Federal government of Germany should support the Kurdish people’s initiative to become independent from Iraq

On the occasion of the forthcoming referendum on the independence of Iraqi Kurdistan, the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) has appealed to the German federal government to support the Kurdish peoples’ initiative for the establishment of an independent state in northern Iraq. “Various governments in Baghdad have repeatedly attacked Iraqi Kurdistan, even with banned weapons such as poison gas. In the 1970s and 1980s, the Kurds and other minorities even became victims of genocide crimes and systematic violent expulsions from oil-rich areas. Hundreds of thousands of people have suffered – and their ordeal will not be forgotten. It is more than understandable that the Kurds are trying to take their fate into their own hands now,” explained Kamal Sido, the STP’s Middle East consultant, in Göttingen on Friday.

“Supported by Germany, Iraqi Kurdistan has achieved a lot in the struggle against the Islamic State (IS) terrorists since 2014. This deserves great respect and recognition – and it allows us to hope that that Germany will support the Kurdish people’s right to self-determination, despite that fact that Baghdad opposes,” Sido emphasized. “The Yazidis, the Assyrians/Chaldeans/Aramaeans, the Turkmen, and the Shabak must not be forgotten either! Their rights must be recognized by the constitution as well – and there must be more democracy, more freedom of expression, and more freedom of the press.”

Although the Iraqi parliament has rejected the Kurdish’ peoples referendum – and although other countries, including the United States, are against a referendum as well – the government of the autonomous region of Kurdistan is planning to carry out a vote on September 25th. The inhabitants of the oil-rich region around Kirkuk, which is not officially part of the autonomous region, must supposed to be able to vote too.

According to the STP, the vast majority of the Iraqi Kurds are in favor of an independent state. However, the opposition in Kurdistan has repeatedly stated that there must be democracy, further initiatives to establish a rule of law, more freedom of the press, and more freedom of expression. Apart from that, it will be necessary to work out a solution for the future form of government and for federal structures in the state. Given the terrible civil war in southern Sudan, which broke out shortly after the region became independent, the STP warns that there might be dreadful consequences if these problems are ignored. It will be necessary to find an agreement between representatives of the Yazidi, the Christian, and the Turkmen people living in Kurdistan – focusing on the aspect of autonomy or self-administration for areas in which the members of these ethnic groups form the majority.

There are about six million people (including at least two million refugees) living in Iraqi Kurdistan, which (including the controversial stretches of land) covers about 79,000 square kilometers.