AFP PHOTO / LOUAI BESHAR
ishtartv.com-
breitbart.com
by Edwin Mora27 May 2016
Some
Christian Assyrians have reportedly accused the Obama administration-backed
Kurdish Democratic Party (PYD) in northern Syria of imposing revisionist
education curricula on the Christian Assyrians and Arabs that changes the Old
Testament.
The
PYD and its armed wing, the People’s Protection Units (YPG), control large
swathes of northern Syria, home to many Assyrians and Arabs.
In
March, the PYD-led Kurds declared
a de-facto federal region in northern Syria, a move that drew condemnation
from neighboring Turkey, the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria, and even the
United States, which considers the “party” its ally against the Islamic State
(ISIS/ISIL).
German-language
newspaper Die Welt recently interviewed John Eissa and his wife
Nancy, who lead the Assyrian Edessa Language Institute in northern Syria.
John
declared, “In the new textbooks they [the Kurds] alter historical and
geographical facts!”
As
examples, he noted that Assyrian Christian places are given new Kurdish names
and history students are being taught that King Nebuchadnezzar from the Old
Testament, to whom the construction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon is
credited, married a Kurdish woman.
The Assyrian
International News Agency (AINA) reports, “In fact, this development is not
surprising. Back in autumn 2015, Kurdish language school curricula started to generate controversy for being too ideological and
‘prioritizing a single view over all others.’”
Die
Welt points out that Christian Assyrians are concerned that Kurdish revisionism
will eventually lead to disputes.
In
2011, the Syrian Kurds systematically began developing their new education
curricula, which is now being enforced as a blueprint for the Assyrians and
Arabs in the region, according to the German news outlet.
The
curriculum is being enforced through a so-called Education Committee. Die
Welt learned from Malek Hanna, an Assyrian member of that committee, that it
allows “no independent decisions” to be taken.
The
chairman of the panel does not allow any vote without the presence of people
linked to the PYD who actually lack a legitimate voice because they are not
official members, indicated Hanna.
Die
Welt reports that the “party” makes “all the important decisions” although they
hold no membership positions within the committee.
“That’s
against the rules of democracy,” says Hanna. “These people are radical
hardliners who want to impose their Kurdish nationalism on everyone.”
Turkey,
Syria, the Assyrian Christians, and some Republican lawmakers in the United
States have accused the PYD and the YPG of being linked
to the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), which has been designated a terrorist
group by Turkey, the United States, and various other countries.
Although
the U.S. State Department has insisted
that the Obama administration does not consider the PYD or the YPG to be
terrorist organizations, Secretary
of Defense Ash Carter told U.S. lawmakers early this month that the two
Syrian Kurdish groups were indeed aligned with the PKK.
The
Obama administration has long defended the YPG as an effective force fighting
ISIS on the ground in Syria.
Meanwhile,
clashes have erupted between PYD-linked
armed groups and Christian Assyrians in the region.
Retired
U.S. Lt. Col. Sargis Sangari, a decorated Iraq war veteran who identifies as an
Assyrian American, told Breitbart News in February that Kurdish self-governance
in Syria “would
kill Christianity” because the region being promised to the Kurds includes
all Christian Assyrian villages in the country.
Col.
Sangari serves as head of the Near East Center
for Strategic Engagement and an advisor to the Christian Assyrian Army.
AINA
reports:
The
parallel governing structures [of the Syrian regime and the Kurds] are causing
serious practical problems for the population of the region, such as forced
conscription to military service, additional taxes on businesses and Kurdish
nationalistic education curricula imposed in private and public schools.
In
November 2015, sixteen Assyrian and Armenian civic and religious organizations
issued a statement protesting the enforcement of Kurdish self-administration in
the Hasaka province (AINA 2015-11-02). The statement accused the PYD, among others,
of expropriation of private property, illegal military conscription and
interference in church school curricula.
The
criticism against the Kurdish approach was massively echoed by Assyrian federations
from U.S., Australia and Europe (AINA 2015-11-10)
while also addressing illegal seizure of property, forced conscription and
threats, pressure and targeted killings.
The
news agency did note that at least one Assyrian group, the Syriac Union Party,
supported the Syrian Kurds’ self-governance efforts.
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