Kurdish community in Sweden calls authority to support Kurdistan referendum
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdish Communities’ Federation in Sweden sent a letter to the Swedish government and the EU urging them to support Kurdistan’s upcoming independence referendum scheduled for Sep. 25, 2017.
The Federation, founded in 1981, is the oldest and largest Kurdish community in Sweden which consists of almost 35 Kurdish organizations from different parts of the Greater Kurdistan.
“We see the referendum as an important case,” Keya Izol, the head of the Federation told Kurdistan 24 on Friday.
“We have sent a letter to Swedish political parties, the government, the EU, Russia, and the US to support the Kurdistan Region’s referendum,” Izol continued.
The head of the Federation added they had requested “them to send observers to monitor the process on Sep. 25.”
The association has also planned to hold a festival on Sep. 16 in support of the referendum.
“We call on all the Kurdish people in Sweden to participate in this important event,” Bilal Gorgu, the Federation’s project manager told Kurdistan 24.
“We will also hold a seminar in the Swedish Parliament on Sep. 20,” he noted.
Senior Kurdish officials have stated there is no turning point in holding the referendum, adding the people of the Kurdistan Region—like other nations in the world—have the right to decide on their future.
The President of the Kurdistan Region Masoud Barzani has repeatedly stated officials in Baghdad treat the people of the Region as second-class citizens and refuse to share power.
Similar to Sweden, Kurdish communities in Germany have planned to hold a similar festival on Aug. 26 to support the independence vote.
Kurds are arguably the largest stateless nation in the world, estimated at over 40 million people, who are mostly settled in Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria.
Establishing an independent Kurdish state has been a long-awaited dream of every Kurd around the world.
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany
(Awara Hawrami contributed to this report)
