Dismissal of Jewish representative 'administrative,' unrelated to Baghdad: KRG

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – The Ministry of Religious Affairs has asserted that the recent decision to sack the representative of the Jewish community in the Kurdistan Region was merely administrative and had nothing to do with the Iraqi Federal Government.

Rumors and reports were circulating over the past week stating that Sherzad Mamsani, the representative of the Jewish community in the Kurdistan Region’s Ministry of Endowment and Religious Affairs, had been dismissed as a move to appease Baghdad.

“We completely reject these baseless allegations. The decision to remove Mamsani was purely administrative. It has nothing to do with Baghdad or any other parties,” Nabaz Ismael Kamal, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Endowment and Religious Affairs, told Kurdistan 24 on Sunday.

Kamal mentioned the position would be filled again, but that a candidate has yet to be chosen.

He emphasized that the Kurdistan Region’s Parliament has enshrined the rights of all the religious communities in the Kurdistan Region to have representatives in the Ministry of Endowment and Religious Affairs, a law that ensures no one can suppress the rights of any other religious group, including the Jewish community.

Mamsani was appointed as the Jewish community representative in Oct. 2015. He ran the office voluntarily for two years.

“I sent my resignation letter seven months ago… I wanted to appoint somebody else to replace me, but the Ministry at the time refused to accept my resignation,” Mamsani told Kurdistan 24 on Sunday.

The dismissed Jewish representative added that he left Kurdistan in Oct. 2017 to receive cancer treatment abroad.

“I was a volunteer representative and had asked for permission from the Ministry to travel as they were aware of my illness. In December, the Ministry announced my dismissal,  stating that I had been absent for two months,” Mamsani added.

He noted that his resignation and dismissal was an administrative measure, and refuting claims there were other factors behind the move.

“It was done under pressure from Baghdad, Tehran or any other country because I was not a political representative… But I have strongly lobbied among Jews to support the Kurds.”

Mamsani explained that during his two years in office, he had been continuously under the threat of Iranian and Iraqi intelligence services, and the Iranian-backed Shia Hashd al-Shaabi militia, “but I never cared about that, and I had come to expect it.”

Kurdistan is home to various ethnic and religious groups. Muslims, Christians, Jews, Yezidis (Ezidis), Zoroastrians, Kakai (Yarsan), Baha’i, and Sabaeans all have representatives in the Ministry of Endowment and Religious Affairs.

Editing by Nadia Riva