ASIA/IRAQ - Iraqi Christians pray the border crisis with Turkey will not lead to war in the north of the country where the already extremely poor people stand to suffer even more

Thursday, 8 November 2007

Baghdad (Agenzia Fides) - Christians in Kurdish Iraq are praying the present crisis between Turkey and Kurd separatists will not lead to war in this area where the people already live in unspeakable poverty and hardship. Local Christians here are mobilising to say 'no' to war and to call on the international community to intervene to prevent war in this already martyred region.
Chaldean Catholic Bishop Petros Hanna Al Harbouli, emeritus bishop of Zakho, in the area of Mosul, said most of the Iraqis who would be affected by a Turkish invasion in northern Iraq are Christians.
There are concerning pointers to war: Turkey has massed its troops along the border and is launching sporadic attacks on Kurdish separatists which operate in Turkey and return to Kurdish Iraq for safety. An appeal for peace was made by Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday 4 November: “News reports in recent days relative to events in the border region between Turkey and Iraq are for me a source of concern. I wish therefore to encourage every effort to reach a peaceful solution to the problems which recently emerged between Turkey and Iraqi Kurdish region”.
According to Baghdadhope bulletin Bishop Hanna Al Harbouli said Christians are half the number they were a few years ago: “They, more than others, fear a Turkish attack in this region because they are been exiled once, twice and even three times and now have no where to go”. Of the 600,000 Iraqi Christians still living in the country, 250,000 live here in Kurdish Iraq. “This is the only place where they can live in peace, thanks to the tolerant autonomous Kurdish government. Christians in the rest of the country are persecuted”. But for Islam extremists “we Christians are considered accomplices of the American "Christian" occupation. And fanatical Muslims want to purge Iraq and the whole Middle East region of Christians”, the Bishop explained.
Since the coalition invasion and the fall of Saddam Hussein, Iraqi Christians have suffered threats and attacks. Those who could afford it moved to other countries, but the poorer families fled for safety to the Kurdish region of Iraq. “These poor people have nothing left, they live in tents and have no one to defend them”.
With regard to the present crisis between Turkey and Kurdish Iraq, Mgr. Philip Najim, Chaldean Procurator to the Holy See said "our country is tired and oppressed and it does not need another war. The people have suffered four years of war and bloodshed and Christians as well as Muslims have had to leave their homes and many have taken refuge in Kurdish Iraq. A conflict in this area would increase the hardship of the poorest people living in border region villages”. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 8/11/2007 righe 29 parole 295)


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