Dawronoye
Dawronoye (Syriac: ܕܲܘܪܵܢܵܝܹܐ)[1] is a secular, leftist, national liberation movement among the Assyrian people. Ideologically characterized by progressive ideas and including socialist elements, its founding roots can be traced to the late 1980s in the town of Midyat in Turkey.[2] The modern manifestation of the movement is controversial among Assyrian organizations worldwide, particularly due to its ties to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Democratic Union Party (PYD).
History
In the late 1980s, a group of Assyrian youth gathered in
This organization, founded in 1995, came to be known as "Tukoso Dawronoyo Mothonoyo d'Bethnahrin", translated as the
The founding members of Dawronoye found a correlation between the struggle of the Assyrians and
In 2000, Dawronoye held their first congress, and members reorganized as the
Ideology
The organization originated in the late 1980s from the radical left and describes itself as being "revolutionary socialist". Its initial purpose was to attain national rights of Assyrians in Turkey and prevent the exodus of Assyrians from their native homeland. However, the organization's goals were not confined to national rights, but extended to bringing out wider social, political, and cultural change.[3]
Dawronoye avoided involvement with the Assyrian/Syriac name dispute, holding both the
Iraq
There is a network of Dawronoye created civil society organizations and parties across modern state boundaries in the Assyrian homeland region.[2] Among the Dawronoye affiliated organizations in Iraq are the Beth Nahrin Patriotic Union (Huyodo Bethnahrin Athronoyo, HBA) and the Nineveh Plain Forces (NPF) militia.[citation needed]
On 17 July 1999, the Dawronoye-affiliated
The political wing of the Dawronoye movement in Iraq is the Patriotic Union of Beth Nahrian (PUBN) which was previously on the
The Nineveh Plain Forces (NPF) was formed on 6 January 2015 in cooperation with the
Syria
The movement is currently most prominent in
Europe
Whereas previous generations of Assyrians in Europe had emphasised a Christian identity or (in the 1970s-80s) a secular ethnic identity, rooted in the ancient
A more politicised generation had found their 'revolutionary selves' by supporting the Kurdish cause in the 'Mesopotamian fraternity' through active resistance against state repression; this position represented a break from the historically submissive position of Assyrian–Syriacs with respect to the state... These events led to the formation in 1996 of a new political movement around the Mesopotamia Freedom Party Gabo d'Hirutho d'Bethnahrin (GHB), whose supporters and members are known as Dawronoye d'Bethnahrin (Revolutionaries of Bethnahrin). This party sought to represent all Assyrians, Syriacs and Chaldeans regardless of sectarian or class differences; it aimed to achieve recognition of cultural and political rights of Assyrian–Syriacs as indigenous communities and it sought sovereignty over an ancestral homeland, referred to as Bethnahrin, a territory that encompasses part of Iraq, south-eastern Turkey, western Iran and eastern Syria. The party adopted symbols to raise political and historical consciousness, and it emphasised solidarity with the Kurdish cause.[11]
Most of Dawronoye's activities in Europe centred around the
In one notable event in 2000, 100 members of the Patriotic Revolutionary Organization of Beth Nahrin forced entry and occupied a government building in Lausanne, Switzerland where the Treaty of Lausanne was signed. The purpose of the occupation was to attract the attention of the media and Swiss government on the denial of Assyrian rights in Turkey due to the Treaty of Lausanne, the continued oppression on the Assyrian people in Turkey, and to call for international recognition of the Assyrian genocide.[12]
On 15 August 2012, members of the Dawronoye-affiliated Syriac Union Party stormed the Syrian embassy in Stockholm in protest of the Syrian government. A dozen of its members were later detained by Swedish police.[13]
A number of delegates representing several Assyrian cultural-political organizations in Europe attended a congress held in Brussels between the 14th and 15 May 2004, to form an alliance that could represent Assyrians in Europe with governmental bodies such as the European Union and European Council. This alliance came to be known as the European Syriac Union with an associated youth group called the ESU Youth.[14]
In 2004, a
Criticisms and allegations
Criticism by Assyrians
Rival Assyrian factions accuse the Dawronoye movement of providing a cover for the PYD in harassing non-Kurdish minorities in the areas it controls.[15]
A 2018 blogpost by Assyrian activist[citation needed] Max J. Joseph and Mardean Isaac alleged that the leadership of the movement had engaged in numerous cases of abuses of the Assyrian people, including:
- "Extensive harassment and intimidation of Assyrians who resist the policies of the
PYD asayish and the Dawronoye Syriac Military Council (MFS) security forces against Assyrians- Forced conscription and parallel tax systems
- The imposition of Kurdish nationalist ideology through an overhaul of the education system
- Attempts at land confiscation and the annexation of Khabur by Kurdish nationalist forces
- Manipulation of rhetoric and propaganda that seek to fully absorb the Assyrian experience into the Kurdish nationalist cause as articulated by the PYD/YPG, paving the way for the long-term absence of any Assyrian representation outside or apart from the Kurdish self-administration."[16]
The authors alleged that the Dawronoye movement existed to create an image of pluralism and inclusion to the outside world by Kurdish leadership in Syria and that it serves to advance Kurdish-nationalist interests within the Assyrian community of Syria.[16]
Other Assyrian membership organisations, in particular those upholding a more traditional interpretation of Assyrian identity,[citation needed] are critical of Dawronoye. One 2015 statement by a Assyrian federations in the diaspora said that "By financing and propping up certain individuals and groups like the Assyrian SUP party and its armed wing the MFS, the PYD attempts to give the impression to the world that it has established good relations with all of the Assyrians in the areas it controls, and not merely with the political and military groups directly under its control. Events and testimony have made it clear that the picture is significantly more complicated."[17]
Closure of Assyrian schools
A 2018 report in the National Review alleged that Kurdish authorities in Syria, in conjunction with Dawronoye officials, had shut down several Assyrian schools in Northern Syria and fired their administration. This was said to be because these schooled failed to register for a license and for rejecting the new curriculum approved by the Education Authority. Closure methods ranged from officially shutting down schools to having armed men enter the schools and shut them down forcefully. An Assyrian educator named Isa Rashid was later badly beaten outside of his home for rejecting the Kurdish self-administration's curriculum.[18][19]
The Assyrian policy institute (API) also alleged that PYD and Dawronoye affiliated authorities had forcefully broken and replaced locks in schools and fired all of their staff without warning. From 1935 until then, these schools had operated under the control of the Syriac Orthodox Church and taught the Syriac language to their students.[20] The API stated that this was an effort by the PYD to "impose a Kurdish nationalist curriculum onto all areas it governs." The forced closures were condemned by the Assyrian Democratic Organization[21] and eventually led to widespread protests by Assyrian civilians in the area.[20][22]
Souleman Yusph arrest
In 2018, the Assyrian Policy Institute reported that Assyrian journalist Souleman Yusph was arrested by the Kurdish Self-Administration in Syria through Dawronoye affiliated forces, allegedly due to his reporting of purported human rights violations enacted by PYK and Dawronoye authorities in Syria.[23] This included forced closures of Assyrian schools, intimidation and imprisonment of rivals, and the severe beating of Isa Rashid.[19]
See also
- Assyrian people
- Assyrian homeland
- Beth Nahrain
- Assyrian continuity
- Assyrian nationalism
- Kurdistan Workers' Party
Related and associated organizations
References
- ^ "15 Assyrian Children Kidnapped By Kurdish Affiliated Militia in Syria". Assyrian International News Agency. June 20, 2019. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
- ^ a b c Carl Drott (25 May 2015). "The Revolutionaries of Bethnahrin". Warscapes.
- ^
S2CID 214059986.- ^ a b Drott 2015.
- ^ RFE/RL iraq Report
- ^ Gombacci, Marco. "Iraqi Christians ask EU to support the creation of a Nineveh Plain Province". European Post. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
- ^ Aprim, Fred. "Overview of Assyrian Slates Running in the 2009 Iraqi Provincial Council Elections". Atour. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
- ^ "Syriac flags adorn the city of Hasaka". Syriac Military Council. 20 March 2017.
- ^ "Qamishli's Cold War". Middle East Online. 18 November 2013. Archived from the original on 10 October 2017. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
- ^ Baydono, Malko (22 February 2014). "Small Assyrian Group in Syria Splinters From Militia". Bethnahrin (in German). Retrieved 11 May 2023.
- ^
S2CID 144086552.- ^ Arsan, Matay. "Assyrians-Suryoye Occupy a Governmental Building in Lausanne-Switzerland". Atour. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
- ^ "Several detained after Syrian embassy protest". The Local. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
- ^ "The Foundation of the European Syriac Union". European Syriac Union. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
S2CID 212889530.- ^ a b Joseph, Max (2018-08-01). "Assyrians and Kurds in Northeast Syria: Rhetoric vs. Reality (reposted from Joshua Landis' blog)". Assyrian International News Agency. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
- ^ "Assyrian Organizations Issue Joint Statement on Human Rights Violations in North-east Syria". Assyrian International News Agency. 10 November 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
- ^ "Kurdish Self-Administration in Syria: Release Assyrian Journalist Souleman Yusph". Assyrian Policy Institute. September 30, 2018. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
- ^ a b Safi, Marlo (September 25, 2018). "Closure of Syrian Schools: Another Bleak Sign for Christians in Syria". National Review. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
- ^ a b "Assyrians in Syria Protest PYD's Closure of Schools in Qamishli". August 28, 2018. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
- ^ "Kurdish Self-Administration Orders Closure of Assyrian Schools in Northern Syria". August 14, 2018. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
- ^ "Kurdish Self-Administration Orders Closure of Assyrian Schools in Northern Syria". August 14, 2018. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
- ^ "Kurdish Self-Administration in Syria: Release Assyrian Journalist Souleman Yusph". September 30, 2018. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
Further reading
- The Revolutionaries of Bethnahrin, Carl Drott, May 2015
- Drott, Carl (25 May 2015). "The revolutionaries of Bethnahrin: cooperation between Christians and Kurds". Links. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
- Schmidinger, Thomas. Christians in North Syria: Syriacs, Assyrians, Armenians, and Kurdish converts. Transnational Press London. pp. 35–54. Retrieved 11 May 2023.