MESOP : Berlin’s Kurdish community supports independence of Iraqi Kurdistan

ARA News

Berlin, Germany – The German capital of Berlin witnessed on Saturday a sit-in organized by Kurdish political forces in diaspora, including Europe organizations of the Kurdish Future Movement, the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iraq (KDP) and Komkar Organization (Kurdish political coalition in Turkey).

The gathering came in support to the independence project of Iraqi Kurdistan. The event took place in front of the U.S. embassy in Berlin on Saturday afternoon, where participants chanted slogans calling for the independence of the Kurdistan Region, emphasizing the need to a U.S. support to the Kurdish people’s aspiration in Iraqi Kurdistan.

The organizers handed in a letter to the office of the American ambassador emphasizing their support to the independence of Iraqi Kurdistan.

Speaking to ARA News, Jian Omar, spokesman of the Kurdish Future Movement in Europe, said that the purpose of their sit-in in front of the U.S. Embassy is “to send a message to the U.S. government to support the independence project of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, especially the position of the U.S. government is described as ambiguous and negative so far”.

“The U.S. sounds to support a unified Iraq sticking to the centrality of the Iraqi government, perhaps because this copes with the economic interests of America in Iraq, but they should not forget that it is one of the world leading democracies that supports the right of peoples to self-determination,” Omar stated to ARA News, pointing out that the U.S. had intervened in many regions of the world for the sake democracy, “and perhaps the most prominent examples for this are Kosovo and Bosnia”.

Massoud Barzani, president of Iraqi Kurdistan, had commissioned his parliament on July 3, to form a committee for organizing a referendum in order to determine the future of the Kurdistan Region, following the control of the Peshmerga forces over disputed areas between Baghdad and Erbil, in a move that deepened the rifts between the two governments.

“The Kurds have all the elements of establishing their own independent state for they live on their historical land and have a language, culture and private nationalism; in addition to all of this, they (Iraqi Kurds) have made a lot of sacrifices for the sake of freedom, proving in the recent years their ability to govern their areas and that they are worthy having a State that will be an example for a civilized democracy in the region,” Omar, media spokesman for the Kurdish Future Movement in Europe, told ARA News.

He also pointed out that the sit-in was the first activity they have done, while he noted that “a committee was formed by the parties organizing the sit-in to take on the task of organizing a number of events, seminars and activities in Germany and Europe to support the independence of Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

“The next work will be a demonstration in Brussels in front of the European Parliament for the same purpose,” Omar added.

Reporting by: Welat Ali