Kurdistan
Members of a delegation from Europe visiting the Kurdistan Region to promote peace between the PKK and Turkey sit in front of an Erbil hotel on June 14, 2021. Photo: Defend Kurdistan/Twitter
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Members of a foreign delegation said security forces prevented them from holding a press conference in front of the United Nations office in Erbil on Monday. The visiting delegation is in the Kurdistan Region to promote peace talks to end the conflict between Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Duhok province.
The group, which includes German politicians, wanted to make a statement to the press in front of the UN office addressing issues of human rights and international law, but were prevented from leaving their hotel, according to GemeinsamKampfen, a Kurdish women’s peace organization that is part of the delegation.
“We have been restrained to the hotel in Erbil. The reading of our statement in front of the UN has been prohibited,” Michael Neuhaus, federal spokesperson for Left Youth, an organization affiliated with the German Left party, said on Twitter.
“The press statement was released inside the hotel. There was a lot of press present. Reading press statements while police and military stand in front of the door is still not something ordinary,” Neuhaus added.
A purpose of the delegation’s visit to the Kurdistan Region was to gather information about Turkey’s ongoing military intervention against the PKK, launched in late April. Several Peshmerga have been killed since Turkey began its operation. The KRG has blamed the PKK, which denies the charge. The PKK is an armed group fighting for greater rights for Kurds in Turkey and has bases in the Kurdistan Region's mountains.
This is not the first hiccup on the group’s trip to Erbil. On Saturday, several of them were detained during their journey, including two politicians of the German Left party. Cansu Ozdemir was detained by German police in Dusseldorf and Hakan Tas was held for several hours in Erbil.
“We will still fight for peace and I will attend peace conferences and talks in the future,” Tas tweeted on Monday.
Prior to the delegations’ arrival, the Kurdistan Region’s Ministry of Interior accused the PKK of sending Europeans to the Kurdistan Region to disturb the peace. “If they really want peace, let them turn their backs on Qandil because the source of the violence and unrest is there,” the ministry stated, referring to the PKK’s headquarters in the Qandil mountains.
The organization Defend Kurdistan, also part of the visiting delegation, said today, ahead of a meeting with Gorran, “Our struggle will not stop until we have changed the conditions.”
Rudaw English reached out to the KRG for comment but had not received a response at time of publication.
The group, which includes German politicians, wanted to make a statement to the press in front of the UN office addressing issues of human rights and international law, but were prevented from leaving their hotel, according to GemeinsamKampfen, a Kurdish women’s peace organization that is part of the delegation.
“We have been restrained to the hotel in Erbil. The reading of our statement in front of the UN has been prohibited,” Michael Neuhaus, federal spokesperson for Left Youth, an organization affiliated with the German Left party, said on Twitter.
“The press statement was released inside the hotel. There was a lot of press present. Reading press statements while police and military stand in front of the door is still not something ordinary,” Neuhaus added.
A purpose of the delegation’s visit to the Kurdistan Region was to gather information about Turkey’s ongoing military intervention against the PKK, launched in late April. Several Peshmerga have been killed since Turkey began its operation. The KRG has blamed the PKK, which denies the charge. The PKK is an armed group fighting for greater rights for Kurds in Turkey and has bases in the Kurdistan Region's mountains.
This is not the first hiccup on the group’s trip to Erbil. On Saturday, several of them were detained during their journey, including two politicians of the German Left party. Cansu Ozdemir was detained by German police in Dusseldorf and Hakan Tas was held for several hours in Erbil.
“We will still fight for peace and I will attend peace conferences and talks in the future,” Tas tweeted on Monday.
Prior to the delegations’ arrival, the Kurdistan Region’s Ministry of Interior accused the PKK of sending Europeans to the Kurdistan Region to disturb the peace. “If they really want peace, let them turn their backs on Qandil because the source of the violence and unrest is there,” the ministry stated, referring to the PKK’s headquarters in the Qandil mountains.
The organization Defend Kurdistan, also part of the visiting delegation, said today, ahead of a meeting with Gorran, “Our struggle will not stop until we have changed the conditions.”
Rudaw English reached out to the KRG for comment but had not received a response at time of publication.
Comments
Rudaw moderates all comments submitted on our website. We welcome comments which are relevant to the article and encourage further discussion about the issues that matter to you. We also welcome constructive criticism about Rudaw.
To be approved for publication, however, your comments must meet our community guidelines.
We will not tolerate the following: profanity, threats, personal attacks, vulgarity, abuse (such as sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia), or commercial or personal promotion.
Comments that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected. Comments are not edited – they are either approved or rejected.
Post a comment