The Eighth Anniversary Of Kurdish Soldiers' Liberation Of Christian Towns In The Kurdistan Region Of Iraq From ISIS

In November 2016, after liberating the town of Bashiqa in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, a group of Kurdish soldiers decided to restore the town's church cross and bell despite many bombs having been planted inside the church. Bashiqa is a Yezidi and Christian town that ISIS jihadists controlled for two years.[1] One of the soldiers, Arkan Saeed, carried a large cross on his back and risked his life twice attempting to restore the cross as ISIS snipers shot at him. Later, he told the English-language online news outlet Kurdistan Chronicle, which also publishes a monthly print magazine: "This is a day that I will forever be proud of."[2] Another soldier, Ahmad Hussein, said that amid all the danger they raised the cross to preserve the dignity of the Christians.[3]

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Kurdistan: A Beacon Of Coexistence

Religious tolerance is one of the defining features of the autonomous Kurdish region. The majority of Iraqi Christians have found refuge in the Kurdistan Region, fleeing violence from ISIS and Iran-backed Iraqi militias. The Iraq section of the U.S. State Department's 2023 International Religious Freedom Report concluded that "Restrictions on freedom of religion remained widespread outside the Iraqi Kurdistan Region."[4]

Bashar Matti Warda, the Head of Bishops in the Chaldean Church, said earlier this year: "There is a long history between Kurds and Christians, Christians are flourishing and growing in Erbil, we ask all the parties to invest in the land, and we thank God for Christians living in peace, flourishing and in prosperous state in Kurdistan Region," he added, "We have churches, Catholic establishments, schools, universities, and hospitals in the Kurdistan Region, that means we have a good future in Kurdistan."[5]

In January 2023, Franklin Graham, president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan's Purse, laid the foundation stone of a new church in Erbil. He remarked: "This is one of the few places in the Middle East where people of various religious backgrounds live together peacefully. I wish that the government of Kurdistan could infect the hearts of all the nations around them because this is a very unique place and people come from other areas of the Middle East for safety and for peace here in Kurdistan. I am very grateful to the government of Kurdistan for opening this area for all people of all faiths."[6]

*Himdad Mustafa is a Kurdish scholar and expert on Kurdish, Iranian and Turkish affairs.