New UK Parliamentary Group aims to bridge divide between Turks, Kurds

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – The new All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) in the United Kingdom on British Turks and Kurds hopes to bring the two communities together, the director of the group’s secretariat said on Thursday.

Ibrahim Dogus, the Director of The Centre for Turkey Studies (CEFTUS), which was appointed as secretariat for the APPG on British Turks and Kurds, spoke to Kurdistan 24 about the new project and how it will work closely with the other APPGs on Kurdistan and Turkey.

According to Dogus, CEFTUS and the Centre for Kurdish Progress have worked together in the past on various issues affecting Kurdish and Turkish communities in the UK, as well as jointly organizing many events and meetings in the Parliament.

“There was a need to start up an APPG that can look into issues affecting our communities living and working in the UK,” he stated. “This is why we have started the [new] APPG.”

As secretariat, CEFTUS will “work to further links between the Turkish and Kurdish communities and their elected representatives at all levels,” a statement on its website read.

The group held its inaugural meeting on Wednesday where several British MPs, including the Secretary of the APPG on Kurdistan Gary Kent, were in attendance.

Dogus told Kurdistan 24 the new APPG group “plans to visit countries that Kurdish and Turkish communities of the UK are coming from, including Iraq, the Kurdistan [Region], and Turkey.”

With historical and present tensions between the Kurdish and Turkish community ongoing today, the project aims to bridge the divide between the Turks and Kurds.

“APPG on British Turks and Kurds aims to facilitate meaningful dialogue between the Kurdish and Turkish communities by organizing joint events [and] bringing communities together on their special occasions,” he explained.

The CEFTUS Director also noted the new APPG group would work closely with those on Kurdistan and Turkey “to maximize the effect of our work in the Parliament.”

“We want our communities to come together at [any] opportunity and work for the common good of all our people in the UK as well [as] in our homeland countries,” Dogus added.

On whether the APPG on British Turks and Kurds will address issues in southeastern Turkey (northern Kurdistan), Dogus said it “will work on both fronts including domestic issues affecting” communities in the UK and “issues affecting the same communities in their homelands.”