Murad Ismael, newly elected as the first independent Yazidi MP in Iraq, is calling for formal recognition of Yazidis as a distinct ethnicity, challenging Kurdish efforts to label the community “Yazidi-Kurds.”
Two new attacks on Assyrian sites in the KRG, vandalized graves in Armota and a church stoned in Deralok, have renewed concerns over rising hostility and years of impunity for crimes targeting Assyrians.
In a bizarre turn of events, an Assyrian businessman in Kurdish-ruled Northern Iraq watched his small restaurant being bulldozed on the orders of local authorities–only to be promised its return by a 25-year-old member of the ruling Barzani clan.
The “New Midyat Project,” a housing development promoted as a neighborhood for diaspora Assyrians, is drawing criticism from Assyrians who say it was planned without their input and fails to reflect their needs or priorities.
Diaspora Assyrians seeking to visit different parts of Assyria will soon have more travel options with the reopening of Mosul International Airport and the upgrade of Mardin’s airport to international status.
The return of Arbo’s historic Assyrian name was expected to be a moment of unclouded celebration. Instead, a newly installed multilingual road sign has revived long-standing fears about cultural encroachment and political symbolism in a region where identity has always been contested.
Five candidates backed by non-Assyrian parties have secured the Assyrian quota seats in Iraq’s elections, a result the Assyrian Democratic Movement denounces as a “confiscation” of Assyrians’ rights.
