# Bet-Nahrain Democratic Party

The Bet-Nahrain Democratic Party (Syriac: ܓܒܐ ܕܝܡܘܩܪܛܝܐ ܕܒܝܬ ܢܗܪܝܢ, romanized: Gaba Demoqrataya d-Bet-Nahrain), usually abbreviated as BNDP, is an Assyrian political party based in Iraq. For much of its lifespan and involvement in politics, the party has been led by Romeo Hakkari. One of the party's goals was to create an autonomous Assyrian administrative region within the Assyrian homeland, through the framework of the Iraqi constitution.
The BNDP has a long history stretching back 50+ years, and has participated in Assyrian politics in Iraq since the US invasion. The party also founded the Nineveh Plain Forces in the wake of ISIS, and has since joined the Athra Alliance alongside several other Assyrian political parties.
Although Assyrian nationalist from its founding, the BNDP has been known to opt its stance towards the Kurdish Regional Government, often in opposition to parties like the Assyrian Democratic Movement who prioritized the Federal government of Iraq. The party has also previously been under scrutiny due to its affiliation with the ruling Barzani family of the KRG and the Kurdistan Democratic Party, under the leader of Hakkari.

## History

The Bet Nahrain Democratic Party was originally founded in March 1974, as a union between the Bet-Nahrain Organization in California headed by Sargon Dadesho, and the Quest Movement in Chicago headed by notable individuals such as Gilyana Yonan. Dadesho had previously a strong advocate for the Assyrian Universal Alliance, but his pursuit of a more militant approach to find solutions to the ongoing persecution of Iraqi Assyrians led him to leave the AUA and form the BNDP. Dadesho had advocated Assyrian nationalism through the BNDP, creating the Assyrian National Manifesto which called for an Assyrian autonomous state in Mosul or Duhok. The manifesto prompted heavy concerns from the still newly emerged Ba'athist regime of Iraq, especially in relation to the party's activities with leaders of the Chaldean Catholic Church. The BNDP would eventually be put under the surveillance of the Iraqi government, alongside other Assyrian political parties.
According to the AUA, the BNDP was one of the very first organizations to adopt the modern Assyrian flag, alongside the AUA and another organization called the Assyrian National Federation.
The party participated in the 1991 Iraqi uprising alongside ADM and Kurdish parties. In 2000, the Ba'athist government arrested Assyrians from Mosul and Baghdad after they were found to have obtained pamphlets from the party.

## Electoral history and activities

BNDP contested the 2005 Kurdistan Region parliamentary election as part of the ruling Democratic Patriotic Alliance of Kurdistan and were allocated one seat for Romeo Hakkari. It also contested the January 2005 Iraqi legislative election as part of the Kurdish alliance, and Goriel Mineso Khamis was allocated one seat in the Council of Representatives of Iraq. Although initially participating in the al-Nahrain Watani list, it did not participate in the Iraqi legislative election of December 2005, as Romeo Hakkari had withdrew before the elections began.
In the Iraqi governorate elections of 2009, the BNDP allied itself with the Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council in the Ishtar Patriotic List. The list won two seats in Baghdad and Ninawa, including BNDP member Giwargis Esho Sada in Baghdad. Prior to the 2009 Kurdistan Region parliamentary election, the party decided to withdraw from the elections.
In the 2010 Iraqi parliamentary election, the BNDP ran as part of a united list with the Assyrian Patriotic Party and the Chaldean Democratic Forum, called the Ishtar Democratic List. The list received the fewest votes across all governorates, and the party won no seats or representation. Similarly, in the 2013 Kurdistan Region parliamentary election, the party ran as part of a Chaldean Syriac Assyrian United List, which also received no seats or representation.
In the 2018 Iraqi parliamentary election, the BNDP ran as part of the United Bet Nahrain List, but was unable to win any seats from the election.

### Nineveh Plain Forces

In 2014, the BNDP and Bet-Nahrain Patriotic Union announced the formation of the Nineveh Plain Forces to protect the people of the Nineveh Plain and maintain control of the region for people that want to return to the area. The force had been stationed in the Tal Qasab village north of Mosul, and was intended to liberate Assyrian/Christian areas from ISIS while acting as the basis for security for an Assyrian autonomous region.
The force, however, was criticized for acting as a Kurdish proxy against the Nineveh Plain Protection Units, and although it reported 500 soldiers, eyewitness reports said that there were less than 50 active soldiers. The force operated under the command of the Peshmerga, and was dissolved in 2017.

### Diaspora

The party is primarily active among Assyrian Americans in California, where it runs the KBSV (Assyria Vision) television station and the KBES radio station.
In 1983 the party set up the "Assyrian National Congress" with the "Assyrian American Leadership Council". In 2002 they entered into an alliance with the Free Officers Movement of exiled military officers led by Najib al-Salhi.
The party also hosted its own annual conferences where they discussed party activities, issues of leadership and politics in the Assyrian homeland, and calls for greater autonomy. In August 2006, the party hosted its Congress in California.

## Criticism

Like with other Assyrian political parties in Iraq, the Bet-Nahrain Democratic Party has been criticized in the past for its affiliation with the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Dawronoye movement. In a 2018 report by the Assyrian Policy Institute, the group noted how Romeo Hakkari had publicly praised Masoud Barzani, stating that he was a beacon of coexistence in the Kurdish region, and publicly expressed his support for the 2017 Kurdistan Region independence referendum. The report noted that before the 2018 Iraqi parliamentary election, the KDP had endorsed Hakkari's brother, Oshana Nissan, who wasn't well known in the Assyrian community apart from his affiliations with the KDP and being seen at several of their events. The report also stated that many of the votes that came to Oshana were through Kurdish votes from Kirkuk and areas of Erbil with no Assyrian population, as well as voter intimidation against Assyrians in Duhok.
Hakkari and the BNDP also took part in signing a collective document of support for the KRG, condemning the federal Iraqi government's military actions in the midst of the 2017 Iraqi–Kurdish conflict.
The party, as well as Romeo Hakkari himself, were also criticized by the Assyrian Democratic Organization for their affiliation with Kurdish groups during Iraqi elections.

## Modern activity

The party still engages in smaller activities in Iraq as of the 2020s. Romeo had been chosen as head of the National Union Coalition by the KRG, and in 2020, called on Masrour Barzani to provide proper infrastructure for Assyrian villages in Iraq, particularly in the Nahla valley. On the eve of Kha b'Nissan in 2021, the party released a statement that called for an end to the suffering of Assyrians in Iraq.
In 2023, the party joined the Athra Alliance, which was hailed as a uniting political force for Iraqi Assyrians. However, due to political marginalization from the Babylon Movement and Rayan al-Kildani, the coalition and party won no seats. The party has taken part in signing statements that condemned the discrimination of Assyrians as part of the alliance.
Parallel to other Assyrian political parties, the BNDP condemned the revocation of minority political seats in the Kurdistan Region Parliament and had taken part in boycotting the 2024 Kurdistan Region parliamentary election.