With the handover of Iraqi sovereignty now complete, the Iraqi interim government has begun making plans for the nation's elections in 2005 by preparing a new national census. The new census includes Assyrians who, though they represent as much as 10 percent of the Iraqi population, were previously classified as Arabs under the Baath party census, denying, according to the Assyrian International News Agency, their "ethnic, historical, cultural and indigenous status within Iraq."
The old census classified the modern Assyrian minority as "Athori," an Arabic term meant to distinguish them as a Christian Arab minority different from the Ancient Assyrians, the "Ashori." The use of the word "Ashori" in the new Iraqi census is seen as important because it identifies Assyrians as a distinct ethnic group, and is a first step towards proportionate political representation. Though Assyrians account for as much as 10 percent of the Iraqi population, they receive only 4 percent of the representation due to their previous omission from the census.
