The Shadow of Jihad Still Hangs Over Christians in Iraq

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The Christian populations in northern Iraq “fear a return of the Islamic State (IS),” who could exploit the current Turkish offensive against the Kurds. This was Basil Yaldo Auxiliary Bishop of Baghdad told Asia News on October 16, 2019.

The prospect of seeing a revival of jihad worries Bishop Basil Yaldo, “We have already lived through this experience and we are afraid that it is coming back.” For the auxiliary bishop of Baghdad, the offensive launched by Turkey against the Kurds in northern Syria will inevitably have repercussions on neighboring Iraq. “For the moment, the situation is still under control, but the situation remains very complicated for us, and could tip over at any time.” As for the Turkish offensive dubbed “Source of Peace,” the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Ankara “will never proclaim a ceasefire,” an attitude that, if not tempered by Russia, which has become the linchpin in the region, could have serious consequences for neighboring Iraq. In this context of increasing violence and terror, the Christians are worried, “yesterday we spoke to the Chaldean Bishop of Aleppo, Mgr. Antoine Audo,” confided the auxiliary bishop of Baghdad, “he described a situation of great on-site confusion.” Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church, “launched an appeal to all Chaldean churches around the world asking them to pray for a week for peace in Syria and Iraq.

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