Elected Kurds from Switzerland issue an appeal for peace and dialogue

Elected Kurds of the diaspora and friends published a document in Switzerland. The appeal is addressed to: the KDP, Erbil, the PUK, Sulaymaniyah, the KNK, Brussels, the HDP, the Swiss parties and the press and media organisations.

The appeal, called the Lausanne appeal for peace and dialogue said: “The latest news of conflict and tension in the autonomous region of the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq is of great concern to us. Although ISIS remains a threat throughout the region, Turkish state military operations in northern Iraq are endangering the safety and lives of civilians.

The military and political pressure that regional powers are placing on the Kurdish population is creating tension and conflict between Kurds in Iraq and Turkey. The successful fight against IS with the international coalition in Syria and Iraq has, in recent years, added great momentum to the Kurdish people’s struggle for democracy, peace and freedom and led to much sympathy worldwide. At a time when military, political and cultural interest in the Kurdish people is increasing, news of tension and conflict in the autonomous region of the Kurdistan Regional Government, i.e. between the KDP and the PKK in particular, is very damaging to the just cause of the Kurdish people.”

The appeal continued: “As elected citizens of a neutral, democratic country such as Switzerland, where people live together peacefully despite all our political and cultural differences, we expect the Kurdish parties to solve their problems through dialogue, in a peaceful manner. We note with regret that the Kurdish people, who have been living under oppression for a century, seem to have given up hope for any peace and democracy in northern Iraq. This situation is of great concern to us and the friends of the Kurdish people.

Therefore, we, the elected Kurds of the diaspora and friends of the Kurdish people, invite the conflicting parties to resolve their issues around a table, with dialogue and mutual respect.

We would also like to state our willingness to contribute to such a peace process. We invite the major Kurdish parties and institutions, such as the Parliament of the Autonomous Region of Northern Iraq, the Kurdish National Congress (KNK), KDP, PUK and PKK, to advocate peace in a responsible manner. The only way to achieve this is through dialogue and by developing a democratic culture inside Kurdish organisations and political parties.”

Furthermore, the signatories called “on the Turkish authorities to withdraw all their military forces from the region and to respect the sovereignty of Iraq and the Kurdish Regional Government.”

Signatories:

Mustafa Atici, Member of the Swiss Federal Parliament

Ihsan Kurt, Municipal Director of Prilly

Sibel Arslan, Member of the Swiss Federal Parliament

Fabian Molina, Member of the Swiss Federal Parliament

Laurence Fehlmann Rielle, Member of the Swiss Federal Parliament

Carlo Sommaruga, Member of the Swiss Federal Parliament

Claudia Friedl, Member of the Swiss Federal Parliament

Jon Pult, Member of the Swiss Federal Parliament

Stefania Prezioso Batou, Member of the Swiss Federal Parliament

Ada Marra, Member of the Swiss Federal Parliament

Samuel Bendahan, Member of the Swiss Federal Parliament

Ursula Schneider Schüttel, Member of the Swiss Federal Parliament

Yvonne Feri, Member of the Swiss Federal Parliament

Nicolas Walder, Member of the Swiss Federal Parliament

Sandra Locher Benguerel, Member of the Swiss Federal Parliament

Edibe Gölgeli, Member of the Basel Cantonal Council

Bülent Pekerman, Member of the Basel Cantonal Council

Jean-Charles Rielle, Member of the Geneva Cantonal Council

Nicole Valiquer Grecuccio, Member of the Geneva Cantonal Council

Ueli Mäder, Sociologist