Kurdish singer ended Sykes-Picot three years ago
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – A Kurdish singer added the Kurdistan borders to the world map three years ago in a music video.
Aras Fatih Rasul, mostly commonly known as Aras Koyi, had a hit with a song on Kurdistan’s independence, called Kurdistana Min, which means “My Kurdistan”. The 14-minute-long video visualizes the Kurdish aspiration towards autonomy.
“Never forget that you are the children of a nation that faced genocide,” a Kurdish child quotes Koyi’s advice, as the singer plays the role of a geography teacher at an elementary school.
In the video clip, students ask Koyi why the name and borders of Kurdistan are not printed on the world map. The teacher encourages students to unite and create a special event and declare the independence of Kurdistan. School children begin to inform and invite foreign diplomats and people from different parts of Kurdistan to the event.
In an interview with Kurdistan24 on Wednesday, Koyi said, “I chose children to declare independence because whatever is in their hearts is on their tongues. They have a pure heart.”
Regarding the reaction of the children who participated in the video clip, Koyi stated, “About 4,000 children were involved in the last part of the video clip. They were excited about the event, and of course, it was not easy to control all of them.”
Koyi says the audio for the song alone took two months to prepare excluding the time to prepare the video. The song has gained popular among Kurds around the world.
Today, the Kurdish referendum and discussions of independence are one of the hottest topics in the Kurdistan Region and the Middle East.
President of the Kurdistan Region Masoud Barzani has called for a referendum to be held by the end of 2016. All Kurdish parties agree that the people of the Region have the right to decide on their future.
Recently, Kurds in different parts of the world condemned the Sykes–Picot agreement that resulted in the Middle East of today.
The 100-year Sykes-Picot agreement was created as a secret agreement during World War I on May 16, 1916, between the superpowers, including Great Britain and France with the assent of imperial Russia, for the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire.
Kurds see themselves as one of the primary victims of the agreement. What is known as the Greater Kurdistan has been divided mainly between four countries: Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria. Kurds are considered the largest nation in the world without a country.
Reporting by Mewan Dolamari
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany and Ava Homa