Trump hotel in Washington cancels Kurdish event

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Trump Hotel in the United States capital has cancelled a planned event in support of Kurds in northern Syria, citing security concerns. Organizers say the event will go ahead at a different location. 

Frontier Alliance International (FAI) is an evangelical Christian organization that says it provides crisis response and humanitarian aid with many missions in the Middle East. They planned a “Night of Prayer for the Kurds” in Washington, D.C. on October 27, originally to be held in the Trump Hotel’s Presidential Ballroom.

FAI said they wanted to turn global media attention about the Kurds into advocacy. The event was first announced on October 9, but more than a week after booking the venue, the hotel informed organizers they could not host the event. 

“A few days ago, citing security concerns and other reasons, the Trump Hotel revoked our reservation to host this event at their venue,” FAI stated. The event will go ahead on Sunday in the Constitution Ballroom of the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington.

American lawmakers and the public have widely condemned the decision of President Donald Trump to withdraw US forces from northern Syria, leaving their Kurdish allies exposed to an attack by Turkey, which considers the Kurdish forces a terror organization. 

US Vice President Mike Pence last week negotiated a temporary pause in Turkey’s Operation Peace Spring that saw the Kurdish forces pull away from a stretch of the border. Russia and Turkey on Wednesday cemented a new agreement that dictates the Kurdish forces must withdraw from the entire length of the border to a depth of 30 kilometres within six days. The border will then be patrolled by Russian and Turkish troops. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has not yet commented on this new agreement. They had abided by the US-brokered one.

Many pundits have called the agreements – neither of which included the Kurdish forces in the direct negotiations – a surrender of the Kurds.

By choosing to hold its event at the Trump Hotel, FAI said it wanted to embrace a spirit of bipartisanship and distance themselves from political machinations against the president who is facing an impeachment inquiry. 

“Regardless as to whether or not you support the president or don’t support the president, we believe the Kurdish people are too important to be used as pawns in people’s present political obsession,” said FAI’s Joel Richardson, explaining the logic behind their venue choice.

According to the hotel’s website, “The opulent 13,200 sq. ft. Presidential Ballroom is the largest among Washington, D.C. luxury hotels, and is both elegant and timeless, evoking a classical motif with European influences.”  

That venue has proved to be controversial. 

“Wait… you want to bring people that are being oppressed and pray for them in the building of the oppressor,” asked Kurdish-American Dilman Yasin in a comment on FAI's Facebook post. 

Saying that Trump has “contributed to the ethnic cleansing and genocide of the Kurds” when he decided to greenlight Turkey’s military operation, Yasin objected to anyone paying the Trump Hotel to rent the ballroom for the event. 

Rudaw has reached out to both FAI and Trump Hotel for comment but has not immediately received a response.