Canada must end appeasement to Iran, support Kurdish people: Canadian MP

TORONTO (Kurdistan 24) – The Canadian government should stop making concessions to the Iranian regime and consider supporting the Kurdish people, a member of the Canadian Parliament said on Thursday.

Conservative MP James Bezan, who also serves as Shadow Minister for National Defense, called on Ottawa to end its silence and get behind the people of Kurdistan.

“Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is continuing his policy of appeasement toward the Iranian regime instead of standing shoulder to shoulder with the Kurdish people,” Bezan told Kurdistan 24.

In a joint statement on Tuesday, the Canadian politician condemned Tehran’s recent missile attack on the headquarters of two main Iranian Kurdish parties as well as a refugee camp in the Kurdistan Region's town of Koya which killed at least 15 and injured 42 others.

He also highlighted the Peshmerga’s sacrifices on the battlefield who “Canadian soldiers worked side-by-side with” in the battle against the Islamic State (IS).

“Trudeau needs to explain why he is silent when a Canadian friend and ally is being unjustly targeted by [the] murderous regime in Tehran,” Bezan told Kurdistan 24 via email on Thursday.  

“The world must be united in showing that this blatant violation of international law by the Iranian regime will not be tolerated nor normalized.”

The Canadian MP said Ottawa needs “a strong and principled foreign policy that supports our friends and allies around the world [so] tyrannical regimes such as Iran can be dissuaded from actions like this in the future.”

In 2016, under Trudeau’s leadership, Canada lifted economic sanctions against the Iranian regime in an attempt to re-kindle diplomatic relations. The current Liberal government has also rejected calls to list Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist entity.

Editing by John J. Catherine