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Kurdish Canadians brave cold to protest
U.S. inaction
28.2.2008
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February
28, 2008
The freezing cold weather wasn't enough to cool the
passion of Kurdish Canadians on Tuesday. About 250
of them gathered outside the U.S. Consulate on
University Ave. to protest that country allowing
Turkish forces to enter Kurdistan region 'northern
Iraq' to root out Turkey's Kurdish PKK freedom
fighters.
"Stop Turkish Fascism," the crowd chanted. "Double
faced USA."
Riza Aga, president of the Canadian Kurdish
Federation, said the rally yesterday afternoon was
to urge the U.S. government to protect Iraq's
northern border.
"The Kurdish people took part in that war (to oust
Saddam Hussein), where is our protection? Our
villages are destroyed,www.ekurd.net
our people are getting
killed," he said, adding his community thinks
Kurdish forces have been unfairly labeled terrorists
by Turkey and the European community.
In addition to lobbying America, Aga said the
demonstration was also to alert the Canadian public
about the Kurdish people's flight.
"What we have in Canada as Kurdish Canadians, we
don't have these rights in Turkey, even though it's
our own homeland. We do not have basic human rights
there," he said. "We're here, but our families are
back home."
Placards in the crowd highlighted their cause.
"Take your dirty hands off from Kurdistan," read
one. "Protect the human rights," "Stop the
genocide," read others.
Mehmet Kaya, a Canadian Kurd who attended the rally,
said the most important thing is for the US to
recognize the atrocities of Turkey,www.ekurd.net
given their recent focus
on human rights and freedom. He added the US should
be encouraging Turkey to accept the Kurdish call for
peaceful negotiations. |
Kurdish Canadians with Kurdistan flags on Tuesday.
About 250 of them gathered outside the U.S.
Consulate on University Ave. to protest that country
allowing Turkish forces to enter Kurdistan region.
Photos by Nuradin Waisy |
"The USA is allowing our enemies to kill our
children, our brothers, our sisters. It's not
right," he said. Earlier in January, the federation
held another rally outside Toronto's U.S. Consulate
lobbying that country for help and protection from
Turkey.
Aga said the cause is not for Kurdish people to
fight on their own. Everyone who thinks human rights
should be respected, he said, should care.
"We are going through a very difficult time and I
would be here even if I wasn't a Kurdish person. I
would be here to do the same thing I'm doing right
now, to raise my voice against the violation of
human rights. I urge all Canadians to pay attention
to this," he said.
Thousands of
Turkish troops crossed the
border into Kurdistan region last Thursday to root out
Turkish-Kurdish PKK fighters.
Since 1984 when the PKK
took up arms for self-rule in the country's mainly
Kurdish southeast of Turkey. A large Turkey's
Kurdish community openly sympathise with the Kurdish
PKK rebels.
The PKK demanded Turkey's recognition of the Kurds'
identity in its constitution and of their language
as a native language along with Turkish in the
country's Kurdish areas, the party also demanded
an end to ethnic discrimination in Turkish laws and
constitution against Kurds, ranting them full
political freedoms.
Iraqi Kurdistan politician says, Turkey is using
Turkey's Kurdish separatist PKK rebel group as an
excuse to invade Kurdistan region 'Iraq' to prevent
the establishment of Kurdistan state in the Kurdish
autonomous region in 'northern Iraq', Turkey fears
this could fan separatism among its own large
Kurdish population in southeast Turkey.
torontosun com | Agencies
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