KRG delegation arrives in Afrin as Turkey offensive softens Kurdish split
A delegation of Iraqi Kurds from rival political parties arrived in the Syrian Kurdish enclave of Afrin in a show of Kurdish solidarity.
Kurdish disunity is cited as one of the main reasons the world’s largest people without a country, as the Kurds are often described, still don’t have one. The Iraqi Kurds’ failed referendum on independence in September, which saw one group cooperate with Baghdad against the other, was the most recent and damning example of how a lust for power can trump the collective Kurdish good. So when a delegation of Iraqi Kurds from rival political parties arrived in the Syrian Kurdish enclave of Afrin to show solidarity with their cousins facing a Turkish siege, a groundswell of euphoria erupted.
Asiya Abdullah, the former co-chair of the Democratic Unity Party (PYD), declared, “The visit by members of the Kurdistan Parliament sent an important message to the people of Afrin and all the people of Kurdistan. Today, Afrin’s resistance against the occupation of Turkey and their rebels is fierce. The assault on Afrin is an assault on the people of Kurdistan, and Afrin’s victory will be that of all of Kurdistan.”
