Kurdistan Parliament observes minute of silence for anniversary of Danielle Mitterrand death

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Parliament observed a minute of silence to mark the 10th anniversary of former French First Lady Danielle Mitterrand’s death on Tuesday.

The minute of silence was observed at the beginning of a parliamentary session attended by Kurdish lawmakers, the speaker of parliament and her deputies, and French Consul General Olivier Decottignies in Erbil.

In her remarks, Speaker Rewaz Faiq highlighted Mitterrand’s “selflessness and loyalty and her unfailing support throughout all the tragedies that befell the people of Kurdistan,” according to the legislative house’s media.

The former French First Lady played a decisive role in urging world leaders to aid and protect the persecuted Kurdish region from Saddam Hussein’s military in 1991. She visited the nearly two million refugees who had fled a ferocious Iraqi assault to the Turkish and Iranian borders that year.

She was a strong advocate for the establishment of a no-fly zone over the Kurdistan Region to protect it against Saddam’s warplanes and helicopter gunships. She was later named as “Mother of the Kurds” by the Kurdish leadership for her support.

Mitterrand also extended her support to the Kurds of Turkey and Iran. She sent observers to the court hearings of Kurdish activists in Turkey in the 1980s and raised awareness of the Kurdish issue in that country.

Schools in the Kurdistan Region cities of Erbil and Sulaimani are named after Mitterrand in tribute to her support for the Kurdish cause.