The Ankawa Conference and its Final Statement,
Decision Awaiting Implementation

Editorial of Bahra issue 387
Sunday, March 18, 2007
[Not an exact translation from Arabic]
By Fred Aprim

The Ankawa Conference, which was called for and prepared by the Stockholm Conference Committee, that became a popular conference, on March 11th and 12th of 2007, issued a final statement about the rights and unity of our people, and recommended the formation of a popular committee to follow up and execute its resolutions.

We primarily agree with the general consensus on the fair assessment of the issues in the final statement which emphasizes; the unity of our nation, the patriotism of our people, and the importance of enjoying their full rights on their land, the call to for the promotion of the mother tongue (Syriac), the demand for a solution for the effects of demographic changes, to stop the trespassing on the villages of our people, and to have the lands be turned to their legal owners. However, we still have legitimate questions and comments which we believe will clarify what the conference has resolved thus far, and will help all who followed up with the results of the conference to better understand the complete picture of the aims which this conference can achieve, especially since the final statement did not contain more than principles and courses that were previously stated and agreed upon by the majority of our people, the ChaldoAssyrian Syriani people.

Today, our Assyrian Democratic Movement, through its positive evaluation of the final declaration, hopes that the issues raised will be translated into a working program which will support the issues that they have adopted at this stage, toward the goals and expectation of our people and their just rights.

There are several issues regarding the results of this conference, that need to be clarified before it is evaluated, such as; the resolutions, recommendation and memorandums that resulted from the conference, in addition to the formation and intended course of the popular committee resolved to be formed, its programs and working mechanism - as what counts in the phases following a conference is in the implementation of its resolutions. For example it should be clarified beyond any ambiguity how the popular committee to be formed will follow up on the implementation of the resolutions and recommendations of the conference, and the nature of its work, and the mechanism of its formation, especially in regards to the role of the political parties.

Before this can be done, the resolutions and recommendations must be publicized, made available to the public, to make it easy for everyone to give his or her opinion on the issues. This also applies to the two memorandums, which the final resolution mentioned, which call for the formation of special committees to amend the Iraqi and Iraqi Kurdistan Region Constitutions. Bear in mind that the final resolution has already declared that the two memorandums - containing the required constitutional amendments - have already been sent to the proper authorities. This act contradicts the intended work of the council that is to be formed to deal with the resolutions of the conference, and will make work more difficult for those who might join this council at a later time.

We emphasize, again, that these comments and observations come in a framework of guiding all decisions, actions, and policies in the right direction, in order to reach positive results, to the benefit of our people’s cause: these are the same comments and observations that we presented prior to our decision in regards to our attendance at this conference, such as the place where the conference would take place, the resources used to finance the conference, the process of selecting the participants, and the decision-making mechanisms, which we, at the time, did not receive answers. Therefore, we decided not to participate.

In regards to the conference that took place in Istanbul, Turkey, on March 12th and 13th of this year, and issued their final statement, we have the same observations and comments.

We have learned that at end of March of 2007 there will be another conference held in Ceres, California, and we do not need to stress again that the most important outcome of any conference is the implementation of its resolutions and one of the logical principles to implement any resolution rests in the presence of the foundations of thought, real organization, masses and support, background and experience.