Assyrian news

       SWITZERLAND – Seyfo center — On Sunday, July 6 2008, approximately 100 people from all over the world participated in the climb of the Rigi mountain in Switzerland. The climb was marked by the commemoration of the victims during the Assyrian Genocide of 1915. On top of the …

By Ciýnar Kiper    Mardin, Turkey – Turkish Daily News — Mardin, once the home of Turkey’s Suryanis, or Aramaic-Syriac people [Assyrians], has lost most of its population at a time when it is in need of its sons and daughters, according to the Syrian Orthodox leader of the southeastern …

      Rome – CNA — The Australian government has denied visas to dozens of World Youth Day pilgrims from Iraq, citing concerns that participants will not return home and instead will seek asylum in Australia. One Chaldean Catholic priest called the decision “a slap at young people who wanted …

      PARIS – Reuters — Syria and Lebanon have decided to open embassies in each other’s country for the first time in their troubled relations, French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced on Saturday. Speaking at a joint news conference with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, Sarkozy …

      Baghdad, Iraq – france24 — Persecuted and murdered, Baghdad’s Christians live a hidden life. For five years, violence has been a daily event In the Karrada neighborhood, in the heart of the capital. The Babylon Chaldean Church was the only one to open its doors to our reporter. …

      Sydney, Iraq – fairfieldadvance — Two and a half years of braving frigid water, 4.30am starts and pushing his limits during training regimes will culminate in Kaise Stephan’s historic swim of the English Channel this week. The 33-year-old Abbotsbury resident will be the first person of Assyrian background …

By Deal W. Hudson    Iraq – insidecatholic — The numbers are stark, and the situation is getting worse. Before the U.S. invasion of Iraq, there were 1.2 million Christians living there. Over 400,000 Christians have left the country since the war started. Many others have been kidnapped and killed; …

      DAMASCUS, Syria- UPI — Syrian officials returned an Assyrian artifact to the Iraqi Ministry of Tourism and Archeology after it was confiscated from smugglers, authorities said. Syrian Culture Minister Riadh Naasan Agha returned a 40-inch by 15-inch relic thought to be part of the Temple of Nimrod located …

      Berlin – the Earth Times — Berlin – German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier pledged increased German help for Iraqi Christians after meeting Iraqi bishops in Berlin on Wednesday. Steinmeier also said the legal status of Iraqi Christians living in Germany would be reviewed with a view to facilitating …

By Marianne Brückl    Baghdad, Iraq – pressemitteilung — How can it happen, that people ignore the signs of history, where minorities always were hunted, tortured and murdered? This is a question concerning everybody on our globe. To Islamists, Christians, Buddhists, and all the other religious groups. “Human Rights” is …