Politicians, writers, journalists, and other prominent figures in South Kurdistan discussed Turkey’s incursions at a conference in Sulaymaniyah on 2 June.
Turkey’s aim is to resurrect the National Pact*, and the opposition to Turkey’s attacks is insufficient, journalist and political observer Mesud Abdulqaliq said on 2 June. “We will consider how to approach them during one of our meetings today.”
The politician Farhad Sangawy said that Turkey’s aim is not only to attack the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), but it also has problems with the Kurds in general.
The political observer and journalist Kemal Rauf said that more than 50 villages in Iraqi Kurdistan have been evacuated this year due to Turkey’s attacks, adding that they believe there is a mentality of occupation behind Turkey’s attacks, and that it is not related to the PKK.
The conference participants demanded a tough stance against the occupation and said no party should assist the occupiers.
They also called for the expansion of this dialogue to the regional level, particularly in Baghdad, since the occupation is a threat to the sovereignty of Iraq.
After the conference, they released the following resolution:
The Iraqi parliament should hold a session on the recent attack on Kurdish villages which has caused civilian deaths, and make the central government review its agreement with Turkey.
Turkey’s use of chemical weapons against the PKK’s guerrillas is a war crime, and the international community and the United Nations Security Council must intervene and stop Turkey.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) must not use Kurdistan’s wealth for personal or party political interests, and the Kurdistan Regional authorities must not allow the occupation of Kurdistan Regional territories. As the US ambassador warned at the end of last month, the status of the Kurdistan Region is under clear threat.
The Kurdistan Security Council and Police are responsible for protecting asylum seekers and must not allow any other country’s intelligence agencies to murder them. As we have seen in the past, many asylum seekers have been murdered, yet no one has been arrested.
All consulates and missions in the Kurdistan Region, the UN Security Council, and the UN representative in Iraq have great responsibilities in the matter. They need to work seriously with the relevant parties to put firm pressure on Turkey to stop the attacks and the occupation in the shortest possible time.
*The Ottoman Parliament adopted the National Pact (Misak-ı Millî) in 1920. It was later ratified by the newly established Turkish Parliament. According to the Pact, the borders of Turkey included (Mosul and Kirkuk now in Iraq), Aleppo (now in Syria), Western Thrace (now in Greece), Batumi (now in Georgia), Cyprus and a number of islands.
