Kurds in Nashville rally ahead of Kurdistan referendum

TENNESSEE, United States (Kurdistan 24) – On Sunday, Kurdish people in Nashville launched a campaign in support of the referendum for Kurdish independence scheduled for Sep. 25.

The rally took place at Public Square Park downtown where hundreds of Kurds alongside supportive fellow Americans were seen waving the Kurdistan national flag, encouraging people to vote in favor of Kurdistan seceding from the rest of Iraq.

Over the years, Nashville has earned the nickname of “Little Kurdistan” in the US, thanks to the large local Kurdish population which calls the city home but says its heart remains in the Kurdistan Region.

Many slogans could be heard at the rally: “Kurdistan is the true ally of the US in the Middle East,” “Support Kurdistan’s Independence,” “Yes for an independent Kurdistan,” and “Yes for democracy!” among many others displayed on large and colorful signs.

Tabeer Ismail Sindi, the Secretary of the Tennessee Kurdish Community Council and organizer of the campaign, told Kurdistan 24 Kurds have been fighting for their freedom for decades and that now is the time to peacefully and democratically demand the international community recognize the will of the people of the Kurdistan Region.

Despite issues neighboring countries and the US have regarding the timing of the referendum, senior Kurdish officials insist on holding the vote, stating the people of the Kurdistan Region have been waiting for the ‘right time’ for “almost a century.”

“I came all the way from Missouri to express my support for an independent Kurdistan, to salute the families of the martyred Peshmerga who have sacrificed their lives for Kurdish freedom. We are far from you now, but our hearts are always with Kurdistan,” a Kurdish citizen told Kurdistan 24 during the live broadcast of the rally.

An elderly American resident of Nashville participating in the campaign proudly held the Kurdistan flag in his hand. 

“The Kurds deserve their own homeland and country!”

“I have visited the Kurdistan Region before, and it was a truly a beautiful place. I have never met as gracious and brave of a people as the Kurds in my entire life. Congress and the President should learn about Kurdish history. Kurds deserve their homeland. The US' policy toward Iraq and the Kurdistan Region is wrong,” he told Kurdistan 24.

Kurdish communities in the diaspora are planning to hold several festivals in support of the referendum, such as the Aug. 26 one in Germany’s Cologne, and the scheduled Sep. 16 event in Sweden.

Editing by G.H. Renaud