Qamishly- ADO– Our chaldo-Assyrian-Syriac people have gone through very difficult times throughout its long bitter and turbulent history . Thousands have sacrificed their blood for the sake of their national identify, existence, culture and principles.
With the beginning of the 20th century they were subjected to barbaric and ferocious campaigns, most vicious of which was the genocide premeditated and organized by the Turkish “Al-Ittihad wal-Taraki” government with close collaboration with its allies from some countries of then civilized world, mainly against the chaldo-Assyrians-Syriacs, Armenians, and the Christian population of the Ottoman empire.
This genocide, which was called “Al-Seyfo” and the atrocities that followed cost our people about half a million martyrs, they fell in Hikary, A’med, Raha, Mardin, Azelh, Tor Abedin and other places, victims of hatred, chauvinism, and gruesome terrorism.

Then in 1933 , one year following Iraq’s independence from Britain, while our people was still heeling its wounds, it suffered yet another blow in the peaceful Assyrian town of Simel in Iraq. Five thousand, children, women and old people were cold bloodedly slaughtered on the hands of the regular Iraqi army led by commander of the Northern region colonel Baker Sudki in one of the ugliest crimes of state terrorism in modern history. These victims were nothing but civilian refugees that had taken refuge in this town fleeing for their life from battles waging between the Iraqi regular army on one hand, and our people’s freedom fighters on the other struggling for their legitimate rights in the new Iraq then, similar to the other partners in the country.

As a matter of fact, this terrible crime has opened up new chapters for policies of massacres and sectarian ethnic cleansings for the Iraqi upcoming successive regimes. In 1969 this regime perpetrated another massacre in the Assyrian town of “Souria” in the north, three hundred civilians were massacred.This was followed by other massacres, mass graves and atrocities. Regrettable, the violence and the terrorism still have the upper hand in Iraq , even after the downfall of the dictatorship.

Throughout the last century, Our people have suffered great oppression and tyranny on the hands of some of its partners as well as some regional governments. This, has led to great demographic changes in the historic places of their existence due to the policies of killings, displacement and discrimination, and has resulted in great decline in the number of the Christians and consequently, deprived the region of its spiritual and human richness and diversity, one of its oldest and most important cultural component and the leading source of its development.

The sacrifices of our martyrs were not made for death, they sacrificed themselves for life.Most of them were innocent civilians, intellectuals, religious men like Bishop Mar Beniamen Shamoun, Ashour Yousef, Fredon Athoraia, Bashar Helmy Bouraji, Bishop Touma Aodo and others who have become symbols of martyrdom and dedication. They did not die for the sake of a sect or personal gains, but for the sake of their people’s existence and dignity. The best lesson they have left for the coming generations is, working tirelessly for the fulfillment of the goals they have died for. There is no way of accomplishing these aims, but through national unity that they have called for, the unity of our people with all its denominations, away from narrow temporary interests for this or that party or this or that sect.

while we are commemorating the martyr’s day, horrible massacres and atrocities are perpetrated against the Palestinian and Lebanese people by the Israeli war machine. As we strongly contemn and denounce these massacres, we call upon the international community to stop the aggressive Israeli war on Lebanon and to implement the relevant resolutions of international legitimacy concerning exchange of prisoners, return of refugees to their villages and towns, and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from all the Lebanese territories including occupied Shab’a farms. Furthermore, the Lebanese political forces should unite in one common position and vision for the sake of independent, free and sovereign Lebanon that would provide stability security and prosperity for its people and would further extent its authority over all its lands.

The countries of the region are fed up with wars and repressive regimes, the people have paid a high price and have become exposed to state and individual terrorism and the result is massacres, as in Kana, Gaza and Iraq. Added to this, the prevalence of poverty , backwardness and frustration has prepared the ground for forces of darkness to promulgate their culture of death instead of that of life. It’s about time the people of the region dedicated their time and energy for construction and development, and this can not be accomplished without finding fair solutions by the international community to the conflicts raging the region, and on top of these comes the Arab Israeli conflict. This can only be done through establishing just and permanent peace in the area according to the resolutions of the international legitimacy and that means the return of rights and lands to their owners. In addition, first, efforts must be made to eliminate all sources of tension and animosity amongst the people by way of acknowledging the national rights of the minorities, second, to help set up democratic systems capable of launching networks of cooperation and understanding among all the people in the area. Only by doing this will we be able to leave behind us the culture of hostility and hatred and devote our time for building of man and homelands.

Glory and immortality to the memory of our martyrs and honor to the martyrs of freedom everywhere.

– Syria 07 August 2006

ADO political Bureau