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Syria: Kurds to boycott 22 April election
28.3.2007 |
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March 28, 2007
DAMASCUS, Syria, -- Kurdish political groups
in Syria say they will boycott parliamentary
elections scheduled for 22 April because they allege
some 100,000 people from the country's Kurdish
community have not been allowed to participate in
the poll.
Current electoral law in Syria "does not guarantee
conditions for free elections... and does not
recognise political or community pluralism," the
groups said in a joint statement. Kurds who number
in Syria between one and 1.5 million say they face
discrimination and other forms of exclusion from
public life.
The decision by the Kurdish parties to boycott the
election follows an announcement last week by the
majority of opposition parties in Syria not to
participate in the vote.
Some 10,000 candidates are set to contest 250
parliamentary seats, 167 of which are reserved for
the ruling Baath part and its allies.
Kurds are the largest ethnic minority in Syria
making up 10% of the country's population i.e. about
two million. Most of them are Sunni Muslims; there
are also Yazidi Kurds in Syria. A very small number
are Christians and Alawis.
adnki com
** Kurds in Syria often speak Kurdish in public,
unless all those present do not. Kurdish human
rights activists are mistreated and persecuted. No
political parties are allowed for any group, Kurdish
or otherwise. Suppression of ethnic identity of
Kurds in Syria include: various bans on the use of
the Kurdish language; refusal to register children
with Kurdish names; replacement of Kurdish place
names with new names in Arabic; prohibition of
businesses that do not have Arabic names; not
permitting Kurdish private schools; and the
prohibition of books and other materials written in
Kurdish.
More about Kurds in Syria - (Kurdistan-Syria)
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