The Assyrian Democratic Organization
North Iraq – AINA — Kurdish officials in Dohuk, north Iraq blocked the Assyrian Democratic Movement (ADM) from staging a demonstration to protest the recently passed Iraqi election law1, which removed seats guaranteed for Assyrians and other minorities in provincial councils.
Instead of granting permits to the ADM, Kurdish officials gave permits to “The popular Council of the Chaldeans, Syriacs, Assyrians,” which was established by the support of the Kurdistan Democratic Party and receives all its funding from the Kurdish finance ministry, according to the groups own spokesman, Gibrael Marko.
This action is the latest by Kurdish groups in a series of attempts to marginalize the only remaining independent Assyrian party in north Iraq. The ADM has suffered from exclusion and marginalization by Kurdish political parties since its announcement that it wants the Nineveh Plain to become an autonomous administered area for Assyrians and other minorities allied to the central government in Baghdad.
