Source: Aboun.org

Chaldean Patriarch Louisl Sako has issued the following statement addressing the Iraqi leadership in the wake of the unprecedented deteriorating situation in northern Iraq:

These days, our country is going through unprecedented circumstances that are the result of all that happened in Iraq from the north to the south for years and until now. Therefore, this critical phase requires a comprehensive and national collaboration to go beyond this crisis and move forward to the solution of the crisis, the creation of a national and real partnership, and the rise of a new Iraq.

The incidents that took place during the last period was a part of conflicts that led to permanent tension and the collapse of the stability. In every instance, the innocent civilians were the first innocent casualties.

If the unity of Iraq drew the attention of the international community, whether for strategic benefits or for principled stance, this unity is the share of all Iraqi parties, whether in terms of the responsibility of preserving it or in causing it to fail. As the original components in Iraq are concerned in common living, they are calling to bypass this fragile situation by adopting the spirit of citizenship and law, clemency and forgiveness, and not the spirit of revenge, suspicion, reprisal, or loud voices.

In this declaration, we in caution and love are calling the Iraqi Leaderships in the Center and the Region, to move forward to rescue what happened in the last years. For Iraq is the responsibility of us all, and it is in an urgent need now for a real, national reconciliation to ease the political process on the right path. A courageous, honest, and civilized dialogue should be initiated to discuss all matters on the basis of the constitution; this is a sincere wish of wise people, confirmed by the wise authority.

This national reconciliation can lead to practical and proper ways out of the whole crisis, not the referendum only. The problems occurring in the country are not between strangers from places afar but they are among brethren and citizens living in the same homeland. Therefore, the right solutions cannot be reached without negotiations and reform of thinking. This method shall lead to offering mutual concessions courageously and the cooperation of Iraq’s various leaderships as one front against the danger of creating new conflicts; namely, to protect the people first before the oil wells. The goal is the rise of a modern and strong civil country under a consolidated political command to help develop the governmental establishment and to reform the economic, social, and cultural sectors. All this progress shall be supported by building confidence, developing security measures, securing stability, supporting the reconstruction process, and paving the way for the return of the displaced to the homeland, in the Iraq of coexistence and civilizations.

Louis Raffael Sako
Chaldean Patriarch