RLPB 525. Syria's Christians Ministering in War Zone

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 525 | 22 Oct 2019
RLPB is published weekly to facilitate strategic intercessory prayer.

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TURKEY IN SYRIA: CHRISTIANS MINISTERING IN WAR ZONE
-- updating RLPB 524 (16 Oct 2019)
by Elizabeth Kendal

On 17 October US Vice President Mike Pence brokered a deal with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan: Turkey would pause its campaign for 120 hours during which time the US would facilitate the withdrawal of Kurdish YPG forces from the proposed 'safe zone'. It was a strange deal in which unconditional surrender was forced on the Kurds and Syrian territory was ceded to Turkey. 'We got what we wanted' boasted Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu following the meeting with Pence. But as Syrian Foreign Minister, Walid al-Moallem, correctly noted when he spoke to the UN General Assembly on 28 September, neither Turkey nor America -- both of which are in Syria illegally -- have any right to carve up and dish out Syrian territory as if it were their own.

Since then, Turkey has pressed ahead with (as distinct from 'paused') its incursion into the strategic border town of Ras el-Ain. Turkey's plan is to capture Ras el-Ain along with Ain Issa and Tal Abiad, so it might establish a bulwark midway, thereby splitting and isolating Kurdish forces. With the Americans gone, the Syrian government -- with the support of Russia and the approval of the Kurds -- will move to secure the border and drive out Turkey-backed jihadists without risking US casualties.

Turkey's proposed 'safe zone' is 444km long and 32km deep
(deep enough to take in the M4 Highway).
click on map to enlarge

Last week's RLPB quoted an Assyrian priest in Dohuk, Northern Iraq, who was anticipating a flood of refugees from Syria. The flood has not eventuated, primarily because Kurdish forces have closed the border on the Syrian side to prevent people leaving; they do not want to give anyone the opportunity to alter the demographics of north-east Syria.

In the midst of gross insecurity and an unfolding humanitarian crisis, many Christians are opting to remain in the war zone rather than flee to Aleppo or Damascus. They are choosing to remain precisely so they can, through their churches, assist and minister to those in need. Jayson Casper writes in Christianity Today (18 October) that the Alliance Church of Qamishli held a meeting in which it was agreed that only eight families would leave, the rest would remain to minister, witness and 'maintain the presence of Jesus'. The Presbyterian Church of Aleppo has three sister churches in the war zone; while members are staying to help and minister, they have no funding. While some Christian aid groups will also remain, Syria's local churches will bravely and sacrificially carry out the bulk of the aid work. This has also been the case in northern Iraq.

Braving insecurity to minister, witness
and 'maintain the presence of Jesus'.
Christianity Today (18 Oct). Image: Open Doors USA. 

This is an issue for serious prayer. Sociologist Rodney Stark has written on the way in which the early Church's response to plague and other disease epidemics helped change the religious demography of the Roman Empire. Instead of fleeing, locking themselves away or discarding the ill, the persecuted Christians demonstrated sacrificial love following the model of Christ. Not only did Christians nurse one another, thereby increasing their survival rate, they also ministered to their neighbours in an act of powerful witness. The Christian response was unnatural, counter-cultural and high-risk, but because it was love-driven, hope-filled and communal it played an enormous role in Christianity's growth throughout the Roman Empire. In fact, Stark opines that 'had classical society not been disrupted and demoralised by these catastrophes, Christianity might never have become so dominant a faith'. [The Rise of Christianity, by Rodney Stark.]


PLEASE PRAY THAT OUR ALMIGHTY GOD WILL

* intervene to protect, preserve, rescue and sustain his precious Church in Syria and across Mesopotamia; may all who seek her demise be frustrated; may their plots come to naught.

* bless every church and every Christian aid group that has chosen to remain in Syria's northern war zone precisely so they might minister to and serve those who are too frail or poor to flee; may the Lord supply their every need.

* bless every church and Christian aid group that is this day ministering to Syria's multitudes of needy civilians -- all those displaced and impoverished due to war; may the Lord supply their every need.

-- and we pray specifically for protection; for finances and material supplies and of course for Christian volunteers with wisdom, discernment, courage, energy and amazing grace.

-- and we pray the same for the remnant Church in northern Iraq. May the Lord bless the ministry and witness of his suffering Church right across Mesopotamia.

'Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.' (Ephesians 3:20,21 ESV)


SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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SYRIA'S CHRISTIANS MINISTERING IN WAR ZONE

On 17 October the US and Turkey agreed that Turkey would pause its campaign for 120 hours while Kurdish forces withdrew from the 'safe zone'. This was strange: unconditional surrender being forced on the Kurds and Syrian territory being ceded to Turkey. Neither the US nor Turkey -- both in Syria illegally -- have any right to divide up Syrian territory. With the Americans gone, the Syrian government -- with the support of Russia and the approval of the Kurds -- will move to secure the border and drive out Turkey-backed jihadists. Until the situation stabilises, everyone in the war zone is gravely imperilled. Despite insecurity and hardship, many Christians are choosing to remain, precisely so that, through their churches, they can minister to those in need. Please pray.

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Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate. She serves as Director of Advocacy at Canberra-based Christian Faith and Freedom (CFF) and is an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.

She has authored two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne, Australia, Dec 2012) which offers a Biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA, June 2016).

See www.ElizabethKendal.com

RLPB 524. TURKEY IN SYRIA: Chaos Unleashed; Christians Imperilled

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 524 | 16 Oct 2019
RLPB is published weekly to facilitate strategic intercessory prayer.

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TURKEY IN SYRIA: CHAOS UNLEASHED; CHRISTIANS IMPERILED
-- an extended RLPB
by Elizabeth Kendal

BACKGROUND: In July 2012 the Syrian government withdrew its armed forces from the north-east so it might concentrate its war effort in the west, in particular, the north-south Damascus-Aleppo corridor. As explained in After Saturday Comes Sunday, 'the Syrian Kurds exploited the opportunity afforded them by the SAA [Syrian Arab Army] withdrawal to carve out an autonomous region in the north-east. President Assad made no effort to rein in the Syrian Kurds, not simply because he was focused on securing the west, but because he knew that Kurdish empowerment would threaten and distract nemesis Turkey which was hosting rebel bases, arming and training rebel fighters and facilitating their entrance into Syria to fight the Syrian government.' (Excerpt from After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East, Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA, June 2016, p 151.) In short: Damascus permitted Kurdish empowerment as a bulwark against belligerent Turkey -- no surprise there. However, when the US (Obama administration) decided in 2014 to use the Kurds as proxies against the Islamic State (IS) -- thereby further empowering the Kurds -- Turkey was furious. Turkey -- which has facilitated the entry into Syria of thousands of transnational Islamic jihadists from its side of the border -- was never going to tolerate the presence of PKK-linked Kurdish nationalist militants on the Syrian side of the border, on the grounds that it would pose a threat to Turkey's national security.

NOTE: the Kurd-Arab-Christian Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is dominated by the YPG which, as the Syrian arm of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), is Kurdish nationalist and anything but democratic [see RLPB 477, Assyrian Crisis in Iraq and Syria, 17 Oct 2018].

Turkey has been talking about invading northern Syria for well over 18 months. When the mostly Kurdish city of Afrin, about 45km north-west of Aleppo, fell to Turkish forces and their jihadist allies in March 2018 it was quickly ethnically-religiously cleansed of all Kurds and Christians in Turkey's 'Operation Olive Branch'. At that time, Turkey's President Erdogan expressed his intention to extend his control 'all the way to the Iraq border' [see RLPB 447 (21 March 2018)]. Erdogan then set his sights on Manbij, 90km north-east of Aleppo. In order to stop the Turkish advance, the US brokered the 'Manbij Roadmap', in which the US agreed to facilitate the removal of all YPG elements from the strategic city of Manbij. The deal, however, was never implemented. Now, 18 months down the track, the Battle for Manbij -- stage one in the war for northern Syria -- is about to commence.

Syria, December 2018 (circled: Afrin and Manbij)
click on map to enlarge.

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CHAOS UNLEASHED

On Saturday 5 October Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened that, since the US has not fulfilled its promise to remove Kurdish YPG 'terrorists' from Manbij, Turkey will take matters into its own hands and launch a unilateral invasion east of the Euphrates 'as soon as today or tomorrow'. On Sunday 6 October US President Donald Trump issued a statement clarifying that the US 'will not support or be involved in the [Turkish] operation', adding that, if Turkey invades northern Syria, it will then be 'responsible for all ISIS fighters captured over the past two years'.

Turkey's threat set up a scenario in which US troops would find themselves positioned in between their anti-IS proxies (PKK-linked Kurds) and their belligerent NATO ally (terror-sponsor Turkey). On Monday 7 October President Trump ordered the withdrawal of the roughly 50 US troops stationed in observation posts on the Syrian border. In the coming weeks around 1,000 US troops will be withdrawn from Syria, leaving some 150 US soldiers stationed in the southern base of Al Tanf near the borders with Jordan and Iraq. According to reports, some residual US troops have also been positioned south of Manbij. President Trump made it clear that if Turkey behaves badly, the US will respond with crippling sanctions. On Wednesday 9 October Turkish troops crossed into Syria, launching 'Operation Peace Spring'.

click on map to enlarge

Turkey has been shelling border towns -- from Kobani to Qamishli -- knocking out infrastructure, killing and wounding while displacing hundreds of thousands of residents. Images have emerged showing Turkish-backed Islamic militants executing civilians, including journalists and Kurdish female politician Hevrin Khalaf (35). Responding to the carnage, US President Donald Trump ended talks on a US-Turkey trade deal he valued at US$100 billion and re-imposed tariffs of 50 percent on Turkish steel.

By Monday 14 October Russia had brokered a deal between the Kurds and the Syrian government which immediately deployed the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) north to 'confront the Turkish aggression'. After more than seven years, the Syrian government is back in the north-east. Images have emerged of Kurds and others welcoming the SAA troops. By Monday night (14 October) the SAA was in Manbij to support the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in a battle against the Turkey-backed jihadists amassing around the city in preparation for war. Russian troops are patrolling the territory separating the Turkish-backed militants from the SAA-backed Kurdish troops. Turkey's moves will drive a wedge between Ankara and Moscow and possibly shatter the Ankara-Moscow-Tehran axis. Denouncing Turkey's invasion as 'unacceptable', Russia has opened 'real time' negotiations between Ankara and Damascus. As one analyst observes: 'Turkey stands in splendid isolation' and will soon be 'joining Saudi Arabia as a fallen angel in the Beltway'.

CHRISTIANS IMPERILLED

Syriac soldiers with the SDF
pray before deployment.
"Our duty is to protect our land."

According to Bassam Ishak, president of the Syriac National Council of Syria, Turkey's shelling of border towns is putting the lives of some 40,000 to 50,000 Christians at risk. Christians have already been killed in Ras el-Ain and Qamishli. As Ishak rightly notes, this is pure ethnic cleansing as Turkey's plan in setting up its 'safe zone' is to replace the Kurdish and Assyrian population with some two million Syrian Arab refugees currently resident in Turkey. According to Dale Gavlac (15 October), 'Christians and other religious minorities said they feel particularly vulnerable as Turkish artillery targeted a predominantly Christian neighbourhood in Qamishli, the largest city in north-eastern Syria.'  The Turkish bombing has already created a humanitarian crisis; in particular, the A'louk water station is now out of service, leaving some 400,000 residents without water.

With no choice but to confront the Turkish invasion, SDF fighters are abandoning their posts at key prisons and camps housing some 12,000 IS fighters, some 4,000 IS women and over 8,000 children. Amidst Turkish bombardment, prisoners attacked guards at the Ain Issa camp (55km north of Ar-Raqqah), enabling 785 relatives of IS jihadists to escape.

Christians in Syria's far north are today imperilled not only from an aggressive Turkish military and its jihadist proxies, but also from a resurgent IS (itself a Turkey-Saudi creation). Thousands of Christians are again on the move. Emanuel Youkhana, a priest of the Assyrian Church of the East who administers Christian Aid Program Northern Iraq in Dohuk, told Catholic News Service that he is expecting a new wave of refugees as Assyrians flee east from Syria's Hasakah Province to Iraqi Kurdistan.

PLEASE PRAY THAT OUR ALMIGHTY GOD WILL

* intervene to protect, preserve and sustain his precious Church in Syria and across Mesopotamia; may all who seek her demise be frustrated; may their plots come to naught.

'Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by. I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me.' (Psalm 57:1-2 ESV)

'But my eyes are toward you, O God, my Lord; in you I seek refuge; leave me not defenseless! Keep me from the trap that they have laid for me and from the snares of evildoers! Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while I pass by safely.' (Psalm 141:8-10 ESV)

* intervene to rescue his people, provide all their needs and 'work [all things] together for good for those who are called according to his purpose' (Romans 8:28 ESV).

'The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry. The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the broken-hearted and saves the crushed in spirit.' (Psalm 34:15-18 ESV)


SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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SYRIA: CHAOS UNLEASHED; CHRISTIANS IMPERILLED

America's belligerent NATO ally, terror-sponsor Turkey, has essentially declared war against America's anti-Islamic State proxy (PKK-linked Kurds). The US might have withdrawn, but the Syrian government has returned. On 14 October Russia brokered a deal between the Kurds and the Syrian government which immediately deployed troops to 'confront Turkish aggression'. Denouncing the Turkish invasion as 'unacceptable', Russia has deployed troops in between the Turkey-backed jihadists and the Syria-backed Kurds on the front-line in Manbij. Meanwhile, Turkey's bombing of Syrian border towns has created a humanitarian crisis and is threatening the lives of some 40,000 to 50,000 Christians. It has also allowed nearly 800 Islamic State fighters to escape from a camp north of ar-Raqqah. Assyrian Christians are again on the move, this time heading east to Iraqi Kurdistan. Please pray.

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Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate. She serves as Director of Advocacy at Canberra-based Christian Faith and Freedom (CFF) and is an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.

She has authored two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne, Australia, Dec 2012) which offers a Biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA, June 2016).

See www.ElizabethKendal.com

RLPB 477. Assyrian Crisis in Iraq and Syria

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 477 | Wed 17 Oct 2018

Please forward this prayer bulletin widely, and encourage others to sign up to the Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin blog. "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." (James 5:16 NIV)

----------------------------------------------------
International Day of Prayer (IDOP) for the Persecuted Church
IDOP 2018: Sunday 4 or 11 November.
See: Critical Prayer Requests (CPR) for states where Christians are persecuted and/or where religious liberty is threatened.
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ASSYRIAN CRISIS IN IRAQ AND SYRIA
-- plus update from Nigeria
by Elizabeth Kendal

As noted in RLPB 470 (29 Aug 2018), the Assyrian nation [the indigenous Christian nation of Mesopotamia (Syria-Iraq)] is in a struggle for its survival. While jihadist activity remains a problem, of greater concern is the less overt but more insidious threat posed by Kurdish nationalism. While there is no chance of a Kurdish state materialising any time soon, that is not stopping Kurdish nationalists from making every effort to change realities on the ground through 'divide and rule' (sowing division among the Assyrians), colonisation (occupying the lands of displaced Assyrians) and hegemony (dominance/control over Assyrians). Making things easy for the Kurds is the sad and shameful fact that their backers in the US-led West care little for the region's remnant Christians and, consequently, seem happy to turn a blind eye.

ASSYRIAN CRISIS IN NINEVEH, IRAQ

Ft Toma visits Iraq: Interview (Oct 2018)

Los Angeles-based Father Athanasis Toma, an Archbishop in the ancient Assyrian Church of the East, recently returned from a visit to Iraq. He warns of a deteriorating situation in which Assyrians face immense challenges including: gross insecurity, systematic discrimination, political marginalisation and land seizures. According to Fr Toma, Assyrian villages lack basic amenities, and most humanitarian aid organisations have left. Many youths and young families have lost hope and are looking to emigrate. Reports have emerged of Kurdish authorities blocking roads from the Kurdish provincial capitals of Dohuk and Erbil into the Nineveh Plains. This not only prevents displaced Assyrians from returning to their homes and lands, it also prevents Assyrians in the Nineveh Plains from gaining access to medical care or other services in Dohuk and Erbil, forcing them to make hard decisions. Many are convinced that a systematic, quiet yet aggressive campaign of immense pressure is being applied to drive Assyrians from their ancestral lands precisely so Kurds might colonise and eventually annex the Nineveh Plains into a future Kurdish state.

Asked if he thought Assyrians and Christians had any future in Iraq, Fr Toma replied: 'If we are not united and if conditions continue as they are, I believe we will diminish and soon not many will be left. Our lands, language, history and traditions will be all gone.'

ASSYRIAN CRISIS IN HASAKAH, SYRIA

Christians in Qamishli protest closure
of church-run school (28 Aug).

Syria's north-east province of Hasakah is under the self-declared rule of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), the Syrian wing of the Turkish Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). While the situation in Hasakah is relatively calm, Kurdish hegemony is deepening. The PYD is insisting that all schools in areas under its control teach the Kurdish curriculum which is aimed at facilitating a Kurdish nationalist agenda. This is unacceptable (even offensive) to Armenians and Assyrians. Because the Kurdish curriculum is not accredited in Syria, many Kurdish and Arab Muslims choose to send their children to the Assyrian church-run schools. These schools, which have existed since 1935, teach the Syrian curriculum which is recognised internationally and allows freedom for the teaching of religion, culture and language.

On 7 August the PYD forcibly closed two Assyrian church-run schools that were refusing to teach the Kurdish curriculum [RLPB 470 (29 Aug)]. On 28 August, amidst protests, the PYD forcibly closed an Assyrian church-run school in Qamishli (on the border with Turkey). The next day the PYD issued a statement, in English, accusing the church-run schools of spreading 'lies' and serving the 'Syrian regime'. On 22 September Isa Rashid, who directs the church-run schools in Qamishli, was beaten outside his home just days after a meeting with Kurdish officials in which he refused to implement the PYD's curriculum; Rashid had to be hospitalised.

Assyrian writer Souleman Yusph

On Sunday 30 September at 9pm, a convoy of three vans arrived at the Qamishli home of Assyrian journalist Souleman Yusph (61). At least ten pro-PYD Assyrian policemen then seized Yusph and took him away. The next day the PYD issued a statement in which it denounced citizens who 'overstepped' their right to free speech in order to spread 'lies' that 'undermine democracy'. As far as Monsignor Jacques Behnan Hindo is concerned, Yusph was 'arrested for telling the truth'. Mgr Hindo notes that Syrian Kurds are not the problem; rather it is Turkish and Iraqi Kurds who want to occupy the area. Yusph was released on 4 October after he had been threatened and intimidated into silence.

Concerning the situation in Syria, Juliana Taimoorazy, the Founder and President of the Iraqi Christian Relief Council says: 'If the US continues to fail the Christians of the Middle East with [its] policies, I guarantee, in the next 20 to 30 years, it will be empty of Assyrians, the indigenous people of Iraq. If this policy of backing the Kurds blindly, blindly continues, we will not have any choice but to leave the land.'


PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT GOD WILL:

* heal, comfort and encourage Assyrians who have been beaten, intimidated, threatened and terrorised not only by jihadists but by US-allied Kurdish nationalists. Lord, draw them close, give them peace and bolster their faith. 'Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest' (Matthew 11:28 ESV).

* intervene in this world for the benefit of the Assyrian nation -- raise up allies, mobilise support, facilitate provision of aid, magnify voices, sharpen consciences and stir up prayer.

* protect, sustain, unify, bless and encourage the Assyrians of Iraq and Syria, as he fulfils all his promises to their great nation, to 'Assyria, the work of my hands' (Isaiah 19: 23-25).


UPDATE FROM NIGERIA: DEADLINE ARRIVES

On 16 October, one month after it executed midwife Saifure Hussaini Ahmed Khorsa [RLPB 474 (26 Sep)] Boko Haram executed Hauwa Mohammed Liman, the other Muslim midwife it was holding. Khorsa (25) and Liman (24) were executed as murtads, apostates/traitors to Islam (for working for the Red Cross). In its statement Boko Haram said, 'If we see them [aid workers] we will kill the apostates among them, men or women, and choose to kill or keep the infidels as slaves, men or women. ... From today [Christian schoolgirl Leah Sharibu (15) and Christian nurse Alice Loksha Ngaddah (24, mother of two small children)] 'are now our slaves. Based on our doctrines, it is now lawful for us to do whatever we want to do with them.' Please pray.

'Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows' (Jesus, in Matthew 10:29-31 ESV).


SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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ASSYRIAN CRISIS IN IRAQ AND SYRIA

Assyrians are Christians and the indigenous nation of Mesopotamia (Syria-Iraq). While jihadist activity remains a problem, the threat posed by Kurdish nationalism is growing. The Assyrian remnant in northern Iraq's Nineveh Plains is struggling to rebuild amidst gross insecurity, systematic discrimination, political marginalisation and land seizures. Meanwhile, the Assyrian remnant in north-east Syria's Hasakah Province is struggling to retain its autonomy and culture as Kurdish authorities move to control the education sector. In both Iraq and Syria, Assyrian educators, writers and political figures who resist or criticise the Kurdish authorities are beaten, arrested and intimidated into silence. Kurdish nationalists aim to drive Assyrians from their ancestral lands so Kurds might colonise and eventually annex these lands into a future Kurdish state. Please pray for the Assyrian nation (Isaiah 19: 23-25).

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Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate. She serves as Director of Advocacy at Canberra-based Christian Faith and Freedom (CFF), and is an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.

She has authored two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne, Australia, Dec 2012) which offers a Biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA, June 2016).

See www.ElizabethKendal.com

RLPB 447. TURKEY IN SYRIA: Afrin falls; Christians imperilled (plus update on Pastor Andrew Brunson)

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 447 | Wed 21 Mar 2018

Please forward this prayer bulletin widely, and encourage others to sign up to the Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin blog. "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." (James 5:16 NIV)


TURKEY IN SYRIA: AFRIN FALLS; CHRISTIANS IMPERILLED
-- plus update on Pastor Andrew Brunson, imprisoned in Turkey

by Elizabeth Kendal

The mostly Kurdish city of Afrin, in the far north-west of Syria's Aleppo Province, fell to Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) forces on Sunday 18 March. Conflict monitors report that Turkey's eight-week campaign to capture Afrin has cost the lives of more than 280 civilians, more than 1500 Kurdish and allied fighters (including a British volunteer, 26-year-old Anna Campbell) and more than 400 pro-Ankara 'rebels'. According to the Turkish Armed Forces, only 46 Turkish soldiers died in the campaign. Sources report that, apart from Turkish regular troops and special forces, some 25,000 fighters fought under the banner of the FSA, most of whom are battle-hardened Islamists who have previously fought alongside al-Qaeda and Islamic State (IS). As reported in RLPBs 439 (24 Jan) and 440 (31 Jan), Afrin's minority mostly Armenian and Assyrian Christians sounded the alarm back in January, warning that the spectre of a Turkey-backed Islamist jihadist ethnic-religious slaughter loomed over Afrin.

Christian Kurds appeal for prayers
 and support (Afrin, 2 Feb)

Despite having been used by the US as the club with which to smash IS in northern Syria, the Kurdish YPG and the mixed Kurd-Arab-Christian SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces) found themselves abandoned in Afrin. Lacking any anti-aircraft weapons, YPG and SDF commanders appealed to the US and UN for assistance, in particular for the skies over Afrin to be declared a no-fly zone. Their cries were in vain. On 20 February Syrian government troops deployed to help the Kurds defend Afrin were routed, with dozens killed in a barrage of Turkish shelling and airstrikes. On 24 February the UN Security Council issued a resolution calling on Turkey to implement a ceasefire so that humanitarian aid might go in and civilians might get out. Turkey ignored the resolution. The Apostolic nuncio to Syria, Cardinal Mario Zenari, described the situation in Afrin as 'hell on earth' and the worst violence he had ever seen.

Abandoned, encircled, out-gunned and facing the prospect of a protracted and exceedingly bloody urban conflict, the YPG and SDF withdrew -- along with tens of thousands of civilians -- before dawn on 18 March, enabling the Turkish and FSA forces to enter Afrin unopposed. After brief celebrations, the occupying forces set about looting every home and store in the city. The Kurds have vowed to commence a guerrilla-style fight-back against the occupiers, promising to be 'a constant nightmare for them'.  Now that the city (just 40km north-west of Aleppo) has been ethnically cleansed, Turkey's Islamist and neo-Ottoman 'Sultan' Erdogan plans to fill it with Syrian Arab Sunni Islamists who will serve his interests. Erdogan wants to extend his control all the way to the Iraq border. The next town on the agenda is Manbij, which the US-backed SDF liberated from IS in August 2016, and in which come 2,000 US special forces troops remain stationed.

Before Afrin fell, veteran Middle East reporter Dale Gavlak warned that Turkish-backed jihadists were insisting that there will be no room for Christians in Afrin. Kurds (including Yazidis) and Christians (most of whom are Armenian and Assyrian) have now been 'cleansed' out of Afrin. After speaking with local aid workers and human rights activists on the ground, Gavlak reported on 16 March, 'Jihadists allied with Turkey are hunting down religious minorities to kill them in Syria's north-west ... Turkey is using hardline jihadists proxies, including Islamic State and al-Qaeda militants, to eliminate the presence of Kurds and other ethnic and religious minorities along its border.' The situation is dire. Those who remember the Armenian Genocide may well have a sense of déjà vu.

PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT:

* the Lord our Good Shepherd will gather up his children like precious lambs and lead his flock to safety, providing all their needs along the way. (Isaiah 40:10-11)

* our merciful Lord Jesus will make his presence known amongst his traumatised people; may those who are wounded experience healing; may those who grieve and are traumatised be comforted; and may those who are discouraged find reason to hope.

'The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.' (Lamentations 3:22-23 ESV)

* God Almighty, our Heavenly Father, will display his awesome power and sovereign authority and intervene in Syria and wider Mesopotamia, to the benefit of his faithful people.

' ... not by their own sword did they win the land, nor did their own arm save them, but your right hand and your arm, and the light of your face, for you delighted in them.' (v3, from Psalm 44:1-8 ESV)


SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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TURKEY IN SYRIA: AFRIN FALLS; CHRISTIANS IMPERILLED

On 18 March Syria's mostly Kurdish city of Afrin fell to Turkish-backed forces. Fighting alongside Turkish regular troops and special forces were some 25,000 Free Syrian Army fighters, mostly battle-hardened Islamists. Though backed by the US when smashing IS in Syria, the Kurdish YPG and Kurd-Arab-Christian Syrian Democratic Forces found themselves abandoned in Afrin. Though Syrian government forces came to assist, they were routed in a barrage of shelling and air-strikes. Hundreds of civilians have been killed and wounded; many thousands are now displaced from what had long been one of Syria's great safe havens. Sources on the ground report that 'Jihadists allied with Turkey are hunting down [Christian and other] religious minorities to kill them in Syria's north-west [and] along its border'. Please pray for Syria and its Christians!

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UPDATE ON PASTOR ANDREW BRUNSON, IMPRISONED IN TURKEY

Pastor Andrew Brunson in prison
(courtesy World Witness)
Article on prison visit

Pastor Andrew Brunson (50) and his wife Norine (American citizens) had raised a family and ministered in Izmir, Turkey, for more than two decades before being arrested and threatened with deportation in October 2016, in the wake of the failed July 2016 alleged Gülenist coup against the Erdogan government. [Background, RLPB 367, Turkey: Christians Face Elevated Risk (20 July 2016).] Brunson has now been in detention for almost 18 months. When representatives of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) visited him on 5 October 2017, they found him in shock, bewildered, distressed and thin, having lost some 22kg (50lbs) primarily due to stress.

On 16 March the Second High Penal Court in Izmir Province accepted the indictment against Brunson prepared by the Public Prosecutors Office. Brunson is accused of carrying out espionage and organisational activities on behalf of the Gülenist movement, which, ever since his spat with Fethullah Gülen, Erdogan has deemed it to be a terrorist organisation. Prosecutors are demanding at least 35 years in prison: 15 years for 'committing crimes on behalf of terror organisations without being a member' and up to 20 years for 'political or military espionage'. Soner Tufan, spokesman of the Association of Protestant Churches in Turkey, described the ludicrous charges as 'an insult and offence to reason'.

In September 2017 President Erdogan openly and unashamedly linked the plight of Pastor Brunson to that of the Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the US since 1999. Erdogan offered to trade with the US, essentially saying you give us our 'pastor' [Gülen] and we will give you yours [Brunson]. As noted in RLPB 389 (21 Dec 2016) Brunson's situation 'is dire'.

* May the Lord sustain, comfort and encourage Pastor Andrew Brunson both in prison and throughout his trial. May all lies and injustices be exposed and denounced. May Pastor Brunson be vindicated, released and reunited with his family.

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Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate. She serves as Director of Advocacy at Canberra-based Christian Faith and Freedom (CFF), and is an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.

She has authored two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne, Australia, Dec 2012) which offers a Biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA, June 2016).

See www.ElizabethKendal.com

RLPB 424. Iraq: Assyrians request prayer as Kurds 'play with fire'

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 424 | Wed 20 Sep 2017

Please forward this prayer bulletin widely, and encourage others to sign up to the Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin blog. "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." (James 5:16 NIV)

IRAQ: ASSYRIANS REQUEST PRAYER AS KURDS 'PLAY WITH FIRE'
plus Update -- Afghanistan: Finnish aid worker released
        Update -- Philippines: Father Suganob rescued

by Elizabeth Kendal

Assyrians return to Qaraqosh
Palm Sunday 2017
Report and images: Open Doors

Assyrians are the indigenous people of Northern Iraq and a Christian nation. Between June and August 2014, ISIS drove more than 130,000 Assyrians from their homes in Mosul and the Nineveh Plains. Traumatised and destitute, most found refuge in Iraqi Kurdistan, primarily in Dohuk (to the north) and Erbil, the Kurdish capital (to the east). This year, a coalition led by the Iraqi Army and aided by Popular Mobilisation Units (PMUs: mostly Iranian-led Shi'ite militias), US-backed Kurdish peshmerger forces and Assyrian units have succeeded in liberating Mosul and much of the Nineveh Plains. As Assyrians tentatively trickle back into their towns and villages, they do so with the hope that the Nineveh Plains might one day be an autonomous entity within the state of Iraq. The last thing they want is to fall victim to a Kurdish land grab, or to find themselves caught in the middle of another war.

Unless there is a miracle, the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) will hold a referendum on independence on Monday 25 September. Though the anticipated 'Yes' vote will not trigger an automatic declaration of independence, it is expected to lead to official negotiations. Analysts suspect that KRG President Massoud Barzani's goal is not independence, but leverage to aid negotiations over revenue sharing (more money), further devolution of power (more power) and the demarcation of Iraqi Kurdistan's borders (more land). However, as Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi commented on 16 September, the Kurds are 'playing with fire'.

The Nineveh Plains region
(Assyrian heartland)
is marked with a Cross. 

Talk of Kurdish independence has sent tensions soaring inside Iraq and across the region. Eager to expand its borders, the KRG aims to include 'disputed territories' in the referendum, including oil-rich Kirkuk and the Nineveh Plains. Despite pressure from Kurd and pro-Kurd authorities, most Assyrians oppose the referendum and do not want their lands included. Fearing Shi'ite power, Nineveh's Sunni Arabs support Kurdish independence and do want to be included. In a move destined to destabilise the whole region, oil-rich Kirkuk (controlled by Baghdad until Kurdish forces seized it in the chaos of August 2014) will participate. The Iraqi Government, Iran and the Shi'ite militias oppose the referendum, the break-up of Iraq and Kurdish annexation of Kirkuk. Meanwhile, Turkey, Iran and Syria oppose the referendum as it could embolden their own restive Kurdish minorities. The pro-Kurdish US is opposed to the referendum as it will weaken Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to the benefit of Iran ahead of the April 2018 general elections. Many Kurds too are opposed to the referendum because they sense this is simply not the right time for such a provocative move.

Aware that the referendum could trigger a new conflict, Turkey, Iran, the US and the UN have been lobbying KRG President Massoud Barzani to cancel or postpone the referendum indefinitely, to no avail. On Sunday 17 September the KRG's High Referendum Council, headed by Barzani, voted to reject the US-backed alternative and press ahead with the 25 September referendum as planned.

Chaldean Patriarch Louis Raphael Sako has issued an urgent appeal, calling on Erbil and Baghdad to 'resume dialogue with courage'.  He laments that 'some have already started beating the war drums', noting, 'If there were a new military conflict, the consequences would be disastrous for everyone, and minorities would always be the ones to pay a high price ...' He said, 'Everyone should be aware of the seriousness of the situation and hurry to support national reconciliation and peace before it is too late.'

[A more detailed version of this report can be found on Religious Liberty Monitoring (20 Sept).]


MAY OUR ALMIGHTY AND MERCIFUL GOD:

* intervene in Iraq for the benefit of his precious long-suffering people; may peace reign and the highly controversial and provocative referendum on Kurdish independence be indefinitely postponed; may 'courageous dialogue' be the order of the day.

'Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.' (From Jeremiah's prayer in Jeremiah 32:16-25 ESV)

* surround and watch over his imperilled Church; may all God's children be secure. 'Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings.' (Psalm 17:8 ESV)

* guard and preserve the Assyrian and Christian heartland of the Nineveh Plains for the Assyrian people.  'In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, "Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance." ' (Promise in Isaiah 19:24-25 ESV)

----------------------------------------------------

Update -- Afghanistan: The unnamed Finnish aid worker taken hostage in Kabul in May [see RLPB 409 (31 May)] was released on 14 September.

Update -- Philippines: Late on 16 September Philippine soldiers overran Marawi's Bato mosque, clearing its many tunnels and secret chambers and rescuing two hostages: Father Teresito 'Chito' Suganob (51) and a male school teacher surnamed Acopio (29).  The jihadists still hold around 40 mostly Christian hostages [see RLPB 421 (30 Aug)]. Please continue to pray.


SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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ASSYRIANS IN IRAQ REQUEST PRAYER AS KURDS 'PLAY WITH FIRE'

Between June and August 2014, some 130,000 Assyrian Christians were driven from their homes in Mosul and the Nineveh Plains by ISIS. Most found refuge in Iraqi Kurdistan. Now as their lands are liberated, Assyrians are trickling back into their towns and villages. However, talk of Kurdish independence has sent tensions soaring. Christians fear the Kurds will seize the Assyrian heartland of the Nineveh Plains. The Iraqi Government, Turkey, Iran and essentially all Shi'ites have vowed to stop the Kurds annexing oil-rich Kirkuk. Chaldean Patriarch Louis Raphael Sako's urgent appeal is for 'courageous dialogue'. Lamenting that 'some have already started beating the war drums', he appeals for peace, noting war would be 'disastrous', especially for minorities who, as usual, would 'pay a high price'. Please pray for Iraq and its Christians.

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Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate. She serves as Director of Advocacy at Canberra-based Christian Faith and Freedom (CFF), and is an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.

She has authored two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne, Australia, Dec 2012) which offers a Biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and, After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA, June 2016).

See www.ElizabethKendal.com