formation of political delegations to be supported by clerics to travel and meet with the international community and to urgently convene a conference for the reconstruction of the Nineveh Plain areas.

Signatories:

• The Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council
• Assyrian Democratic Movement
• Bethnahrin Democratic Party
• Bethnahrin Patriotic Union
• Chaldean National Congress Syriac Assembly Movement
• Assyrian Patriotic Party