Published on the website of the KNK on October 19, 2017.

The Declaration of the Consultation Summit of National Unity in Europe

At the KNK’s initiative, it has been a long time that a series of consultation meetings demanded by the Kurdistanian peoples and their aspirations have been held. In the National Consultation Summit of Silêmanî, which included various sectors of society, a decision was made to organise similar meetings with a focus on other parts of Kurdistan as well as Europe. According to the programme, the Consultation Summit were carried out in Kerkûk and West Kurdistan. For East Kurdistan, likewise, a Summit was held in Sweden. This range of meetings enjoyed a good level of participation and came up with important decisions.

Europe has been one of the major political fields for the Kurdish diasporic community. It has similarly hosted a significant number of non-Kurdish population of Kurdistan. Representatives not only from socio-political and socio-cultural organisations but a wide variety of individuals with different political outlook took part in the Summit, which was taken place in a very sensitive, complicated and difficult time. In general, the participants provided extensive analysis of current state of affairs. The Summit ended with a common suggestion and demand: The National Unity of Kurdistan.

It is crystal clear that the Kurdish question has entered a new phase, which contains both gain and loss. The Kurdistanian peoples have over the course of the last quarter of the century have accomplished important and strategic achievements. It is normal for the Kurds to clarify within this process their position and aspirations, sending through an open language a message to the international community, and demanding a just and reasonable status for their country. As the expression of their political aspirations, their demand ranges from democratic confederalism to national independence, among other political status. From the perspective of the Kurdistan liberationist movement, these demands are legitimate.

Against the advancement of the Kurdistan cause, especially in the last two years, the position of the occupying powers of Kurdistan has assumed a new colour. Among the occupying states of Kurdistan, the severest and the most oppressive attitudes have been those of Turkey and Iran. From the Arab front, both Damascus and Baghdad suffer from a deep internal crisis and have fallen under Iranian influence. In this state of pandemonium, the political convergence of Turkey and Iran has witnessed an increasing consolidation in order to contain the development of Kurdish politics. Their cooperation which mandates an aggressive position stems from their anti-Kurdish and anti-Kurdistanian strategies. Their deeds before the independence referendum held in the Federal Kurdistan well manifest this. They imposed a devastating embargo on the Federal Kurdistan which necessitated the closing of its airspace and geographical borders. Moreover, the Iranian government has counselled its Iraqi counterpart to pursue harsher measures in order to squeeze the Kurdistan Regional Government into an outright prostration.

Turkey through its military power and Iran via its paramilitary units ride their horses from the hinterland of South Kurdistan to the border areas of West Kurdistan in order to exhaust our people and prevent the renovation of Kurdistan. In the confrontation between the block of justice represented by the Kurds and the block of injustice symbolised by Turkey, Iran, and Iraq, the humanistic and democratic world have unfortunately not passed a successful test. Under the banner of neutralism and impartiality, they have taken the centre stage, causing a distress of the Kurdish population. This is why there have been demands from the West to support the democratic Kurdish national and patriotic movement, admitting that the Kurdish people have sacrificed a lot in order to promote humanist and democratic values along with their fight against religious conservatism, chauvinism, and the nationalism of Middle Eastern states. Albeit, it is well known that Middle Eastern and universal realpolitik is way off from the principles of justice. Their politics are overwhelming carried out on the basis of egotistic and self-regarding doctrines of their states. Notwithstanding, the Kurds’ regional and international friends did not abandon them and displayed their support when the Kurds were in the front-line battle.

In the Consultation Summit of National Unity in Europe, it was clearly pointed out that the Kurdish case has reached a very sensitive stage of either survival or annihilation; either triumph or collapse. No other path presents itself to the Kurds. In this historical junction, we have to direct ourselves towards victory and wholeheartedly offer whatever we can do to achieve it. In the latest stance taken by Turkey and Iran, it is clear that they have no intention for a negotiated settlement or a peaceful solution to the Kurdish issue! They are still looking for the replication of the discarded agreement of the past such as the Baghdad Pact and the Saadabad Pact. Clear as it is, they are still probing in the darkness of the past. But the Kurds and the Kurdistanian peoples live in today, looking for tomorrow, and seeking a bright and prosper future in which the whole peoples of the region will live in peace and harmony.

The current state of affairs demands from the Kurds and the Kurdistanians to assume more responsibility at the top of which is compromise and a national unity. Today represents the moment in which an internal agreement is of paramount importance, no matter under the banner of what pigment. The aftermath of the independence referendum in South Kurdistan well substantiates that Turkey, Iran, and Iraq refuse to accept the Kurdistanian peoples achieve their rights or their country enjoy its appropriate political status.

There is no pretext left for the Kurdistanian political establishments to evade the imperative of merging into a unified platform. The Consultation Summit of National Unity in Europe overtly calls upon all those who under the name of Kurds and Kurdistan engage in politics to mobilise all their resources to achieve a national concord. The materialisation of an internal unanimity and partnership render ineffective the looming catastrophe the occupiers of Kurdistan have intended to unleash on the Kurdistanian peoples.

In this occasion, the Consultation Summit of National Unity in Europe sets out the following submissions:

1. The occupiers of Kurdistan have been trying to come up with a new strategy against the Kurds and their country. As such, the Kurdistanians should in the shortest time forge an internal union to stand for their common will from both political and defence aspects.

2. In this sensitive and critical moment which the occupying powers of Kurdistan try to ignite a new type of war to deepen the current crisis, the leadership of south and west of Kurdistan should engage themselves in a sustained dialogue to overcome the embargos imposed by the occupiers. Inter-communal communication and physical transaction among the different parts of Kurdistan should be sustained in order to provide a national and patriotic response to the colonialist occupiers.

3. The decision made by the people of Kurdistan via the independence referendum is a just demand and the Baghdad’s multi-faceted attacks on South Kurdistan is in no way acceptable. The Baghdad government should respect the decision of the people of Kurdistan and take a clear stance in order to solve the problems in a peaceful way.

4. The democratic and humanist world should abandon their indifferent neutral approach and take a clear and straight position in relation to the injustice Turkey and Iran have been committing against the Kurdistanians. Furthermore, they should in an overt manner support the democracy-seeking liberationist movement of Kurdistan.

5. The classical strategy of denying or eliminating of the Kurdistanians are not in the interests of Turkey, Iran, and Iraq. Instead of committing themselves to this strategy, which only brings on them catastrophe, they should engage themselves in dialogue with a view to opening the path to a deserving solution.

6. We condemn in the strongest possible manner the Turkish state’s relentless attacks on Rojava. We similarly condemn the occupationist military operations of Turkey in the north of Syria which are aimed at thwarting the advancement of the Kurdish national movement. Moreover, the exemplary resistance of Rojava and the Syrian Democratic Forces should be supported.

7. The military and intelligence bases in both Turkey and Iran in South Kurdistan should be removed.

8. Turkey should bring its offensive policies in Kurdistan to an abrupt end, release all political prisoners including Mr. Abdullah Ocalan, and hand over the administration of the municipalities to those mayors who were democratically elected by their communities.

9. The Islamic Republic of Iran should end its oppression and exploitation of Kurdistan. It should cease the practice of execution and release all political prisoners.

10. The Consultation Summit of National Unity in Europe unreservedly supports the national resistance of the north and the west of Kurdistan.

11. The United States and the Coalition in the Middle East, the European Union, Russia, and the United Nations should take into consideration the legitimate rights of the Kurds and the Kurdistanians and not allow the colonialist states of Kurdistan to eliminate their achievements.

12. The Consultation Summit of National Unity in Europe confirms and reiterates the submissions put forward by the previous Consultation Summits and looks forward to their materialisation.

13. The advancements that have lately been made in Kurdistan did substantiate to the international community that Kurdish women are the major actor in the regional developments. To the extent the Kurdistanians need a national unity, they need concord among women as they are the core and the dynamics of Kurdistan’s national unity. The Summit calls upon all political and civil parties and institutions as well as all women to mobilise all their efforts to hold a conference on the national unity of Kurdistanian women.

14. In the European Union, a significant number of Kurds and Kurdistanians live, whose identity and fundamental rights should be acknowledged by each and every single state. In order to achieve this, the Kurdish diasporic community should also be willing to mobilise themselves and engage themselves in a continuous campaign.

15. The Kurdistanian institutions should boost their national and patriotic endeavours in the European fields and strengthen their liaison with the European institutions in order to foster better relations. Wherever they happen to be, the Kurdish diasporic community should establish and promote national and patriotic institutions to organise appropriate meeting and seminar on the Kurdistan issue. With due attention being paid to their national cause, they should take a responsible role in the process of a democratic integration in those countries they live. They can enjoy a peaceful and cooperative life with the European communities, leaving a positive impact on them, which would ultimately help them to embrace and support the Kurdish legitimate cause.

16. For the realisation of a broad general diplomacy, all national and patriotic establishments should promote a coordinated work, linking their diplomatic channels together in order to raise the voices of the Kurdistanians they represent.

17. In order to prevent the assimilation of our language and cultural heritage, the Consultation Summit of National Unity in Europe suggests that the Kurdish diasporic community should preserve their cultural values in a scientific and intellectual way, using their mother tongue in their domestic sphere. The Kurdish institutions should also take the matter of survival or eradication of the Kurds very seriously. In addition, they should organise their educational capacity and put them into effect.

18. Based on the preservation of national and patriotic interests, the Kurdistanian media and press should engage themselves in a coordinated work, avoiding antagonistic and confrontational attitudes.

19. The Consultation Summit of National Unity in Europe calls upon all national and patriotic forces of Kurdistan to take in their campaigns the democratic principles seriously, and mobilise all their efforts to promote and sustain the processes of democratisation.

20. The Consultation Summit of National Unity in Europe calls upon the Kurdistanian peoples to embrace all cultural, ethnic, religious, and confessional entities and regard them positively, as the toleration of different views and the promotion of a pluralist political culture breeds a peaceful life and a national harmony.

21. The Consultation Summit of National Unity in Europe recalls the death of Jalal Talabani, and pays tribute to his work and efforts for the Kurdish liberationist movement, promising to never forget them.

The Consultation Summit of National Unity in Europe
19 October 2017

The Netherlands

F
E
E
D

B
A
C
K