Kurds gather in front of Russian consulate, ask for support in wake of US inaction

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – People in Erbil on Sunday gathered in front of the Russian consulate, calling for peace and asking Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government for help against the recent attack by Iranian-backed Hashd al-Shaabi and Iraqi forces in Kirkuk and other disputed areas.

Hundreds of people demonstrated before the Russian consulate in Erbil, waving Kurdish and Russian flags.

Meanwhile, in Germany, Kurds from all parts of the Greater Kurdistan gathered in Koln to call for an end to war and aggression against the Region.

“All Kurds in all four parts of the Greater Kurdistan support the Kurdistan Region,” one supporter from Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava) said. “Kirkuk is the heart of Kurdistan.”

“We’re gathered here in Koln to urge the international community, including Europe, to put an end to violence against Kurds in the Region,” another demonstrator said.

“Kurds were one of the only people in the world who stood strong and defeated the threat of terror,” he said. “Kurdistan will never fall.”

The demonstrations followed Saturday’s protests in front of the United Nations office in the Kurdistan Region capital and the diaspora where people urged the organization to protect the rights of the people of Kurdistan.

Last week, both Iraqi forces and the Shia militias led an incursion into the multi-ethnic city of Kirkuk, which had been under the protection of Peshmerga since mid-2014 after the Iraqi army collapsed and failed to defend the area from the Islamic State.

The people of the Kurdistan Region, including those from the city of Kirkuk who have lost their homes after the attack, were outraged at the international community’s inaction as the Shia militia’s looted and burned Kurdish houses.