The Assyrian National Petition  

This Petition was based on the preceding Kurdish autonomous plan, included the following demands: 

1. A constitutional amendment to the Iraqi Constitution, which was amended on July 16, 1970, stating that the region where the majority of its inhabitants are Assyrians (Syriac speaking Assyrians, Syrians and Chaldeans) should be granted an autonomous status.  Since the Revolutionary Command Council issued a Decree on September 13, 1972 stating that the national minorities in Iraq should have their own recognized administrative entities to preserve its national character, and since the Command Council, by virtue of its Decree, dated December 25, 1972, reinstated the citizenship to those Assyrians who took part in the events of 1933, the Assyrian people are entitled to their own administrative region as mentioned in the September 13, 1972 decree. 
2. The Petition asked the Government to adopt the census of 1927 as a base to determine the Assyrian population and Assyrian right for an autonomous region in the Province of Dohuk.  The Assyrians asked for the census of 1927 instead of the one taken in 1957 which the Kurdish plan was based on.  The Assyrian Petition argued that the census of 1927 was taken before the events of 1933 (Assyrian massacres) and before the Assyrian region in the north was depopulated due to economical, political, and other reasons. 
3. The Petition reminded the Government of Iraq about the decisions of the League of Nations in 1925 regarding the assignment of the Province of Mosul to Iraq with the condition that it should be used to settle the Assyrians in the Province with their rights restored. 
4. The Assyrians requested that the city of Dohuk should become the capital of the autonomous Assyrian region.  All the internal administrative duties will be handled by the Assyrians. 
5. The Petition asked that the Assyrian language should become the official language of the proposed Assyrian autonomous region.  The teaching of the Arabic language in the region will be mandatory. 

This Assyrian National Petition was accompanied with other supporting documents, including one in which the Assyrian Committee gave undisputable evidence proving that the so called "Syriac Speaking Assyrians, Syrians and Chaldeans" constituted one nation and they were all descendants from the ancient Assyrian people. 
This well documented Assyrian National Petition was submitted to the Government of Iraq in 1973, and so far the Assyrians have not heard an answer from the said Government regarding this Petition.  It is hoped that one day the Iraqi Government will realize the wisdom of granting the Assyrians, the loyal citizens of Bet-Nahrain (Iraq), their historical rights. 
While awaiting an answer from the Government, the Assyrian people all over the world were shocked to hear of the sudden death of Malik Yacu D'Malik Ismail on January 25, 1974 in Baghdad.  His son, Zia, took over the negotiations and tried for more than a year to get an answer from the Government regarding the Assyrian Petition.  No answer was coming, so he left the country disappointed.  In a conversation with the author of this book, Malik Zia D'Malik Yacu pointed out that the negotiations with the Government of Iraq were handled by an Assyrian committee, consisting of all segments of the Assyrian community in Iraq (Assyrians, Chaldeans, and Syrians).  The committee was headed by Malik Yacu.  According to Malik Zia, no Assyrian organization was involved in these negotiations. 
The text of the Assyrian National Petition, and the supporting documents regarding the origin of the Assyrian people, are reproduced here in their original format: