The hunger strike will take place on Wednesday 20th July outside of European Union House, Dublin 2.
The hunger strike will mark the 88th anniversary of Lausanne Treaty signed on 24th July 1923 which officially divided Kurdistan between Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria. The Treaty denied the very existence of the Kurds and exposed them to the most horrendous state terror that one nation could ever be subjected to. It rendered Kurds devoid of identity and aimed to wipe them off from the earth. Lausanne Treaty divided Kurdistan in a way that no other nation in the world has been divided; it surrounded it by its enemies from each sides!
Ever since then Kurdish people have been subjected to the state oppressions of Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria. Although the Kurdish population is estimated around 40 million but its identity is not recognised by the occupying powers of Kurdistan. In Turkey Kurds are referred to as ‘Mountain Turk’, their very existence are denied. Kurdish language is prohibited in public and anyone who comes out in defence of their national rights is labelled as ‘terrorist’. Currently 2000 Kurdish democratically elected politicians are imprisoned under the charge of ‘terrorism’. Around 3000 Kurdish children jailed under charge of ‘terrorism’.
Since Lausanne Treaty numerous Kurdish revolts have taken place to end the occupation. But as Kurds are encircled by enemies form all sides, all these revolts have been supressed and Kurds subjected to genocidal scale of state terror. During 1980s over 182,000 innocent Kurds were massacred by Saddam’s regime. The Islamic Republic of Iran declared Jihad against the Kurds in 1979 and massacred thousands of them. In Syria, Kurds do not posses Syrian citizenship and lack any ID card; they are treated as refugee in their homeland!
The Kurdish Association of Ireland launches a hunger strike to protest against the injustice and the crimes committed against the Kurds.
• We demand the revocation Lausanne Treaty or its replacement by another pact where the rights of the Kurds are recognised.
• We demand that the right of Kurdish people to self-determination as enshrined by the international laws must be recognised.
• While Middle East is going through change there is an opportunity for EU to support the Kurds to find a democratic solution to the Kurdish issue.
Kurdish Association of Ireland – 18/07/2011
[email protected]
Spokespersons: Ekrem Yavuz, 0852114150
Abraham Aryan, 0858141424
