A demonstration took place yesterday in Brussels to mark the 30th anniversary of the assassination of Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou, a Kurdish politician and former general-secretary of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI). The demonstration was organised by PDKI and gathered hundreds of people, many of them dressed in traditional Kurdish clothes.
The assassination brought to an end the negotiations that had started in Vienna in July 1989 between PDKI and the new Iranian regime after the fall of the Shah. The Austrian authorities were late in issuing arrest warrants. The suspected perpetrators in the Iranian delegation were allowed to leave Vienna and never brought to justice.
The Kurdish nation has not yet fulfilled its dream of self-determination, promised to them after the first world war, and continue to leave in precarious conditions in South-East Turkey, North Syria (Rojova), Iraq (Kurdish Regional Government) and Iran.
Newly elected Swedish MEP Evin Incir, herself of Kurdish origin, told The Brussels Times that she intends to raise the Kurdish issue in the European Parliament. “There is a need for more information about the plight of the Kurds and more unity among the Kurdish communities. Different solutions – from local self-government to independence - should be considered depending on country.”
She says that she will participate in the delegation for members of parliament from EU and Turkey, a forum which should be used for exchanging views and improving the situation in Turkey, where Kurdish members of parliament have been deprived of their parliamentary immunity and arrested.
In Brussels, where many Kurds have found asylum, a Kurdish Cultural Week will start today and continue until 14 July. On Thursday, at 14.30 pm, a traditional Kurdish wedding parade will start at Place de la Bourse and continue to Place D´Espagne, where a tent village will be established with stands of the various participating organisations.
The Brussels Times
