ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurds are an important factor in the region and can no longer be ignored, stated a professor from Tehran University during an interview with Rudaw.
Ahmad Naghibzadeh told Rudaw's Fuad Rahimi that Kurds have an undeniable footprint on the regional stage and “cannot be ignored or marginalized.” He added that if Kurds “are able to secure their rights, they will live in peace,” citing the Kurdistan Region as a model that has maintained “peace and stability” in “a region filled with chaos.”
The Iranian scholar highlighted that the greatest benefit the Iraqi federal government could gain from the Kurdistan Region is through granting the Kurds their rights and upholding Iraq’s inclusivity. He stressed that failing to do so would disrupt peace.
Naghibzadeh’s remarks come at a time when Kurdish affairs have recently been making headlines in the region.
In Turkey, the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan delivered a historic message in late February, urging his group to lay down arms and dissolve itself, which could effectively end a four-decade-old conflict with Ankara that has claimed around 40,000 lives.
Meanwhile, Kurdish parties in northeast Syria (Rojava) have been increasingly critical of the new Syrian leadership lately, accusing it of excluding the Kurds and other ethnic and religious communities from national efforts aimed at shaping the country’s future.
Naghibzadeh explained that amid the changing dynamics in the region and the world, ethnic and religious constituents “have the opportunity to rise and demand their rights.” He anticipated that while “there are small minority groups [in the region] whose issues may not be resolved through securing democratic freedoms,” the Kurds “are different, as they possess all the characteristics of a nation.”
The Kurds believe that Greater Kurdistan refers to the historical region traditionally inhabited by the Kurdish people, spanning parts of four countries: Iraq, Iran, Turkey, and Syria.
According to Naghibzadeh, the authorities in these countries are “very wrong for not granting Kurds their rights.” He emphasized that if “Kurds are satisfied with self-determination and equality,” these countries “should be more than happy because the Kurds are the most cohesive nation in the Middle East.”
