MESOP NEWS : MORE US AMERICAN FRIENDS OF KURDS – Senator Charles Schumer Calls on Trump Administration to Recognize Independent Kurdistan

Basnews English – 28/09/2017 – 12:56 – ERBIL — US Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) issued a powerful appeal to the Trump administration on Wednesday to recognize Kurdistan Region as a sovereign state, after the region held a referendum on September 25 in which 92.73% of the people voted in favor of secession from Iraq.

“Monday’s historic vote in Iraqi Kurdistan should be recognized and respected by the world, and the Kurdish people of northern Iraq have my utmost support,” Schumer said.“I believe the Kurds should have an independent state as soon as possible and that the position of the United States government should be to support a political process that addresses the aspirations of Kurds for an independent state,” he wrote.Schumer, who is currently serving on the Senate Intelligence Committee and is now in his fourth term as a senator, lauded the Kurds as being among America’s “strongest and most supportive partners on the ground in the fight against terrorism.”

Schumer paid special tribute to the Kurdish armed forces, declaring “we have relied on the Peshmerga time and again.”Schumer said the Kurds had “stood up for the rights of minorities in a region where the oppression of minorities is too often the rule and conflict is often the result.”He emphasized “the United States should stand for self-determination for our strongest partners.”“The Kurds are one of the largest ethnic groups in the Middle East without a homeland and they have fought long and hard for one. Despite this, the Kurds continue to get a raw deal and are told to wait for tomorrow, which is why it’s past due that the world, led by the United States, immediately backs a political process to address the aspirations of the Kurds,” the US Senator explained.Schumer hoped that the Kurdish transition to independence could be secured through peaceful dialogue and negotiations among all Iraqis.

He added “Iraq’s neighboring countries, however, led by despots who all oppose a Kurdish State because it threatens the status quo and their self-interests, need to respect the need for the Kurds—and the Iraqis–to determine their own future.” Two other US congressmen, Trent Franks and Eliot Engel, voiced their strong support for independence of Kurdistan Region. Franks has introduced a bill in the US House of Representatives, calling for the recognition of self-determination of Kurds. www.mesop.de