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Johny Messo (b. February 7, 1978 in Hengelo) is an Aramean politician and writer from the Netherlands. His parents are both from the city of Midyat in the region of Tur Abdin, in modern Turkey. Since 10 October 2009, he serves as the president of the Syriac Universal Alliance, an international organization that was founded in 1983, and later (2012) changed its name to the World Council of Arameans (Syriacs).

In 2007, he graduated at the Leiden University, receiving BA degree in the field of Hebrew and Aramaic languages and cultures. In 2011, within the cooperation between the Syriac Universal Alliance and the Council of Europe, he participated in organization of the newly established educational program, under the name: "1st Aramean Young Leadership Programme: The Road to the Future".

As president of SUA/WCA (since 2009), he supported the notion of Aramean continuity, and thus promoted Arameandom (Oromoyutho), primarily among those who self-identify as Arameans, but he also advocated some wider concepts. Under his leadership, SUA/WCA stated on several occasions that some other Aramaic-speaking communities of the Near East, such as modern Assyrians and modern Chaldeans, should also be considered as Arameans, thus advancing a pan-Aramean narrative, that provoked reactions from those communities.

His activities as the president of WCA continued in the following years. From that position, Messo criticized the policy of Arabization, that was affecting linguistic and ethnic identity of Arameans and other non-Arab communities in Arab countries, particularly in Syria.

During 2015, Messo coordinated participation of Aramean organizations in manifestations commemorating centenary (1915-2015) of genocides committed by the Ottoman Empire against various Christian communities in the Near East.

Messo represented WCA at the conference "The Alarming Situation and Persecution of Aramean Christians" that was held on 25 May 2016 in Brussels, organized by the European People's Party group of the European Parliament.

In 2016, he was invited to join the academic Minerva Center for the Relations between Israel and Aram in Biblical Times, and also gave lecture at the first annual conference of the center. During the following years, he continued to participate in various activities that organization.

In 2018, Messo led WCA delegation that participated at the "Third International Conference on the victims of ethnic and religious violence in the Middle East", that was held on 14 May in Brussels.

Works

Messo wrote several publications related to the history, present state, and future of Aramean people, and he also lectured on the same subjects, throughout Europe, the United States, Australia, the Middle East and India. Some of his works are:

• Messo, Johny (2005). "The Indigenous Origins of the Arameans of Upper Mesopotamia" (PDF). Bahro Suryoyo (6–7): 22–24.
• Messo, Johny (2010). "De christelijke Arameeërs onder het juk van de islam: Het verhaal van een vergeten dhimmi". De Islam: Kritische essays over een politieke religie. Brussel: Academic and Scientific Publishers. pp. 547–589.
• Messo, Johny (2011). "The Origin of the Terms Syria(n) and Suryoyo: Once Again". Parole de l'Orient. 36: 111–125.
• Messo, Johny (2017). Arameans and the Making of Assyrians: The Last Aramaic-speaking Christians of the Middle East. Aramaic Press.

See also

• Aramean diaspora
• Aramean Democratic Organization

References

1. Brock & Witakowski 2001, p. 124.
2. Name change: SUA to WCA
3. Rooy & Rooy 2010, p. 783.
4. Universiteit Leiden: Bibliography
5. SUA Youth Academy 2011.
6. Atto 2011, p. 349-350.
7. Syriac Universal Alliance: 2011 Turkey Report: Recommendations for promoting and protecting the human rights of Syriac (Aramean) Christians
8. Woźniak 2015.
9. Smyth 2012, p. 32-33.
10. Mutlu-Numansen & Ossewaarde 2019, p. 422-425.
11. Annual Activity Report 2016 of the EPP Group in the European Parliament
12. EPP Group (2016): Persecution of Aramean Christians
13. Conference on “The Alarming Situation and Persecution of Aramean Christians” European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium 25 May 2016. Statement by Johny Messo
14. Minerva Center members: Johny Messo
15. Dependency and Autonomy in Intercultural Relations: Israel and Aram as a Case Study: June 5th-9th, 2016
16. Writing and Re-Writing History by Destruction: Annual Conference of the Minerva Center for the Relations between Israel and Aram in Biblical Times (2018)
17. Third International Conference on the victims of ethnic and religious violence in the Middle East
18. WCA (2018): WCA President speaks at 3rd International Conference on Victims of Religious and Ethnic Violence in the Middle East
19. Forschungsstelle für Aramäische Studien (2013-2015)
20. Brock, Kessel & Minov 2018, p. 146.

Sources

• Atto, Naures (2011). Hostages in the Homeland, Orphans in the Diaspora: Identity Discourses Among the Assyrian/Syriac Elites in the European Diaspora. Leiden: Leiden University Press.
• Brock, Sebastian P.; Witakowski, Witold, eds. (2001). The Hidden Pearl: The Syrian Orthodox Church and its Ancient Aramaic Heritage. Vol. 3. Rome: Trans World Film Italia.
• Brock, Sebastian P.; Kessel, Grigory; Minov, Sergey (2018). "Recent Publications on Syriac Topics: 2017" (PDF). Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies. 21 (1): 143–195.
• Mutlu-Numansen, Sofia; Ossewaarde, Marinus (2019). "A Struggle for Genocide Recognition: How the Aramean, Assyrian, and Chaldean Diasporas Link Past and Present" (PDF). Holocaust and Genocide Studies. 33 (3): 412–428.
• Rooy, Sam van; Rooy, Wim van, eds. (2010). "Over de auteurs". De Islam: Kritische essays over een politieke religie. Brussel: Academic and Scientific Publishers. pp. 779–784.
• Smyth, Phillip (2012). "Syria's 31 Percenters: How Bashar Al-Asad Built Minority Alliances and Countered Minority Foes". Middle East Review of International Affairs. 16} (1): 25–42.
• SUA Youth Academy (2011). "1st Aramean Young Leadership Programme: The Road to the Future" (Document). {{cite document}}: Cite document requires |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |url= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |work= ignored (help)
• Woźniak, Marta (2015). "From religious to ethno-religious: Identity change among Assyrians/Syriacs in Sweden" (Document). ECPR. {{cite document}}: Unknown parameter |url= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |work= ignored (help)

External links

• Official website of Johny Messo
• Official website of World Council of Arameans (Syriacs)
• Johny Messo (2001): Assyria and Syria: Synonyms?
• Johny Messo (2004): The Identity of People Described in the Writings of Gabriele Yonan
• Johny Messo (2005): The Aramean Identity of Tur ‘Abdin and its Native Population
• SAFN: Suryoye Aramese Federatie Nederland

• 1978 births
• Aramean people
• Dutch politicians
• Living people