The Bethnahrin National Council or Mesopotamia National Council ( syc, ܡܘܬܒܐ ܐܘܡܬܝܐ ܕܒܝܬܢܗܪܝܢ, Mawtbo Umthoyo d'Bethnahrin}, MUB), formerly the Bethnahrin Freedom Party ( syc, ܓܒܐ ܕܚܐܪܘܬܐ ܕܒܝܬܢܗܪܝܢ, Gabo d'Ḥirutho d'Bethnahrin}, GHB) and the Patriotic Revolutionary Organization of Bethnahrin ( syc, ܛܘܟܣܐ ܕܘܪܢܝܐ ܡܬܢܝܐ ܕܒܝܬܢܗܪܝܢ, Ṭukoso Dawronoyo Mothonoyo d'Beth Nahrin, PROB) is a militant
socialist Assyrian-Syriac party in the
Dawronoye movement, whose stated goal is autonomy for Assyrian-Syriac people, either as an independent state
or some other structure, in
Bethnahrin, the
Assyrian homeland.
The organization is allied with multiple parties within the
Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), including the
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Syrian
Democratic Union Party (PYD).
History as the PROB and GHB
The Patriotic Revolutionary Organization of Bethnahrin was formed in the 1990s by
Assyrian-Syriac nationalists who previously fought within the PKK against
Turkey.
The group carried out its first attack alongside the PKK against a
Kurdistan Democratic Party
The Kurdistan Democratic Party ( ku, Partiya Demokrat a Kurdistanê; پارتی دیموکراتی کوردستان), usually abbreviated as KDP or PDK, is the largest party in Iraqi Kurdistan and the senior partner in the Kurdistan Regional Gov ...
(KDP) military compound in the town of Kasre on 17 July 1999, where 39 KDP
Peshmerga fighters were killed and 20 injured.
[RFE/RL iraq Report](_blank)
/ref> Three days later a second attack was carried out by the group in which several of Massoud Barzani
Masoud Barzani ( ku, ,مهسعوود بارزانی, translit=Mesûd Barzanî}; born 16 August 1946) is a Kurdish politician who has been leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) since 1979, and was President of the Kurdistan Region of ...
's fighters were killed when an army truck driving on a bridge between Kasre and Haci Umran was blown up by the PROB. The group claimed both attacks were to avenge the death of Assyrian Helen A. Sawa, who was raped and killed by the Peshmerga.
On 24 July 2000, approximately a hundred members of the PROB forced entry in a governmental building in Lausanne, Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
. PROB wanted to attract the attention of the Swiss government and media to issues relating to the Assyrian-Syriac people, especially in relation to their treatment in Turkey. They emphasized how the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne
The Treaty of Lausanne (french: Traité de Lausanne) was a peace treaty negotiated during the Lausanne Conference of 1922–23 and signed in the Palais de Rumine, Lausanne, Switzerland, on 24 July 1923. The treaty officially settled the conflic ...
denied the Assyrian-Syriac people in Turkey their national rights and oppression faced by Assyrian-Syriacs in Turkey.PROB Occupies building in Lausanne, Switzerland
/ref>
At its first congress in 2000, the PROB reorganized as the Bethnahrin Freedom Party,[ which was listed as a terrorist organization by the ]Turkish government
The Government of Turkey ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Hükûmeti) is the national government of Turkey. It is governed as a unitary state under a presidential representative democracy and a constitutional republic within a pluriform multi-party ...
in 2001. According to Wladimir van Wilgenburg, the GHB's founder, Numan Ogur, was kidnapped in 2003 after an attempt to try to leave the organization. During the invasion of Iraq in 2003
The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...
, the GHB cooperated with Patriotic Union of Kurdistan
The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK; ku, یەکێتیی نیشتمانیی کوردستان, translit=Yekîtiya Nîştimanî ya Kurdistanê) is a political party active in Kurdistan Region and the disputed territories in Iraq. The PUK describe ...
(PUK) Peshmerga, hoping to gain political influence in Iraq.[
]
Reorganization as the MUB
In 2005, the Bethnahrin Freedom Party changed its name to the Bethnahrin National Council. The council stated that it may resume military operations in Iraq, Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
, or Lebanon. Its affiliate in Syria is the Syriac Union Party (SUP). During the Syrian Civil War, the SUP has established two military organizations in 2013, Sutoro and the Syriac Military Council (MFS). The group began to cooperate with other parties in the Rojava region, the Syrian Democratic Council and its military wing, the Syrian Democratic Forces
, war = the Syrian Civil War
, image = Flag of Syrian Democratic Forces.svgborder
, caption = Flag
, active = 10 October 2015 – present
, ideology = DemocracyDecentralizationSecularism ...
.
From 25 to 27 May 2016, the 8th conference of the Bethnahrin National Council was held in Switzerland.[
]
See also
* Dawronoye
* European Syriac Union
European Syriac Union is an alliance between different Assyrian/Syriac political and cultural organizations in Europe that was established in May 2004. The group emerged from the Bethnahrin National Council or Mawtbo Umthoyo d'Bethnahrin (MUB) ...
References
External links
Mihayel Cudi - A Biography
*
{{Assyrian/Syriac/Chaldean political parties
Assyrian nationalism
Assyrian political parties
Dawronoye
Left-wing militant groups
Resistance movements
Guerrilla organizations