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Syrian Kurds want referendum after fall of
Bashar al-Assad
29.1.2012 |
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(From left) Dr Abdulhakim Bashar, secretary-general
of the Kurdish Democratic Party in Syria, Kamal
Kirkuki, Kurdistan parliament speaker, Massoud
Barzani, Kurdistan region president and Barham Salih,
the prime minister of Kurdistan, at the conference in
the Iraqi Kurdistan regional capital of Erbil. Photo
: KRP
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January 29, 2012
ERBIL-Hewlęr, Kurdistan region 'Iraq', —
Syrian Kurdish party leaders said they want a
referendum after an eventual fall of embattled
President Bashar al-Assad to decide on their
people's future as part of Syria.
More than 200 Syrian Kurds from 25 countries are
taking part in a two-day conference in the Iraqi
Kurdish regional capital of Erbil.
"In Syria, we will not obtain the same thing as the
Iraqi Kurds because the circumstances are
different," Hamid Darwish, head of the Kurdish
Democratic Progressive Party of Syria, told AFP on
the opening day.
"We wants our national rights to be written into the
constitution and approved by our Arab brothers," he
said.
Abdul-Hakim Bashar, who leads the Kurdish Democratic
Party in Syria, said his people had "the right to
self-determination within the framework of the unity
of Syria and based on the principle of
decentralisation."
Kurds account for about nine percent of Syria's
population. They have several rival parties, all of
which are officially banned, seeking political and
administrative rights for their community.
They have supported the anti-regime protests that
broke out in mid-March and have claimed thousands of
lives as Syrian authorities crack down on dissent
and battle army deserters.
Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani, president of
the autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq,
earlier Saturday
backed the minority Kurds
of neighbouring Syria.
"We do not want to interfere in the affairs of Kurds
in Syria, but we will help and support your
decisions," he said. "But on condition that you
remain united during this sensitive period,www.ekurd.net
and that you avoid internal conflicts."
He continued: "The situation is important to us
because it (Syria) is a neighbouring country, we
have a long border with it, and more than two
million Kurds live there. It is important to know
their future."
Iraq's Kurdish region, comprised of three provinces
in the north, enjoys broad autonomy under the
country's 2005 constitution.
Copyright ©, respective author or news agency,
AFP
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