US envoy to Iraq pledges support for Nineveh Plain Region
Mark Savaya, the United States Special Envoy to the Republic of Iraq, has said he intends to help the Assyrian towns and villages in the Nineveh Plain in a recent interview.
Speaking to the Assyrian news outlet Chaldean Press, Savaya is quoted saying he will help the Assyrian villages of the Nineveh Plain: “Many of these villages were destroyed by ISIS, and I am going to help them.”
Savaya is also reported to push for the implementation of article 125 of the Iraqi constitution which grants minoritized groups administrative rights in their areas. If implemented, the Nineveh Plain Region could become a new province, giving locals greater autonomy over the area. Assyrian groups, most notably the Assyrian Democratic Movement, have advocated for the establishment of a Nineveh Plain Province since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. The Iraqi government took an initial step to establish the new province in early 2014 but the onslaught of ISIS later that year derailed the process.
Mark Savaya's family is originally from Tell Keppe, one of the towns in the Nineveh plain that was devastated by ISIS.
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