Mandela’s great-grandson says he shares the plight of Kurds

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Siyabulela Mandela, the great-grandson of South Africa's former president Nelson Mandela, said that his nation shares the suffering of Kurds in their struggle for basic rights and self-determination. 

The young Mandela, who arrived in the Kurdistan Region on Monday to attend Erbil Forum, traveled around the region, including a visit to Halabja. 

He told Rudaw’s Shaho Amin hours after his arrival in Erbil on Monday that he feels at home in the Kurdistan Region and wants to discover more about the Kurds. 

“What links my people, particularly the black people in South Africa, is the connection that fight[s] for liberation, that fight[s] against different forms of injustice,” he said. “We share the plight of the Kurdish people for they have a similar history as my people.”

Nelson Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist and politician who broke barriers to become South Africa’s first black president. 

“Violence alone cannot be the solution to problems that we confront here in the Middle East, particularly problems that the Kurdistan people confront in the Middle East. Violence is not the only solution, but mediations, negotiations, and dialogue can also help us secure a much better future for the Kurdistan people,” the leader’s great-grandson said.