![Pervin Buldan [R], the co-chair of the pro-Kurdish HDP party in Turkey heads her party's delegation to the Kurdistan Region, first since she was elected a leader in February 2018. Photo: Rudaw TV](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.rudaw.net%2Fs3%2Frudaw.net%2FContentFiles%2F370957Image1.jpg&w=3840&q=75)
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The delegation of the pro-Kurdish HDP party headed by the party's co-chair Pervin Buldan are in a meeting with Masoud Barzani, the KDP head. They are scheduled to meet with the KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani later on in the day.
The People's Democratic Party is on a three-day visit to the Kurdistan Region where they are planning to strengthen their relations with all Kurdistan parties, a first such tour since the party elected new co-chairs in February.
Osman Baydemir, a senior HDP member who is part of the delegation, said that Kurds in the Kurdistan Region and other parts of Greater Kurdistan need to be better equipped to face future challenges.
The visit is a reminder to the Kurdish public that the HDP's past warnings "unfortunately" came to realization, Baydemir said.
He was part of the HDP delegation in 2016 headed by the then party's co-chair Selahattin Demirtas visiting the Kurdistan Region where they met with all senior Kurdish leaders.
Demirtas, who is now in Turkish prison on alleged charges of terrorism, complained back then about the lack of unity among the Kurdish parties.
"We met with his excellency President Barzani, his excellency the prime minister, and all Kurdish parties. Unfortunately the issues we raised, and the fears we touched on back then came to realization," Baydemir told reporters on Friday.
The Kurds in Iraq held an historic vote on independence last fall that triggered deadly military confrontation between the Peshmerga and the Iraqi forces resulting in the fall of the then KRG-held oil-rich Kirkuk to Baghdad. Meanwhile, the Kurds in Syrian Kurdistan or Rojava lost the Kurdish canton of Afrin to Turkish forces in March.
"This time around, we will share our thoughts on the fears, challenges, and the threats facing the Kurds in the future," Baydemir explained regarding the agenda of the meeting.
The delegation is scheduled to meet with main Kurdish parties including the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU) and the Islamic Group (Komal) on Sunday, in addition to the Gorran (Change) Movement and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) on Monday in Sulaimani.
It is composed of co-chair Pervin Buldan, and deputies Osman Baydemir, Feleknas Uca, Imam Tascier, and Berdan Ozturk.
Demirtas, on his 2016 visit following his meeting with the Kurdish leadership, noted that the Kurdish nation had suffered tremendously for the last 100 years at the hands of their respective countries. He also reminded the Kurds that they have to look into the mirror for their own problems.
"We should criticize ourselves, too," he said while discussing the lack of unity between Kurdish parties in all four parts of Greater Kurdistan, referring to the Kurdistan Region in northern Iraq, East Kurdistan or Rojhelat in Iran, West Kurdistan or Rojava in Syria, and North Kurdistan in Turkey.
