Syriac is now an official language in Iraq

Zowaa.org – Sanayi Kado: MP Younadam Kanna the Secretary-General of the Assyrian Democratic Movement said that “the Syriac is the language of Christ, the language of our ancestral, the language of Babylon and Assyria has returned to become an official language in Iraq.”

Kanna added in a statement that was posted in by our (Zowaa.org) “My greetings and congratulation to all of our Chaldean Syriac Assyrian people for our success in the Iraqi Council of Representatives to enact the Official Languages Act , which has passed today. In which our Syriac language is now one of the official languages in Iraq , according to Article IV of the Iraqi constitution . ”

Kanna continued “This recognition is the harvest of ten years efforts where in 2003 we were able to include this matter in the Transitional Administrative Law and in 2005 we were able to include it in the permanent constitution of Article IV, which guarantees the Syriac language is an official language , and today it has been translated into the law as one of our basic rights, guaranteed by the Constitution. ”

Kanna added “Today once again the language of Christ, the language of the ancestral, the language of Babylon and Assyria has returned to become one of the official languages, along with its sister Arabic , Kurdish and Turkmen as official languages practiced by our people. Also, it would be considered the official language in areas of high population density of our people in the areas of Nineveh plain or areas of the governorates of Dahuk and Arbil. Thousands of congratulations to our people. I extend my greetings and appreciation to the House of Representatives who voted to pass this law. This law is considered a proud moment for the Iraqi people where it confirms pluralism in Iraq and acknowledges the plurality of ethnic and cultural heritage in Iraq. ”

The House of Representatives had voted at its meeting on Tuesday, January 7 in the adoption of the Official Languages Act in Iraq.

Source: http://zowaa.org/Arabic/R.list/news/rlist%20news%20080114.htm
Translated to English by: Sargon Alkurge