Turkey:Almost 200 members of Ireland's Kurdish community marched from the Dáil to the Turkish embassy yesterday seeking the Government's help in dissuading Turkey from military action against Kurdish Iraqis.
Motivated by Turkey's recent authorisation of military incursions against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq, demonstrators from across Ireland chanted "no for invasion, no for violence, yes for freedom", before setting off for the Turkish embassy in Ballsbridge. They carried a typed statement, Kurdish flags and signs graphically depicting the violent nature of the ongoing conflict.
Many expressed disgust at the designation of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) as a terrorist organisation, as well as expressing the belief that EU membership for Turkey should be dependent on its diplomatic resolution of the conflict.
"Who are the real terrorists?" asked Madya, who had travelled from Cork to attend. "We're asking [Turkey] to sort out the problem in a peaceful way. No more blood," he said.
The demonstrators' statement requested a government motion condemning Turkish military aggression against Iraqi Kurdistan, and asked that the release of all Kurdish political prisoners be urged. It also suggested that Irish companies should be discouraged from "providing Turkey with military supplies, or offering Turkey any kinds of facilities".
The statement added: "We think western public opinion and governments are the only ones who can get the Turks to pursue a peaceful policy, stop threatening Iraqi Kurdistan's nascent democracy, and find a solution to their Kurdish problem."
Idem Mirzza, who has lived in Waterford for almost two years, marched to continue the work of his father, a Kurdish freedom fighter buried alive when Idem was five years old. "A funeral was not allowed," he said. " I have to do this. I still follow my dad's route but now I fight with my voice and my pen. No harm is done this way."