Athra Alliance reiterates demand for urgent action to save Ankawa’s cultural soul; Kurdistan Regional Government remains ignorant

ANKAWA, Kurdistan Region of Iraq — Despite the issuance of a public statement in early May by the Athra Alliance–which consists of four Chaldean-Syriac- Assyrian parties, including the Bethnahrin Patriotic Union Party–in which the Alliance denounced the accelerating cultural and social decay in Ankawa, the attacks on Ankawa’s cultural and social values continue. So, the Athra Alliance states in a new statement. Influential figures close to the Kurdistan Regional Government have continued to establish nightclubs within residential neighborhoods of the district. All comes amid silence from the regional authorities, ignoring popular discontent and condemnation from Ankawa’s mostly Chaldean-Syriac-Assyrian population. 

The new Athra statement warns that the negative practices against the Chaldeans-Syriacs-Assyrians in the district of Ankawa are escalating day by day, despite numerous warnings and peaceful demands to address them in accordance with the law. It further warns that the cultural attacks have now reach unacceptable and dangerous levels, forming major challenges that have practically impacted the daily lives of the city’s indigenous people, threatening their security, safety, customs, and traditions.

The statement added that Ankawa is currently living under a social tyranny that threatens its very existence. This includes the sale to outsiders of lands designated for the city, the arbitrary confiscation of other lands without fair compensation to the owners, the selective and biased approach of selecting the location of public service departments, and the strange and illogical increase in the number of hotels and ‘facilities’ concealing themselves under the banner of ‘recreational tourism,’ but which have in reality become sites for alcohol consumption, drunkenness, and debauchery.

In conclusion, the Athra statement called on the responsible Kurdistan Regional Government to urgently address and halt the significant negative repercussions on the Chaldean-Syriac-Assyrian people, to ensure Ankawa’s public safety and stability, and preserve its cultural and social identity.