“I think it’s a miracle that your language is alive in the 21st century. Happy birthday to you!” That’s what Salloum told us when we told her that her interview would be published in Basque. The young researcher knows perfectly well that this uniform world is very difficult for “small” peoples. Not to mention, in Iraq...

Who are the Iraqis?

Iraq is a very diverse country. There are many cultures and languages: Arabs, Kurds, Turkmens, Assyrian Christians, Mandeans... These are the Iraqis of today and forever.

But their relationships are complicated, right?

The fact is that the concepts of ethnicity and religion in the Middle East are closely intertwined. Among the Arabs, we distinguish between the Shiites and the Sunnis. The second group in Iraq is made up of Kurds. Most of them are Sunni Muslims, but in this case we call them “Kurds” and not “Sunnis”.

And the rest?

Christians have their own language, Assyrian, and they are divided into fourteen subgroups; Chaldeans, Armenians, Orthodox... before 2003 they were more than one million. They have been severely repressed and more than half of them have left Iraq.

The Turkmen, the Mandes...

The Turkmen speak Turkish. They arrived in the Middle Ages, coinciding with the expansion of the Ottoman Empire and can be both Shiite and Sunni today. The Mandeans have St. John the Baptist as their prophet. It is often said that they are Christians, but they have always denied it, they say that they are not followers of Christ. For more than 2,000 years they have been performing ceremonies in the same places on the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. There will hardly be 20,000 today. Like Christians, they have suffered immense punishment in recent years.

And the yazidis?

They say they are the ones who have kept the religion of Kurdish origin to this day. They all speak Kurdish, but some say they are not Kurdish. As I said, the key here is to maintain religion or ethnicity. In northern Iraq, Shia Kurdish Shabakhs can also be found, as well as Kakaitans. The latter have kept their beliefs secret. They say they believe in reincarnation. However, it is very difficult to know the characteristics of this faith.

Is there another ethnicity?

Black Iraqis may be the most unpopular group in the country. They have been in Mesopotamia since the 7th century, most of them brought as slaves from Africa. The largest group is located in the city of Basra, located in the Persian Gulf, with about 300,000 people. Despite more than a thousand years in the country, they suffer immense discrimination due to the color of their skin. Even now, they are called “abd” (“slave” in Arabic) by many. Obama’s victory was celebrated on the streets by many Black Iraqis. They are demanding their rights; they basically want the same recognition as the Kurds, the Shiites, the Sunnis and the Christians.

There are also Jews in Iraq, right?

Jews have been some of Iraq’s greatest intellectuals. Sadly, most of them have gone to Israel and there are only thirteen. There is enormous ignorance about this group in Iraq. I recently gave college students a class on Jews. At the end someone asked me: “But what are the Jews, the Shiites or the Sunnis?”

Apparently, the tendency to leave has been quite widespread among minorities here.

These last years have been very difficult, especially for small groups. These groups are constantly being attacked by al-Qaeda, security forces or other armed groups. Kurds, Yazidis, Christians and Turkmens have several seats reserved in the Iraqi Parliament. The Iraqi Kurdistan Parliament, in fact, separates 10% of the seats for Christians, Jazidi and Turkmens in the region. Iraqi Kurdistan has become the target of many Christians in recent years.

The 2005 Constitution states that there are “various nations, religions and sects” in Iraq, but religious freedom is not exercised in everyday life. The most obvious obstacle is the appearance of our religion on the Iraqi identity card. This leaves the door open to discrimination. This is a great contradiction, because Iraq is not an Islamic Republic. In any case, even without showing the identity card, it is immediately possible to distinguish between Kurdish and Christian names, as well as Shiites and Sunnis. For example, the name Ali is very common among the Shiites, while Omar is favored by the Sunnis.

What do you think could improve the coexistence between the peoples of Iraq?

First, respect for the legislation enshrined in the Constitution, starting with the Government. Iraq is dominated by the Shiites. Those who attack Christians, Yazidis or Mandeans, among others, should be brought before a judge. The attackers are government hitmen who are often employed.

The governing coalition is made up of two Shia parties, one of which is the Moqtada al-Sadr party, which is closely linked to Tehran. Non-Shiites are often excluded from command or security posts. In fact, the Government is currently establishing a religious trend that is spreading throughout Iraq.

Basically, education is the key here. Mesopotamia has been the home and crossroads of eleven peoples and civilizations for centuries. No oil, cultural diversity is Iraq’s greatest treasure. If people don't understand this, we're having a party.

Excuse me, I'd like to inform you of a growing minority before I finish.

Any word on who?

Who do not believe in God.