PAK leader: Kurds only have one problem

No flags other than the Kurdistan flag should have the legitimacy to be raised upon KRG offices."

Baxtiyar Goran 2016/01/12 14:10

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (K24) - Peshmerga Commander and politician, Hussein Yazdanpanah, stated that Kurds have to take advantage of current opportunities and officially call for independence.
Yazdanpanah, Vice President of the Freedom Party of Kurdistan (an Iranian opposition party), speaking to K24 on a live television show said, "If the Kurds do not call for independence, it means that they have not yet realized the available opportunities [accessible to] them."
Yazdanpanah stated that the people of Kurdistan will support any leader and political party who works towards establishing an independent Kurdistan. "Kurds have to unite… our people only have one problem: the problem of not having an independent country," Yazdanpanah told K24.
According to Yazdanpanah, the future planned referendum is meant to serve as a democratic mechanism in order for people to determine their future and explains that such a referendum regarding independence is the best path to reach that goal. Leading this process is President of the Kurdistan Region, President Masoud Barzani.
In order to establish an independent country, Kurds should prove to the world that they are pro-democracy, stand against terror, and are a force for international and regional security, Yazdanpanah added.
Yazdanpanah was asked about not raising the Kurdistan national flag alongside the Iraqi flag in Kirkuk government offices replying, "No flags other than the Kurdistan flag should have the legitimacy to be raised upon the Kurdistan Region Government [KRG] offices."
On welcoming KRG officials in Turkey with the displayed Kurdistan flag, Yazdanpanah said, "[Displaying] the Kurdistan flag should not be seen as a gift from Turkey, it's the result of the Kurdish struggle."
The Freedom Party of Kurdistan [ known as PAK] is a Kurdish political party established in Iranian Kurdistan (Rojhelat) in 1991 by Ali Qazi, son of Qazi Mohammed, who was the first President of Kurdistan Republic of Mahabad in 1945. PAK Peshmerga forces are assisting the Kurdistan Region's Peshmerga forces along the Kirkuk and Bashiqa fronts since 2014.