Islamic State demands churches of Hasakah to remove Crosses

Reporting by Mohamed Al Hussein; Translation by Yusra Ahmed

HASAKAH (Zaman Al Wasl) The Assyrian Democratic Organization revealed yesterday that Islamic State has demanded Christian people in Hasakah to remove crosses off Churches or they would be demolished.

Zaman al-Wasl obtained a statement from the Assyrian Organization revealing that Islamic State entered last Friday the Assyrian village of Tal Hemez and demanded people to remove all crosses from their Churches with hidden threats to demolish churches in they had not agreed to do so.

The statement condemned the practices of the Islamic State in which they try to force the Islamic rules and regulation, without taking in consideration the differences in their culture, besides turning them into Dhimmis and force them to pay tribute.

The Assyrian organization mention that if the Islamic state carried on its practices, it would be a source of threat and intimidation to people and would force them to emigrate.

“Those barbaric cruel practices would draw the country back to the black and recession eras, besides putting Assyrians and Serians under difficult dilemma, either to hold on to the dictating regime, or give up and yield to the terrorist extremist groups those want to force strange and unacceptable rules contradicting with minimum human beings' rights”, Karam Douli, a member of the political office in the Assyrian Democratic Organization told Zaman al-Wasl.

Douli added that he was surprised from the way the Syrian regime had withdrew from the region, leaving the minorities, which kept claiming protecting them, alone, besides the failure of other local formations to protect Assyrians, they demand the international community to be up to responsibility in protecting Assyrians, the essential component of the Syrian Island.

Douli added that cooperation among all Community’s components “Arab, Kurds and Assyrians” is needed to face that terrorist state.

Assyrians’ largest community in Syria situated in the city of Tal Tamer, mid way between Ras al-Ain and Hasakah, at Khabour's riverbank.