Franklin Graham praises PM Barzani’s decision to make Ankawa a district

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Franklin Graham, an American evangelical evangelist and missionary, praised Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani early on Tuesday for making the Christian-majority Ankawa suburb of Erbil a district.

“I would like to extend my deepest appreciation to Prime Minister Masrour Barzani for taking this action to help Christians and other groups,” Graham tweeted. “My prayer is that God will bless him and the Kurdish people as they continue their struggle for freedom.”

Ankawa was previously a subdistrict of the Kurdistan Region capital. Now that it is a district, it will have additional self-administration rights.

“Today, I have decided to place the Ankawa district of Erbil under administrative control of its Christian residents,” Prime Minister Barzani tweeted. “This move gives Christians, and other groups, rights to nominate civic leaders, appoint officials, manage their own security and directly shape their destinies.”

Read More: Kurdistan's Ankawa will be biggest district of Christians in Middle East, says PM Masrour Barzani

On behalf of the Christians of the Kurdistan Region, Ano Jawhar Abdoka, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Minister of Transport and Communications expressed delight over the decision to make Ankawa a district.

“Today Ankawa is the biggest Christian town in Iraq and (the) Middle East,” Abdoka told Kurdistan 24 on Monday. “Ankawa is the only Christian town that Christians go to instead of leaving.”

Read More:  Archbishop Bashar Warda praises decision to turn Erbil's Ankawa into district

Franklin Graham is an American evangelical evangelist and missionary who is president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) and the Samaritan’s Purse, an international Christian relief organization.