Kurds in Canada trying to raise pressure on Turkey through Canadian government

The Kurdish community in Canada is keeping a close eye on events in their homeland. Troubled by the way their brothers and sisters are being treated by the Turkish government, they organized a protest in Toronto, Canada to try and raise awareness among Canadians about the situation. Their aim is also to try to raise pressure on Turkey through the Canadian government. 

“As Kurds from Canada watching what’s going on in Turkey specifically,  we are not happy: the Turkish government is not taking the path of peace, democracy and human rights,” said Hadi Elis, a Kurdish activist with the Toronto Kurdish Community Centre. “It’s persecuting racist polices against the Kurds in Turkey.” 

Elis organized the march to protest the Turkish government’s treatment of its Kurds.

Kurds in Canada are following events in the region especially closely since the collapse of a ceasefire between the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Turkish government late last month.

Elis notes that all this is happening while the West – including Canada – is battling the threat posed by the Islamic State group (ISIS). He says that “Turkey is complicating the issue, making its war on Kurds only instead of attacking those global threats that the Western world is experiencing.”

The support Elias is ultimately seeking is for Turkey to be removed from NATO. The plight of the Kurdish people is something he says his adoptive homeland is concerned about.

“The Canadian government and Canadian people have been great in supporting our cause. Canada is actually one of the few countries that understood the international global threat of the jihadi terrorism. The Canadian government is currently helping Kurds and other security forces in Iraq and in Syria. They are contributing in the right way,” Elias praised.

Kurdish activists in Canada are hoping to build on that support. The next step is for Elis to take his message to the international community. He is doing that through upcoming meetings with Canadian politicians.