The Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) issued a strong statement on Wednesday condemning NATO, Sweden, and Turkey’s recent agreement as “an endorsement of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s genocidal strategy”.
The statement came in response to Turkey accepting Sweden’s NATO membership on the eve of the 2023 NATO summit in Lithuania on 11 July.
As a part of the agreement leading to the ratification, NATO confirmed that Sweden reiterated its commitment to not providing any form of support to Kurdish groups.
The KNK argued that the approval of Erdoğan’s oppressive policies against the Kurdish people during the NATO summit amounted to a betrayal of democratic values and a disregard for international human rights conventions.
In their statement, the KNK Executive Council said that the seven point agreement displayed a troubling deference to the demands of the Turkish state, while ignoring Sweden’s own democratic traditions and the principles outlined in international human rights conventions.
The KNK highlighted the significant role played by Kurdish forces in fighting and defeating the Islamic State (ISIS) just four years ago and urged NATO and any alliance committed to democracy and international stability to recognise this recent history and take it into account when making decisions.
The KNK also drew attention to the approaching 100th anniversary of the Treaty of Lausanne, which, according to the organisation, silenced the Kurdish people and divided Kurdistan.
“100 years after the Treaty of Lausanne opened a new chapter of suffering for the Kurdish people, NATO and Sweden have sanctioned Erdoğan’s anti-Kurdish aggression aimed at displacing and destroying the Kurdish nation – effectively renewing the commitment of world powers to eliminate the Kurdish people at a time when Kurds throughout Kurdistan and worldwide observe this dark centennial by commemorating their heroes who were martyred resisting a century years of genocide, plunder, exploitation and occupation,” the statement read.
