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Assyrians reprsented at European Parliament on Kirkuk’s issueANA ASHUR Reporter / Belgium / European Parliament
ANA ASHUR - Media & Translation DeskMarch 26, 2007
The Assyrian nation was highly and proudly represented by Mary Younan, executive secretary of the Assyrian Universal Alliance, during a conference on Kirkuk which took place at the European Parliament in Belgium on March 26, 2007.
Many members of Parliaments worldwide, some Iraqi parliament members, representatives from the so-called Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) and different organisations participated in today's gathering.
Ms Younan was speaking about "The Assyrians of Northern Iraq - Occupied Assyria -" and clearly denounced the current Kurdification trend, violation of human rights and expropriation of lands and villages of the Assyrian people in their ancestral homeland, which made the so-called KRG representative leave the conference hall after her speech.
She reminded the audience that many centuries ago, Kirkuk was a battlefield for the Assyrian, Babylonian and Median empires due to its geographical location, and today history is repeating itself, but for a different reason.
The audience applauded loudly when she said that above and beyond all ethnic and religious differences, they were all gathered as Iraqis and it is the duty of each one to ensure that basic human rights of all Iraqis are guaranteed.
In her closing statement, she reassured the Iraqi people that Assyrians respect and reinforce the sovereignty of Iraq, and that Kirkuk must remain under the control of the central government of Iraq.
The conference will continue tomorrow morning and it will be followed by a press conference
ANA ASHUR – Media & Translation Desk
Assyria National Assembly - Media Bureau
www.ana-ashur.com - media@ana-ashur.com
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