Dilan Adamat, founder of The Return and a resident of Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan, speaks to Vatican News about the recent strikes on the region, and what they mean for Iraq’s long-suffering Christian community.
By Joseph Tulloch Over the past week, Iranian forces have launched an operation targeting Kurdish groups in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq. On Wednesday evening, buildings belonging to the Chaldean Church in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, were hit, in what the local Archdiocese described as an “apparent drone attack”. The buildings are in Ankawa, a Christian suburb of Erbil. Speaking to Vatican News, Ankawa resident Dilan Adamat said that, unlike previous conflicts, such as the fight against ISIS, during the current round of missile strikes, there is “no clear front line, nowhere you can escape to”. Although Iraqi Kurdistan is not involved in the US-Israel-Iran conflict, he stressed, “we are targeted by both sides, because we have stakeholders from both sides on our land”. Adamat, who was born in Erbil, raised in France, and chose to move back to Iraq as an adult, is the founder of The Return, a non-profit which supports Iraqi Christians in the diaspora who wish to move back to their ancestral lands. The latest round of conflict, he warned, will further endanger the survival of one of the world’s oldest Christian communities. The following transcript has been lightly edited for style and brevity Vatican News: On Wednesday night, there were explosions in Ankawa, the Christian district of Erbil, where you live. What happened? Dilan Adamat: A little before 8 pm, we heard maybe between 10 and 20 explosions. It was a mixture of anti-air missiles from the American military base at Erbil airport and the drones or missiles that they were intercepting. We heard these explosions, then heard that some of this debris fell in Ankawa, on some residential buildings managed by the Chaldean Church there. Some more debris fell close to it, on a convent where there are some nuns living . Thankfully, we didn't have any casualties, but it was very shocking and left a big hole in the building next to the chapel. This was just a few hundred meters from where I live. People are scared because it’s very random. Unlike previous wars, like the fight against ISIS, there’s no clear front line, nowhere you can escape to. The missiles can land anywhere. Especially here in Ankawa, which is now the biggest Christian neighbourhood in Iraq, and probably more or less in the entire Middle East – it’s located just a few hundred meters away from the US military base at Erbil International Airport. Q: What’s the feeling like at the moment now in Erbil, and Iraq in general? People here are used to crises and wars, and they saw even worse during the war in 2003, in 1991, during the civil war, so they’re used to it. They know how to adjust, how to adapt, how to live without electricity when there's a shortage. And at the same time, life goes on, you see people going to work, you see people in the supermarkets, in the restaurants. We're mostly waiting for the next steps. What will happen in the coming days, in the coming weeks? It's not our war, but we are involved it anyway; we are targeted by both sides, because we have stakeholders from both sides on our land. In general, people are not very happy with this, and at the same time, they are calmer than you might imagine. Q: As you mentioned, Iraq is not involved in this war – and yet, due to its geographic location, it is inevitably affected. Are you worried about a potential escalation, about being caught in the middle? In Iraq, ancient Mesopotamia, we have always been in the middle of many groups, many empires, many interests. We are a very diverse country, both ethnically and religiously. So whether we like it or not, we are involved in a way in this conflict. For example, there are some Iranian Kurdish groups that are here in Iraqi Kurdistan because they cannot operate from Iran. They’re based just one hour away from Erbil: they have offices, camps, and families, and they’ve recently come under missile attack from Iran. Those of us trapped in the middle are somehow also involved, and we can only hope for the best. Q: You're a member of the Aramaic-speaking Christian community. What does this new round of conflict mean for Iraq’s Christians, who have already suffered so much? It’s terrible. We haven’t had any casualties so far, but the biggest worry is that Christians start to give up. None of these wars – the Iran-Iraq war, the Kuwait war, the 2003 war, the battle against Islamic State – have been our wars. All of them are motivated by things which have nothing to do with Iraqi Christians. Yet in the past 25 years, we’ve lost 90% of our population. The ones remaining here just don't have much hope anymore. I’ve been living in Iraq for seven years now, and all the Christians tell me that they’re just waiting for the next episode in their struggle. The biggest fear I have is that we start to lose hope, and that’s already happening, actually. The consequences will be terrible, because we will lose one of the first Christian communities in the world, a community which still speaks the Aramaic language. There are now only 130,000 of us remaining in the country, out of 46 million. This conflict will just lead to more emigration and increase the risk of the Iraqi Christian community disappearing.