ATA-A Media Release
The Demolition of the Ancient Assyrian City of Nimrud by ISIS-Daesh Terrorists
March 6th, 2015
As the Australian Turkish Advocacy Alliance (‘ATA-A’), we are shocked by the reports that the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud is being bulldozed by the ISIS-Daesh Terrorists, started on Thursday.
We deplore all the actions of this terrorist organisation and condemn the demolition of the ancient city and the ancient artefacts with the strongest terms. And we urge the Australian and the Turkish governments, along with their NATO allies to work cooperatively to prevent this demolition of humankind’s ancient treasures.
Once again, we would also like to express our grave concerns about the horrific treatment of the Christians, Yezidis and also Muslim communities like Turkmens and Kurds in the hands of ISIS-Daesh militants. We condemn the atrocities committed towards the innocent civilians and journalists in particular.
Anatolia and Mesopotamia have been the cradle of the human civilisation and they are the birth places of the notions of “tolerance” and “coexistence”. Pax Turcica which lasted around 500 years is a great example. It is devastating to see that the radical terrorist organisations like ISIS-Daesh and Al-Qaida targets this very essence of the Anatolian/Mesopotamian culture of tolerance and coexistence. Anatolia is the land where Christians, Muslims, Jews, Assyrians, Yezidis, Turkmens, Kurds, Greeks, Araps, Romans, Turks and Armenians lived in peaceful coexistence for hundreds of years. And it should be noted that during the history only when there was a selfish “liberation” effort by the imperialist powers this peace was disturbed.
In this sense we would like to ask the Australian and the Turkish governments, along with their NATO allies to keep this in mind while they figure out permanent solutions which would bring peace back to the people of Middle East which they deserve.
Australian Turkish Advocacy Alliance
