Christian leader hopes Kurdistan’s religious tolerance will spread to Syria
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – A US-based Christian leader from northeast Syria (Rojava) described religious tolerance in the Kurdistan Region as “ideal,” saying he hopes to see the same in his home region.
“I am always pleased to visit the Kurdistan Region in Iraq. I always look during my visits to see the conditions of Christians and Syriacs in this region, that they really live in security,” Bassam Ishak, president of the Syriac National Movement (SNC) told Rudaw TV on Thursday.
“They also have the freedom of practicing their faith and they have their own schools to learn their mother tongue. This is an ideal situation that I wish will spread to other areas in the region, especially in Syria,” said Ishak, without elaborating which part of Syria he means.
Ishak is also the co-chair of Rojava’s ruling Syrian Democratic Council’s (SDC) representation in Washington.
The Kurdistan Region has been praised by the international community for its tolerance of ethnic and religious minorities, especially Iraqi Christians who fled to the Kurdistan Region after being targeted by the Islamic State (ISIS) and Shiite militias
Nadine Maenza, United States commissioner for religious freedom, told Rudaw English in late November that the Region has done “an amazing job with religious freedom.”
“They have been a refuge for all Christians and Yezidis fleeing from the Nineveh Plains and Sinjar… I do think they do not get enough credit for all the work they have done to support religious minorities,” she said.
The head of the Chaldean church in Iraq, Patriarch Louis Sako, praised the Kurdistan Region’s “secular government” in a recent interview with Rudaw, but said Christians still face “hate speech” on the streets.
In Rojava, Christians have made great strides under the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria’s (NES). Syriacs and Assyrians – two major sects of Christianity in Syria – have made “important achievements'' regarding their rights, including recognition of their Syriac identity and language, said Ishak. “This is an important recognition for us.”
Christians have also formed their own defence forces. The Syriac Military Council fought ISIS and pro-Turkey militants alongside the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – the military wing of Ishak’s SDC. They are mostly based in areas where Syriacs live.
However, Christians and other religious minorities do not enjoy the same freedoms in other parts of Syria, especially in areas that are under the control of Turkey-backed militants in northwest Syria.
“Religious freedom in Syria remains under serious threat, particularly amid the country’s ongoing conflict and humanitarian crises,” stated the US Commission on International Religious Freedom.
“I am always pleased to visit the Kurdistan Region in Iraq. I always look during my visits to see the conditions of Christians and Syriacs in this region, that they really live in security,” Bassam Ishak, president of the Syriac National Movement (SNC) told Rudaw TV on Thursday.
“They also have the freedom of practicing their faith and they have their own schools to learn their mother tongue. This is an ideal situation that I wish will spread to other areas in the region, especially in Syria,” said Ishak, without elaborating which part of Syria he means.
Ishak is also the co-chair of Rojava’s ruling Syrian Democratic Council’s (SDC) representation in Washington.
The Kurdistan Region has been praised by the international community for its tolerance of ethnic and religious minorities, especially Iraqi Christians who fled to the Kurdistan Region after being targeted by the Islamic State (ISIS) and Shiite militias
Nadine Maenza, United States commissioner for religious freedom, told Rudaw English in late November that the Region has done “an amazing job with religious freedom.”
“They have been a refuge for all Christians and Yezidis fleeing from the Nineveh Plains and Sinjar… I do think they do not get enough credit for all the work they have done to support religious minorities,” she said.
The head of the Chaldean church in Iraq, Patriarch Louis Sako, praised the Kurdistan Region’s “secular government” in a recent interview with Rudaw, but said Christians still face “hate speech” on the streets.
In Rojava, Christians have made great strides under the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria’s (NES). Syriacs and Assyrians – two major sects of Christianity in Syria – have made “important achievements'' regarding their rights, including recognition of their Syriac identity and language, said Ishak. “This is an important recognition for us.”
Christians have also formed their own defence forces. The Syriac Military Council fought ISIS and pro-Turkey militants alongside the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – the military wing of Ishak’s SDC. They are mostly based in areas where Syriacs live.
However, Christians and other religious minorities do not enjoy the same freedoms in other parts of Syria, especially in areas that are under the control of Turkey-backed militants in northwest Syria.
“Religious freedom in Syria remains under serious threat, particularly amid the country’s ongoing conflict and humanitarian crises,” stated the US Commission on International Religious Freedom.