Assyrian Organizations Condemn Kurdish Regional Government’s Recognition of Extremist Party

ARBA’ILO (ARBIL)— Two leading Assyrian organizations in Europe on Tuesday issued a joint statement denouncing the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)’s decision to officially recognize Hawpa, a fringe Kurdish movement that has embraced fascist symbols and anti-minority rhetoric.   

In a communiqué addressed to Iraqi and international audiences, the Union of Assyrian Associations in Germany and Europe and the Union of Assyrian Youth in Central Europe warned that granting Hawpa legal status “legitimizes extremist ideology and risks eroding Iraq’s hard-won pluralism.” They noted that the group’s emblem—a stylized eagle closely akin to the Nazi Reichsadler—conveys “an agenda of hatred” toward Christians, Yazidis and other vulnerable communities.   

Hawpa’s public reception by high-ranking KRG officials, including the governor of Arba’ilo (Arbil), has deepened these concerns. “This is not merely a political misstep,” the statement said. “It is a moral betrayal of Iraq’s diverse heritage, and a signal that war-time symbols of genocide are now acceptable in our legislatures.” 

According to the Assyrian groups, Hawpa’s online platforms and speeches have repeatedly targeted indigenous Christian and Yazidi minorities with false accusations of collaboration and conspiracy. Such narratives, they argued, have fueled intimidation campaigns and confiscations of property in predominantly Chaldean-Syriac-Assyrian towns of the Nineveh Plain and beyond. 

The statement concluded with an appeal to members of the European Parliament, the European Commission and other international bodies to condemn Hawpa’s recognition and to press the Kurdistan authorities to revoke the group’s official status. “We call on Arbil to close the door on extremism,” the two associations said, “and to reaffirm its commitment to religious freedom, equal citizenship and the dignity of all Iraqis.”   

The KRG has not yet responded publicly to the joint Assyrian appeal. But as Baghdad braces for nationwide elections next year, the controversy over Hawpa is likely to intensify debates over the rights of smaller components, historical memory, and the ideological spectrum of Kurdish politics.