U.S. Congressional Candidate Hails Kurds, Peshmerga (Kurdistan Diaspora Confederation, Part I)
“One of the reasons we were so successful in northern Iraq is because of the Peshmerga and the Kurdish people.”
WASHINGTON DC, United States (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Diaspora Confederation is establishing a presence in the city of Moorhead, Minnesota, which lies in the northwestern part of the state, just across the Minnesota River from Fargo, North Dakota.
On Monday, Kurdistan 24 spoke with Alex Balazs, a Republican, who addressed the group and who is running to become North Dakota’s Congressional representative.
North Dakota is very much Republican territory, and the state’s current representative, also a Republican, is running for the post of governor, leaving the position of representative open to a successor.
Moorhead, Minnesota and Fargo, North Dakota are essentially one urban area and they have a significant Kurdish population. Mostly, they are Iraqi Kurds and their children, who immigrated to the U.S. in the late 1980s and early 1990s, fleeing Saddam Hussein’s severe repression, including the Anfal campaign and his use of chemical weapons against them.
Balazs served in the U.S. military and deployed to Iraq in 2003 in the war that overthrew Saddam and his regime. In that war, Balazs was an infantry officer and forward air controller.
Speaking to Kurdistan 24, Balazs had very warm words for the Peshmerga and the Kurdish people more broadly.
INSERT VIDEO: North Dakota republican congressional candidate Alex Balazs speaks to Kurdistan24
“If you know anything about the Kurdish community in northern Iraq, they’ve always been our strong allies,” while “the Peshmerga have been fierce fighters,” Balazs said.
“A rough translation of their name means one who faces death,” he continued, “and they've done it a number of times for America.”
“One of the reasons we were so successful in northern Iraq is because of the Peshmerga and the Kurdish people,” he stated.
Balazs also had high praise for Kurdish immigrants to America. “They come here and integrate themselves into the United States,” he said.
“The kind of people that are super trained, well educated,” Balazs continued. “They support America all the time. And as Americans, we really need to look to our allies and support them.”
“Not just because they support us, but because it's the right thing to do,” he affirmed.
North Dakota is holding its primary vote today to determine who will be the candidate who represents each party in the elections in November.
Balazs has received his party’s endorsement, and if Republican voters also chose him today, then the Kurds will have another friend and a strong supporter in the U.S. Congress.