A church in Iraqs northern city of Dohuk[/caption]The representative of Assyrians in the Iranian parliament (Majlis) has slammed Takfiri attacks against Christian holy sites in Iraq as a Western plot to eliminate the Christian identity of Assyrians in the Middle East.
Destruction of Christians holy sites and their ancient antiquities by Takfiris all take place in line with eliminating the national and historical identity of Assyrians in the region; a policy that the UK and France have been pursuing since the disintegration of the Ottoman empire, Yonatan Betkelia said in a Saturday statement.
The world is going through a time when brutal massacre of women and children, genocide and sexual assault have reached their extremes, he stated.
Betkelia pointed to Takfiris atrocities in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq and said, Behind the scene of all these incidents is the financial support by some of the regional countries, the policy of selling second-hand arms remained from the Serbia war and sending the religious fanatics to these regions to keep them away from the Western countries.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), up to 10,000 people from a Christian town in northern Iraq have been forced out of their homes and fled by bus, car and taxi into Iraqs Kurdistan Region over the past few days.
The refugees massive influx intensified after Takfiri militants from the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) fired mortar shells against the Assyrian city of Qaraqosh, also known as al-Hamdaniya, in Nineveh Province.
ISIL militants took control of the city of Mosul in a lightning advance on June 10. They later took control of the city of Tikrit, some 140 kilometers (87 miles) northwest of the capital, Baghdad, which was retaken by the Iraqi army on Saturday.
By Press TV
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