Aramean Organizations sent a letter
to the new elected president of the European Union
EU President Herman Van Rompuy |
The Arameans of
Aram-Naharaim Organization and the Aramean Democratic
Organization sent a letter to the new President of the European
Union
On
1-12-2009, the Arameans of Aram-Naharaim Organization and the
Aramean Democratic Organisation sent a letter of congratulations
to the first president of the European Union, Mr. Herman Van
Rompuy.
In the
letter the Aramean Organisations ask for the attention of the
president to the fragile situation of the Aramean indigenous
nation of the Middle-East thereby focusing on their situation in
Turkey, Iraq and Syria.
Please
find below the letter sent to Mr. H. Van Rompuy.
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Nr.: 2009-12-01/10
Netherlands, Sweden 1st of December 2009
Subject: Re: Your election as the 1st president of
the European Union
The
Most Honorable President of the European Union
His
Excellency Herman Van Rompuy
Brussels, Belgium
Dear Mr. President,
We,
the undersigned, the Arameans of Aram-Naharaim Organization and the
Aramean Democratic Organization want to congratulate you with your
election as the 1st president of the European Union.
We
wish you much success and wisdom and we hope that under your
leadership the European Union will become a close-knit family and a
beacon of stability, prosperity, equality, democracy, Human Rights
and justice.
Your Excellency, we would like to take this opportunity to draw your
attention to the fragile situation of the Indigenous Aramean
Christian people of Mesopotamia, in ancient times called Aram-Nahrin
in Aramaic and Aram-Naharaim in Hebrew. [1]
The
Aramean people (not to be confused with ‘Armenians’) have been
present for thousands of years in this part of the world, also known
as the Cradle of Civilization. Since the beginning of the 20th
century this region has been divided into the modern countries Iraq,
Syria, and Turkey. The Aramean people speak Aramaic, [2]
the language spoken by Abraham, Moses and Jesus, through which they
have made a very important contribution to world civilizations.
[3] This ancient Semitic people, now divided into several
denominations and spread throughout the Middle East, amount to
approximately 8 million people worldwide.
Our
nation is facing difficulties in many areas of the Middle-East,
however their situation in Iraq is most severe. [4]
Contrary to other groups, the Aramean people in Iraq, also known as
“Assyrians” or Chaldeans, do not have their own militia to defend
themselves and as a consequence they are vulnerable to fanatical
groups, ordinary criminals and thieves. Because of the continued
threats, abductions, killings and attacks on their sanctuaries, by
the forces of intolerance and fanaticism, many of them have left
Iraq for surrounding countries and the West. In spite of measures
taken by the central government, the situation of our nation in Iraq
remains very precarious. In addition, the
Aramean nation is not recognized as distinct ethnic minority in the
Iraqi constitution.
The
situation of the Aramean nation in Turkey is just as critical.
[5] Since November 2008 the Aramean monastery St. Gabriel in
the southeastern of Turkey, situated in Tur Abdin, which is a part
of the Biblical Paddan-Aram, [1] has been subjected to
lawsuits initiated by the Turkish government and surrounding
villages who are trying to confiscate the land of the monastery. Not
only the land of the monastery, but also the land belonging to the
Aramean villages is under threat to be confiscated by the government
under the pretext of “wood land”.
In
addition the Aramean Indigenous nation in Turkey is not recognized
as a distinct ethnic minority and is therefore deprived of basic
Human, Cultural, Political and Social rights. Consequently, our
Aramean nation is slowly being culturally exterminated.
Compared to Turkey and Iraq, the situation of the Aramean nation in
Syria is slightly better. Unfortunately, our nation is not
recognized as a distinct ethnic minority and our cultural Aramean
heritage is being suppressed under the pretext of “political
activities”. [6] Furthermore, they are subjected to
assimilation with the result that many of them have lost their
Aramean roots and have become Arabised.
The
marginalization, persecution and exclusion of our nation for hundred
of years and their fragile situation in recent times, where they are
threatened with ethnic cleansing from the land of their forefathers,
is not exclusively due to the forces of fanaticism and intolerance,
but it has its roots in the spiritual colonial practices of the
colonial powers in the 16th and 19th centuries
whereby nationalism and fanaticism was brought to the Middle-East.
[7] In addition to this, we believe that the genocide of
1915 [8] which claimed the lives of approximately 600.000
Arameans of different denominations, would have been less severe if
the Arameans were united and were not stuck with the hatred that was
implemented by the outsiders in the name of “assistance”,
“education” and “faith”.
We
wish to conclude this letter with the hope that your Excellency has
noticed our sincere concerns regarding the fragile situation of the
Aramean Indigenous Christian nation of the Middle-East and that the
European Union will consider their situation when reviewing its
Human Rights policy regarding the Middle-East thereby acknowledging
the Aramean Cultural heritage.
We
are looking forward to working with your presidency and we would be
honored to provide you, where needed, with genuine information
regarding the Aramean Indigenous Nation of Aram-Nahrin who has
inhabited the Middle-East for thousands of years, but are now in
danger of complete disappearance from the lands of their forefathers.
Respectfully Yours,
Gabriel Sengo
Chairman
Arameans of
Aram-Naharaim Organization |
Gabi Gallo
Chairman
Aramean Democratic Organization |
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