The Assyrian Democratic Organization
Brussels- AINA — An administrative area for Assyrians on the Nineveh Plains in northern Iraq, that was the demand conveyed by an estimated 5000 demonstrators on Saturday, April 19 outside the European Parliament in Brussels. Demonstrators came by buses from several European countries. The event which was organized by a coalition of Assyrian groups.
The Al-Maliki government and the U.S have yet to provide protection for the Assyrians in Iraq, who are targeted by Islamic fundamentalists and aggressive Kurdish nationalists, especially the Kurdistan National Party (KDP). Security and local self rule for the Assyrians in the Nineveh Plains, an area in northern Iraq, was therefore the main demand of the demonstrators in Brussels as they waved Assyrian flags and chanted slogans.
The official statement released by the organizing committee urges the EU, UN and U.S to provide necessary protection for the Assyrians of Iraq and to “help in establishing an autonomous zone for them and provide them with the security they urgently need”.
The demonstrators rejected the idea by German politicians to bring large numbers of Assyrian refugees to Europe, saying that Europe should instead help the Assyrians to remain on their ancestral lands where they have lived for thousands of years.
According to the organizers more demonstrations are planned to take place in Europe, focusing on the issue of a self-administered area for the Assyrians of Iraq.
