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Iraq's Kurdistan President slams Syria's
killing 3 Kurds
23.3.2008
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March 23, 2008
Erbil-Hewler, Kurdistan region 'Iraq', --
President of Iraqi Kurdistan Massoud Barzani has
condemned an incident in which Syrian security
forces
killed three minority Kurds.
The incident took place in Qameshli in north-east
Syria (Syrian Kurdistan) on Thursday when a group of
Kurdish youths were celebrating Nowroz the beginning
of the new Kurdish New Year.
"We strongly condemn the killing of the innocent
people in Qameshli. These people were just
celebrating the beginning of their new year and had
committed no crime," Barzani said Sunday in a
statement.
The Kurdish President called for an investigation on
the deadly incident, urging Syrian President Bashar
Assad to 'punish the perpetrators of the crime'. |
Massoud Barzani, the President of the autonomous Regional
Government of Kurdistan 'Iraq' |
Some 10 percent of the Syrian population is Kurdish
but, despite this, they lack any political influence
and the Kurdish language and flag are both banned.
Following a population census in 1962,www.ekurd.net
the Syrian government
stripped some 20 % of the Kurds of their citizenship
in an effort to Arabize the population, claiming
that many of the local Kurds had infiltrated the
country from neighboring Turkey and Iraq.
The effect of the census left the Kurds, whom had
lost their citizenship, stateless, despite the fact
that many of them fulfilled the demands set out by
the Syrian government such as being born in Syria.
Residing in Syria also meant many lacked the
possibility of gaining citizenship in another
country. The Arabization policy was part of a larger
movement that swept the Middle East during the 1960s
and ‘70s that promoted regional cooperation based on
a common cultural heritage.
In 2004, clashes in Qameshli and other towns between
Kurds and Arabs backed by security forces left
scores dead and injured. At least 300 Kurds were
reportedly arrested.
Syria has about two million Kurds among its 17
million population, mainly living in the mainly
Kurdish north-east of the country (Syrian
Kurdistan).
Syrian Kurds have become vociferous about their
human rights since the 2003 Iraq war, which has
resulted in their fellow Iraqi Kurds establishing an
autonomous region in northern Iraq.
Information for this report was provided by Presstv
ir | Agencies
** Kurds are the largest ethnic minority in Syria
making up 10% of the country's population i.e. about
two million.
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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