Dozens of thousands of Kurds rally in Germany ahead of Kurdistan referendum

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – On Saturday, a large number of Kurds gathered in Germany’s Cologne in support of independence for the Kurdistan Region ahead of the referendum scheduled for Sep. 25.

The festival was organized by over 13 Kurdish organizations and groups in the diaspora, mainly in Germany, to express support for the upcoming referendum where the people of the Kurdistan Region will voice their desire to remain or secede from the rest of Iraq.

Many non-Kurdish participants joined the rally to express support for the Kurds right of self-determination. Kurds in attendance traveled from across Europe including the UK, Norway, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, France, and Switzerland, among other countries.

“It is a special day, where Kurds from different parts of the Greater Kurdistan have come together here in Cologne and are waving the Kurdistan national flag to support independence for the Kurdistan Region. The international community should know that Kurds are asking for a state of their own, as other nations have done before them,” said one Kurdish woman, who came from Berlin to participate in the event.

A letter written by the President of the Kurdistan Region, Masoud Barzani, addressing Diaspora Kurds was read at the festival, where he praised the gathering and the show of support for the vote, labeling the upcoming referendum day as a “historic achievement” in the Kurdistan Region’s people's struggle.

“For the Sep. 25 referendum, I call upon all of you to perform your patriotic, national, and democratic duty and fully support our right to self-determination. I ask you to vote for independence to end our oppression and to let the sun of freedom rise in honor of our martyrs' blood, for freedom, and for the happiness of future generations,” read Barzani’s statement.

Akif Hassan, one of the event organizers, told Kurdistan 24 the mass gathering shows Kurds are “tired of being oppressed,” and that the establishment of Kurdistan independent state is “all they demand.”

He mentioned that during Saturday's festival, over 20,000 Kurdish individuals gathered in Cologne in support of the Sep. 25 referendum.

Despite the opposition of neighboring countries and the US, the Kurdish officials insist on holding the vote on time, stating there is no turning back and that the international community should respect the people of the Kurdistan Region's right to peacefully and democratically decide their future.

Like in Cologne, Kurdish communities in Sweden have organized a similar festival in Stockholm on Sep. 16 where a large number of Kurds are expected to attend.

G.H. Renaud