COPENHAGEN, Denmark – Kurds in Scandinavian countries and other parts of Europe have been staging rallies and showing support for Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani’s call for a referendum to decide on independence from Iraq.
Recently, Kurds demonstrated in Norway's capital Oslo and the Danish capital Copenhagen to show their support, after Barzani asked the Kurdish parliament early this month to fix a date for an independence vote.
In Copenhagen, hundreds of Kurds with roots in Iraq, Turkey, Iran and Syria and from different political parties attended a demonstration arranged by SKFD, the Confederation of Kurdish Associations in Denmark.
“As Danish Kurds, we say ‘yes’ to independence, ‘no’ to oppression and show our respect for the martyrs," said Bakhtiar Raof Rashid, a member of SKFD and vice chairman of the Kurdistan Democratic Party’s (KDP) branch in Denmark. "For so many years we have suffered in Iraq,” he told Rudaw.
Thousands took part in a similar rally in Norway, home to a large Kurdish community that has been active in raising awareness about the recent developments in Iraqi Kurdistan.
In addition, the Kurdish Student Organization (KSO) in Norway has launched a drive to collect funds for Kurdish families that have lost a breadwinner in clashes with Islamic State militants who have taken over a third of Iraq and declared an Islamic caliphate.
"Many families in Kurdistan are economically dependent on their men. When the man dies, the family's breadwinner dies. Therefore, we must help them," said Shara Ali, project manager at KSO, which earlier this year collected and shipping 350 kilograms of clothing for Syrian refugees in the Kurdistan region.
On Saturday, a pro-independence demonstration is planned in the Swedish capital, Stockholm.
"We hope to create more support for our cause in Europe by staging these demonstrations," said Jamil Mahmoud, a member of the Committee for the Support of Referendum in Kurdistan in Sweden.
A large demonstration is also planned in Brussels, according to Dellawar Ajgeiy, the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) representative in the European Union capital. He said that the effort to gain European support for Kurdish independence has partially succeeded.
"There is no common European view on the KRG and independence," Ajgeiy explained. “We do not expect the EU to dictate the future of Iraq and the Kurds. However, the EU believes in self-determination, so we do not think that they would oppose a referendum," he told Rudaw.
But Shiyar Sheikh Mirza, vice-chairman of the Federation of Ezidi Associations in Sweden, said he is disappointed with the EU for not lending greater support to Kurdish independence.
“The EU should speak with a higher voice and support our case because we are fighting for freedom," he said.
KRG diplomats have been lobbying in the United States, Europe and around the world to drum up international support for Kurdish independence.
Rudaw has learnt that the United States, France, Italy, Britain, Turkey, Jordan, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates are among states that have assured the officials they will show understanding, should Kurdistan declare independence.
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