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P R E S S R E L E A S E
18th Annual KNC Conference March 17-19, 2006 –
Gaithersburg (North Washington DC)
Kurdish Quest for Independence and Prospects for
Statehood
The Kurdish National Congress of North America
concluded its 18th annual conference on Sunday March
19th. The focus of this year’s conference was to
encourage in-depth discussions on all four parts of
Kurdistan and to bring political leaders,
intellectuals and independent activists from East,
West, North and South together. As in the past 17
years, the 18th Annual Conference got under way with
the raising of the Kurdish flag. Dr. Wafa Khorsheed
welcomed the attendees on Friday by briefly
mentioning the last year’s achievements and
encouraged everyone to fully participate in the
three day events.
Mr. Shwan Karim, KNC board member and chair of the
Youth Committee introduced the first panel by
listing some of the activities of The Kurdish
American Youth Organization (KAYO), a KNC affiliate,
and pointed out the
importance of youth in the future of our nation.
Subjects ranged from runaway youth and honor
killings to interracial and arranged marriages.
Panel members included Ms. Aryan Akrayi, Ms. Sheinei
Saleem, Mr. Nezar Ahmed Tovi, Mr. Ara Alan and Mr.
Butan Amedi. Much emphasis was given to young
Kurdish women’s rights and the value of
communication between parents and their children who
have been raised outside Kurdistan. Goran Sadjadi,
the president of KAYO also spoke of the
organization’s web site and the services they
provide including a place for youth to publish their
own articles and opinions.
Several guest speakers followed with a diverse set
of topics. Dr. Jaques Wilson of Kurdish Human Rights
Watch (KHRW) listed many projects in Southern
Kurdistan that are in process and answered questions
on status and focus of these projects. Dr. Kamal
Artin highlighted the importance of unity to achieve
independence, which has been described by some
leaders as wishful thinking. He argued wishful
thinking of other oppressed nations as well as noble
ideas of anti slavery movement, woman’s rights
activists, and many others who have made an
improvement in people’s lives have come true. He
differentiated between ideas and behaviors that
serve humanity and those that are against it. He
concluded that Kurdish dream of independence is just
a matter of time and achievable with unity among
Kurds and support from international community,
since it is a noble and humanistic idea or “wishful
thinking”. Dr. Kirmanj Gundi focused his talk on
Northern Kurdistan and mentioned the legacy and
birth of the Turkish state that resulted in banning
of Kurdish culture as well as denial of its
existence and attempts to obliterate the Kurdish
identity. He followed by saying that: “In the 1980s,
our people saw another terminology added to describe
their identity, the so-called Good Kurds, Bad
Kurds”. He followed by discussing the role of the
United States’ government, for coining the term
“Good Kurds” for the Kurds in Iraq, who assisted the
U.S. in its war to remove Saddam Hussein’s regime.
And that: “The term “Bad Kurds” the U.S. has
graciously applied to describe our brethren in
Turkey”. Mr. Bakhtyar Zuhdi, stressed that Kurdish
independence can only be secured by economic
independency. He reminded us that, our rural areas
should be revitalized and become more productive and
that our light industries need to grow to a level of
providing sustainability in case economic blockade
is imposed on an independent Kurdistan. He believes
that we are a long time away from economic
independency in Southern Kurdistan.
Chairman of the 18th Annual KNC Conference, Mr.
Thomas Ver Ploeg opened the Saturday sessions by
welcoming attendees and guests and touching on the
current events of Northern, Southern, Eastern and
Western Kurdistan. He stated that these are times of
great change and that this has been said for the
past 18 years which is testament to rapidly changing
political climate in the Middle East. He also
repeated the emphasis of this year’s conference on
different parts of Kurdistan and encouraged all
attendees to engage in discussions that were planned
specific to each occupied region as well as the free
region in Southern Kurdistan.
Sherkoh Abbas of the Kurdish American Committee for
Democracy in Syria chaired a panel on Western
Kurdistan and gave a report on the formation of the
Kurdish Front for Promoting Democracy & Freedom in
Syria. He followed by reading the 13 points issued
by the participating political parties of the
Washington Conference held the previous week. The
panel consisted of political party representatives
and independent Kurdish leaders such as Mr. Mobarak
Al-Khaznawiand and Mr. Abdel Baqi Yousif from Yeketi.
Panel members discussed their desire for regime
change in Syria to a democratic one that would
recognize a federal Kurdish state. Kurdish parties
are taking a leadership role in creating a
formidable opposition to the Baath Party instead of
following behind their Arab counterparts. Also, the
newly released report from Refugee International,
“Buried Alive” about the stateless people of Western
Kurdistan was mentioned several times and praised.
The panel on Eastern Kurdistan was diverse and
included five representatives from Kurdish political
parties. Ms. Soraya Serajeddini introduced the topic
by recounting the victimization of Kurds in Iran and
the need for Kurds to take a leadership role in the
Middle East. She stressed that while we should not
allow the world to forget the atrocities committed
against Kurds, it is time now to act as leaders and
not victims. Panelists discussed their desire and
accomplishments towards forming a political front in
Eastern Kurdistan. Mr. Hamid Bahrami of Komala Party
stressed the need to stop the Iranian nuclear
program and gave reasons why this move by the
current regime in Iran is destabilizing the world
and the Kurds’ responsibility at this junction in
time. Mr. Shamsi of Komala articulated the long
history of Kurdish national struggle and its unique
characteristics in relation to other ethnic groups
in Iran. He recounted his party’s role in promoting
civil groups in Iran struggling to achieve a better
life and tied it to the national struggle of Kurds
and their resistance movement. During the question
and answer session, Dr. Morteza Esfandiari of KDPI
stressed that his party included many Shiaat Kurds
such as himself. He also stressed the need for the
Kurdish opposition to work closely with other ethnic
groups in Iran. Aref Bawajani of the newly formed
Party Serbasti pointed out the failed attempts at
federalism and limited self determination for
Kurdistan and presented his views of independence
for Eastern Kurdistan from Iran as the only viable
option. Zagros Yazdanpanah, North American
representative of the Revolution Union of Kurdistan
followed by mentioning that his party believes in an
independent Kurdistan but will work within the
platform of a Federal Democratic Iran for the time
being.
KNC paid a special tribute to Professor Dr.Ahmad Ali
Uthman delivered by his long time friend, colleague,
and KNC past-president Dr. Hikmat Fikrat. Professor
Uthman passed away on December 14, 2005 leaving a
great void in the heart of all his friends and
associates who had the pleasure of knowing him. Dr.
Uthman was a professor of Oral Surgery and Oral
Medicine at New York State University in Buffalo and
a past Dean of the Dental College of the University
of Baghdad. He was a true Kurdish patriot. He had a
real passion for the causes of his beloved people
and that of the subjugated Kurdish nation at large.
Ahmad Uthman was one of the founding members of KNC
and a past executive vice president and general
secretary of the organization as well as a founder
and past president of the Kurdish-American Medical
Association (KAMA). As KNC members said their final
farewell to him, they vowed to keep his legacy alive
and follow his footsteps in the service of their
nation. (A full text of the memorial address in
addition to photos of Dr. Uthman can be found on the
KNC website). A letter from Dr. Uthman’s family
thanking KNC for the special tribute was read to the
audience.
Dr. Saman Shali, KNC president, addressed the
attendees describing the past year as one filled
with optimism as well as frustrations. He noted that
the call for independence has increased in the
region and for the first time in our history, an
opportunity has opened up to demand that our right
to self-determination be respected. He added that
Kurds have worked very hard to implement the process
of democratization in Iraq and have participated
actively in all the elections and have become the
glue to hold Iraq together. In conclusion he called
on the international community to recognize the
rights of the Kurdish people equally in all parts of
Kurdistan, and to stop labeling the Kurds as “Bad
Kurds and Good Kurds”. He also urged the
international community and organizations to conduct
a national referendum throughout Kurdistan, asking
the Kurdish people for once what they want and to
stop the policy of making decisions for them behind
doors.
Dr. Asad Khailany opened the discussion on Northern
Kurdistan by pointing out major changes in the U.S
foreign policy. He continued that while in the past
decades, the U.S was willing to work with
dictatorships and sacrifice democracy for stability
the current line of thinking is shifting towards
achieving stability through the promotion of
democratic governments. Mr. Christopher Hitchens,
the renowned journalist and political analyst spoke
of the U.S government’s realization that Kurds are
an ally once the Turks denied US forces of using
their bases to launch an attack on Saddam’s regime.
Mr. Brusk Reshvan stressed the necessity of forming
a unified front for representing all political
parties and personalities in Northern Kurdistan and
the creation of concrete solution proposals for the
Kurdish question so that everyone would know what
Kurds want. Ara Alan of KAYO stated the need for
dialogue between the US and the European Union and
the Kurdish parties in Turkey. The panelists further
expressed their skepticism about EU’s role and
motivation re-iterating that EU is mainly interested
in keeping the Kurdish problem away from its
borders. It has not announced any solution proposals
to the Kurdish question so far and is unlikely to do
so in the future. The Kurdish question for the EU is
a sub-topic under the Copenhagen Criteria. On the
solution to the Kurdish question in the North, the
U.S can play a more effective role; the southern
experiment is unfolding currently and it is highly
expected that both in West and East the U.S might be
a great factor. They also mentioned the need for the
Kurdish parties of the North to have a clear Kurdish
message and not to continue their failed strategy of
trying to be pluralistic democracy parties with
diluted programs. Mr. Jeff Klein of KurdishMedia.com
concluded the panel by recounting the positive
effects of Turkey’s bid to join the European Union
and recounted his experiences before and after the
reforms in Amed. He told the audience that the towns
and villages and the people are expressing their
identity more freely and while Turkey’s EU
membership is not be the whole answer, it has helped
the struggle in Northern Kurdistan.
Dr. Najmaldin Karim introduced the panel on Southern
Kurdistan, mentioning the achievements as well as
disappointments of the last few years. He mentioned
the lost opportunity of adding Kirkuk to the Kurdish
controlled region and declaration of independence in
2003. Dr. Liam Anderson, an expert on constitution
documents opened his talk by listing some of the
shortfalls of the draft Iraqi constitution. He
expressed reservations that the process for a
democratic constitution would succeed in Iraq and
even if it did, whether the spirit to implement a
democratic constitution exists in Iraq. Christopher
Hitchens participated in this panel as well and
re-iterated that the relationship between Kurds and
the United States and the West in general has
changed forever because of the war in Iraq. Qubad
Talabani, PUK representative in Washington DC,
mentioned accomplishments and much work ahead for
the KRG. He explained that while independence is
ideal, we need to build our infrastructure such as a
bank. During the question and answer session, Mr.
Talabani appealed to the Kurdish American community
to become more active and to lobby their government
on behalf of Kurdistan. He also denounced the
burning of the Halabja monument which was the
overwhelming opinion of the conference attendees.
Later on Saturday evening, KNC honored Dr. Najmaldin
Karim, co-founder and past president of KNC and
current president of the Washington Kurdish
Institute with its annual “Lifetime Achievement
Award”. Dr. Karim’s contributions to the Kurdish
struggle were chronicled in a slide show prior to
the banquet and included his tremendous effect in
promoting the Kurdish plight both in the United
States and in Kurdistan. The award ceremony
continued with presenting the first KNC “Kurdish
Artist Appreciation” award to Zuhdi Sardar, a
longtime KNC member and supporter. Mr. Sardar has
promoted the Kurdish cause through his art for
decades and is a well-known painter and sculpture in
the United States and the world.
Mr. Nijyar Shemdin, the Kurdish Regional Government
(KRG) representative in North America and the UN,
addressed the conference on Sunday with a message of
support from Nechirvan Barzani, Prime Minister of
Kurdistan. Mr. Shemdin stated that the Prime
Minister wishes success for the conference and
appreciates what KNC is doing for Kurds and
Kurdistan. He also relayed to the members the great
efforts of the Kurdistan Regional Government in
trying to keep Kurdistan safe and prosperous by way
of fighting the spirits of evil who do not want a
secure and safe Kurdistan. He followed by saying
that the Prime Minister asks all international
organizations including KNC to support the KRG in
this effort.
The KNC 18th annual conference concluded with the
election of the Board of Directors and a committee
to review the organization’s bylaw. The newly
elected KNC Board then met and selected the KNC
Executive Committee.
Results from the elections are as follows:
Dr. Saman Shali President
Ms. Soraya Serajeddini Vice President
Mr. Buland Baban Treasurer
Mr. Tom Ver Ploeg Secretary
Dr. Wafa Korsheed Board Member
Dr. Kamal Artin Board Member
Mr. Shwan Karim Board Member
Miss Lana Salih Board Member
Mr. Brusk Reshvan Board Member
The conference ended with
calls and recommendations to the International
community and the Kurdish leaderships:
1. Call for Unity among Kurdish organizations
and parties for the creation of a common strategy
and National
Agenda.
2. The conference attendees emphasized the
new realities and opportunities in Western and
Eastern Kurdistan
for gaining Kurdish right to self-determinations
3. The importance of Turkey to be a part of
the European Union while recognizing the cosmetic
nature of many
of the reforms implemented up to this point.
Conference attendees call on the European Union to
accept
Turkey to the union only when real democratization
takes place in Turkey.
4. The Kurd in Southern Kurdistan facing
challenges starting with the new constitution to the
possibility of the
civil war. The conference called on the Kurdish
parliament to be prepared for establishing a Kurdish
state
and to lobby for support of the US, UN and other
allies especially if civil war breaks out. No one
can blame
the Kurds of breaking away from Iraq because the
Kurds did everything in their power to keep Iraq
together.
5. Speed up the re-unification of the two
Kurdish Regional Governments in Southern Kurdistan.
6. Call on UN to conduct a national referendum in
Southern Kurdistan.
7. KNC must aggressively lobby the U.S State
Department, the Senate, and the Congress to change
its policy
with regards to the Kurdish issue and equally
promote democracy and Kurdish rights in all parts of
the
Middle and Near East including the occupying
governments of Iran, Syria and Turkey.
Public Relations & Media Contact: Soraya
Serajeddini (408) 834-5557
The Kurdish National
Congress of North America
P.O. Box 1663, P.O. Box 43098, P.O. Box 545
Lake Forest, CA 92630 Mississauga, ONT Millersville,
MD 21108
USA L5B 4A7, CANADA USA
Tel/Fax: 949-583-1417 Tel 905-306-7300 Tel:
408-834-5557
www.kncna.org
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