Sen. Inhofe hails PM Barzani’s action on Christian-majority Ankawa
WASHINGTON DC (Kurdistan 24) – US Senator Jim Inhofe (R, Oklahoma), the senior Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, issued a statement on Thursday praising the head of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Masrour Barzani, for his decision to make Ankawa, a Christian-majority suburb of Erbil, a new district to be administered by its residents.
“I am glad to see this recent decision by Prime Minister Masrour Barzani to put the Ankawa District of Erbil under the administrative control of its Christian residents,” Inhofe said.
Read More: PM Barzani declares Ankawa as new district
Earlier this month, Barzani visited Ankawa along with the governor of Erbil, Omed Khoshnaw, and senior officials from the KRG.
“Ankawa has become an important center for religious and social coexistence, as well as reconciliation,” Barzani said there, and “Ankawa will be the biggest district of Christians in the Middle East.”
Some 90% of Ankawa’s population of 60,000 is Christian, and it hosts nearly 40 churches belonging to different Christian sects, including the Assyrian Church of the East and the Chaldean Catholic Church, as well as the Catholic University of Erbil.
Establishing Ankawa as an independent administrative unit “gives Christians and other groups rights to nominate civic leaders, appoint officials, manage their own security and directly shape their destinies,” Barzani explained in a tweet thread.
“Most of [Ankawa’s] residents have fled persecution in Nineveh, Baghdad & Syria,” he added. “They have been welcomed among us. And now we offer them the chance to lay deeper roots in a sanctuary of their own.”
Jim Inhofe: Long-time friend of the Kurds
Sen. Inhofe has long seen the Kurds as an important US ally in the region.
In November 2017, following Baghdad’s assault on the Peshmerga in the disputed territories in a military operation directed by Iran, Inhofe led two other Republican senators in writing to President Donald Trump, stressing the vital importance of continued US support for the Kurds.
“Many of our successes against ISIS would not have been possible without the unrelenting support, partnership, and loyalty of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq,” their letter stated, describing the Kurdistan Region as “one of the United States’ most dependable allies in the region.”
“Their Peshmerga forces are courageous and reliable, and a steadfast partner of the United States,” it continued, and “we are deeply concerned by reports that American-made military equipment has been deployed by Iranian-backed militias against the Kurds.”
“Iraqi Kurdistan has stood as an oasis of stability and democracy in this otherwise volatile and chaotic region,” it noted. “The KRG has provided a safe haven for persecuted religious minorities—including Christian, Yazidi, Turkmen, Shabak, Fayli, and Kakayee communities, many of whom fled the brutal atrocities committed by ISIS.”
Inhofe has visited the Kurdistan Region several times, most recently in February 2020, when he led a congressional delegation and met the long-time Kurdish leader, Masoud Barzani.
Pleased to receive a U.S. congressional delegation headed by @JimInhofe. We discussed the latest developments in Iraq and the process of forming the new government. We also exchanged views on the state of the terrorists of the Islamic State and ways to prevent their activities pic.twitter.com/JrKlLFmHyF
— Masoud Barzani (@masoud_barzani) February 16, 2020
In the statement that Inhofe released on Thursday, he hailed the older Barzani as “a true leader for freedom” and concluded, “I am thankful for the welcoming nature and continued partnership of the Kurdish people.”