Kurdistan to Remain a Safe Haven for Christians
An exclusive interview By Marah Bukai
Earlier in July, under mounting pressure from a pro-Iran militia group, Iraqi president Abdul Latif Rashid revoked a decade-old decree that formally recognized Chaldean Patriarch Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako and granted him powers over Christian endowment affairs.
Rashid’s decision came after he met with Rayan al-Kildani, leader of the nominally Christian Babylon Movement, a party and militia affiliated with the pro-Iran Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi in Arabic) and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as reported by several Iraqi news networks.
The decision sparked nationwide outrage from Christian community members and leaders, describing the unprecedented decision as a direct attack on Cardinal Sako, a highly respected figure in his community and the head of the Chaldean Church in Iraq and worldwide.
“The Iraqi president, without any constitutional or legal basis, withdrew the presidential decree given to Patriarch Cardinal Sako. This decree was issued by the former Iraqi president Jalal Al-Talabani in 2013 after the election of his beatitude the Patriarch” said Ano Jawhar Abdoka, Minister of Transportation and Communications and Representative of Christians at KRG, in an exclusive interview with White House in Arabic.
“This decision taken by the Iraqi president will weaken the legal status of the patriarch, especially upon the Chaldean church properties, and threaten the patriarch’s status in the Iraqi community. These decrees were issued since the time of the Abasi caliphate, the Ottomans, the Kingdom of Iraq, & since the establishment of the Iraqi Republic in 1958 & until the present” Minister Abdoka added.
Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani was the first government official worldwide who stood by Patriarch Cardinal Sako and directed all government ministers and officials to present all government support to the Christians in general & the Chaldean church in particular, especially during this crisis. He tweeted: “We warmly welcome Patriarch Louis Sako to Erbil, the capital of peaceful coexistence for all religions and groups. The Kurdistan Region, and the alchemy of coexistence that thrives here, is a source of pride to us all. We condemn the treatment directed towards the Patriarch”.
On July 21, President Barzani received Patriarch Sako, and his Excellency assured him that the Kurdistan Region, and its people. and the government is in support of his beatitude, the Chaldean church, and all Christians. Barazani also reminded Sako about a meeting that he held during the fight against ISIS When he said to Christian clergymen & representatives: “Don’t leave your country. This is your land, either we will live together, or we will perish together fighting for it”.
“The withdrawal of the presidential decree from Patriarch Cardinal Sako will never be approved by the Kurdistan government, nor any other decision that contradicts the values of democracy and human dignity and right, and Kurdistan Region will stand as a stronghold and safe haven for Christians in Iraq and the Middle East”, Minister Abdoka concluded.
