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The United States should do everything it can for Kurds, US Representatives Gerry Connolly and Peter Welch told news website Rudaw on Wednesday.
“Unfortunately, Kurds have been targeted by oppressive regimes for a long time. The United States should do everything it can to defend Kurds in Iraq, Syria and Iran,” Rudaw cited Connolly as saying. “Turning its back on Kurdish allies in Syria should not be an option for the United States.”
Echoing Connolly’s comments, Representative Welch said the United States “should do everything we can for the people fighting in Iran and Syria” and called protesters in Iran “brave and resilient people”.
Connolly condemned Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for calling Kurdish forces terrorists. “I have concerns over Erdoğan calling all Kurds, especially Kurdish forces, terrorists. The truth is, when the United States had no allies in the region, Kurds in northern Syria were the only group prepared to resist the Islamic State (ISIS) and to actively defeat it,” the representative said.
The congressman continued to condemn Iran, saying it is time for Iran “to go towards freedom and build freedom and democracy”.
“The youth in particular want to get rid of the morality police,” he said.
Congresswoman Madeleine Dean told Rudaw that the Iranian government “seeks to distract the youth and majority of the Iranian people from their true concerns”.
“My prayers go to their courage and fight to take their right to equality,” Dean said regarding Iranian women on the streets, protesting since mid-September following the death of Kurdish woman Jîna Mahsa Amini in morality police custody.
The United States should put extensive pressure on Iran “because this is not a Democrat or Republican issue, this is a matter of humanity”, Dean said.
As many as 473 people are believed to have been killed by regime forces since the protests began, according to Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).
