Kurdistan Vice President calls upon Turkey to resume peace talks with Kurds

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – The Vice President of the Kurdistan Region calls upon Turkey to resume peace talks with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Kosrat Rasool Ali, Vice President of the Kurdistan Region, in an interview with Corriere Della Sera, said that it is wrong that Turkish president Erdogan talks about PKK and Islamic State (IS) with the same tone.

Vice President Ali said that we support dialogue to determine Kurdish rights in Turkey, adding that “We are against PKK armed struggle.”

Ali added that “Kurds and the west are pro democracy and fight against terror. What the Kurds are doing is not a fight for themselves, but it is a fight on behalf of the world.”

Kosrat Ali, Deputy Secretary General of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), third largest party in the Kurdistan Region, told the Italian newspaper that he had spent his youth fighting Iraqi former dictator regime as a Peshmerga fighter.

“Kurdistan cannot continue like this. We are still unwillingly linked to Lausanne agreement of 1923, which divided Kurdish land, we need a new Lausanne to replenish freedom of nations in the area,” Kurdistan Region Vice President stated.

Regarding the war against IS extremists Vice President Ali said that the battle is still ongoing, stating that “IS committed genocide against Kurdish Ezidis, Christians and Shias, they are a danger to the whole world if not stopped.”

“The recapture of Palmyra by IS extremists is a sign that the war against the extremists will not finish so soon,” he added.

Vice President Ali also stated that Kurdistan Region leadership will work on reorganizing the Peshmerga forces and have a unified, strong force to defend the Region, hoping that “Peshmerga forces are well armed by the Europe.”

Editing by Ava Homa