ERBIL — The First Athra Syriac Symposium, an international event, commenced on Thursday in Erbil, under the sponsorship and attendance of Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani.

Kaldo Ramzi Ogna, Director General of Syriac Culture and Arts in the Kurdistan Region, emphasized the significance of the symposium, stating, "This is the first international conference of its kind, with the participation of over 40 academics and researchers from more than 25 renowned universities, including Harvard, Oxford, and Cambridge, as well as a number of Iraqi universities."

The symposium is set to discuss a wide range of topics, including Syriac culture, visual arts, crafts, music, song, theater, performing arts, cinema, village life, and media development. "Fifty papers were selected by the scientific committee from the 100 submitted for participation in the symposium," Ogna added.

Highlighting the broader aim of the event, Ogna said, "The purpose of this symposium is to showcase that Syriac is not just a liturgical language for a marginalized religious minority in the Middle East, but the cultural language of an indigenous people whose language and culture continue to survive and thrive globally."

The symposium, which runs from September 5 to 8, features sessions at the Saad Abdullah Conference Hall in Erbil, the Catholic University/Erbil Conference Hall, and the Patriarchal Conference Hall at Mar Yusuf VI Udo's Gabriel Denbo Monastery in Ankawa.