This important letter was sent by the president of the Chaldean Educational Center of America (CECA) to Mr. Harvey, Patrick, Senior Official, Office of International Religious Freedom on February 20, 2025, via email through the Department of State (DOS) proper channel
February 20, 2025
Mr. Harvey, Patrick, Senior Official
Office of International Religious Freedom
732 North Capitol Street, NW, Suite A714,
Washington, DC 20401 | Tel: (202) 523-3240.
Dear Mr. Harvey Esq.
As a former US Army-U.S. Embassy Liaison, Baghdad-Green Zone, and out of love and respect for our beautiful USA and the current US administration, I would like to share with you my take on the violations that took place at the Hilton Hotel, Washington DC, on Tuesday, February 4th, 2025, during the 2025 IRF Summit organized by the International Religious Freedom Foundation, which falls under the DoS umbrella. The conference was attended by five of the so-called 1976 Assyrian political parties, shown below:
Beth Nahrain National Union Party
Assyrian National Party
Beth Naharin Union Party
Assyrian Democratic Movement
Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council (A political platform established by
Sarkis Aghajan Mamendo, a member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party to hijack
the Indigenous Chaldeans’ voice)
It is worth noting that these political parties do not represent religious entities and do not fit the mission or the goals of the IRF Summit. However, the members of these 1976 Assyrians (originally known as Chaldean Nestorians) represent 4% of Iraqi Christians whose major ethnic group (96%) is (Chaldeans-Syriacs 85%-11%).
Additionally, the five so-called 1976 Assyrian political parties are not even Iraqis according to the League of Nations documents and their own Patriarch’s letter dated 1922, included in the documentary video below:
Who Are the 20th-Century Assyrians? /https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jbK7k94NAI
See also the February 2015, Chaldean Persecution Letter to Secretary of State John Kerry below:
https://chaldeannation.com/blog/2023/03/07/chaldean-persecuhttp://www.chaldeannation.com/blog/2023/03/07/chaldean-persecution-letter-to-secretary-of-state-john-kerry/
VIOLATIONS:
1- Inviting specific political parties to the International Religious Freedom Foundation sends a wrong message of disrespect to the Iraqi Christian leaders, including His Excellency, Mar Thabet Habib Yousif Mekko, Bishop of the Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of Alqosh, Nineveh Plain, Iraq who is ethnically Chaldean, he also represents the largest Christian denomination in Nineveh Plain.
Furthermore, Chaldeans have two Catholic Diocese in the U.S. led by His Excellency Bishop Francis Y. Kalabat, MI, and His Excellency Bishop Emanuel Shaleta, CA. Mrs. Alina Habba, Esq., the Counselor to the President of the United States of Chaldean descent, is originally from the Chaldean village of Telkeppa in Nineveh Plain. She is also a member of the Chaldean Catholic Church.
2- Mr. Yacoub Korkis who delivered the manipulative speech of the five deceptive participants morally violated the Iraqi Christian trust by untruthfully claiming that he represents all Iraqi Christians of Nineveh Plain when Nineveh Plain is not officially part of the KRG.
3- Mr. Yacoub Korkis also legally and constitutionally violated the Iraqi Constitution when labeled the 1976 Assyrians as an ethnic group while disgracefully referring to Chaldeans/Syriacs as denominations. Every Mesopotamialogyist knows that ancient Mesopotamian Assyrians were originally Babylonians and they were never an ethnic group.
Moreover, there was never a Mesopotamian language Called Assyrian. This fact is supported by archeological discoveries, Biblical data, and historical pieces of evidence.
4- In Iraq, Chaldeans have political parties that represent Chaldeans the Indigenous Iraqis, Chaldeans are the salt of Iraq’s soil (Matthew 5:13). The main Chaldean political party in Iraq is the Chaldean Democratic Union Party CDUP, established in the 1990s by its General Secretary Honorable Ablahad Afram Sawa. He is also a former Iraqi Parliament member.
5- In the United States, Chaldeans have several organizations, including the Chaldean Federation International, represented in Washington by its Secretary General, Honorable, Sam Yono, Chaldeans also have the Chaldean Educational Center of America, established in 1974 by the late Fr. Jacob Yasso, and more.
It is a shame how a small group of imported Chaldean Nestorians (1976 Assyrians) manipulated and gaslighted the professional members of a trustworthy entity such as the International Religious Freedom Foundation. Thus, I strongly recommend investigating this matter so that no discredited small group can hijack the will and the interests of the majority of Iraqi Christians in the future. CECA also intends to make this correspondence public a week from today via all possible social media outlets.
Respectfully,
Dr. Amer H. Hanna, President
Chaldean Educational Center of America
www.Chaldean4U.org
PS. To learn more about the Indigenous Chaldeans read www.ChaldeanLegacy.com
CC: Mrs. Alina Habba, Esq., the Counselor to the President of the United States
His Excellency, Mar Paul Thabet Habib Yousif Mekko, Bishop of the Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of Alqosh, Nineveh Plain, Iraq
Honorable Ano Jawher Abdoka, PhD Candidate, The General Secretary of the Christian Alliance | Minister of Transport and Communications
Honorable Ablahad Afram Sawa, General Secretary of the Chaldean Democratic Union Party
Honorable Sam Yono, General Secretary of the Chaldean International Federation, USA
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