Explores Avenues for Armenian-Kurdish Cooperation
WASHINGTON—Kurdish political leaders from Turkey, Syria, Iran and Iraq were joined on Oct. 28 by a broad cross-section of the Washington foreign policy community at an all-day conference on the “The Kurdish Role in the New Middle East.”
The conference, the first ever organized in Washington by the U.S. office of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), the leading pro-Kurdish political party in Turkey, was held before a capacity crowd in the National Press Club. An Armenian delegation headed by Armenian Revolutionary Federation Bureau member Hagop Der Khatchadourian attended the conference and also held consultations regarding prospects for increased cooperation with several political leaders and other key Kurdish stakeholders.
“We welcome this inaugural BDP conference in Washington, DC and the opportunity it afforded for meaningful dialogue about Armenian Kurdish cooperation, Western Armenia and Kurdistan, and, more broadly, the realization of the national and democratic aspirations of the Armenian and Kurdish nations,” said Der Khatchadourian.
The program covered four panels, and featured a robust exchange of views from a broad array of Kurdish viewpoints. The topics covered were “The Kurds in a Changing Middle East,” “The Kurds of Syria and their Vision for the Future,” “The Imrali Peace Process: Can Turkish-Kurdish Relations be Re-Made?” and “The U.S., Turkey, and the Kurds: Towards a New Vision.” Among those participating were the Co-Chairman of the BDP, Selahattin Demirtas; Nazmi Gur, a prominent BDP Parliamentarian; Karwan Zebari, representing the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq office in Washington, DC, former U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, James Jeffrey; and prominent journalists Cengiz Candar and Amberin Zaman from Turkey.
I’m glad to see the Armenian presence at the conference, I hope our two cultures can come together to work as one in finding what is best for a people as we did before us Kurd’s turned our backs and allowed and helped in the injustice that was placed upon our Armenian counterparts in Mesopotamia. I hope we can tear down the wall that us Kurd’s put up with our action, and in turn use those building blocks to pave the way to peace for both parties and security in the region. An apology would not suffice for what has happen in the Armenian Genocide, not only the death of innocents but ripping an ancient culture from its home lands. I pray for a brighter future for both of our people. Also if anyone has additional information on the conference (videos,articles) it would be greatly appreciate if you could link them in the comments.
@Rojan: I agree with you, the only problem here is Turkey, which is deviding the Kurds, and trying to avoid Armenians and Kurds to cooperate
I guess after all these years,the Kurds feel remorse,and apology,after the COWARD turks perpetuated the ARMENIAN GENOCIDE…and still live under the BIG LIE,of denial..That is a true mark of a COWARD…..