COPENHAGEN, Denmark – Kurds in Denmark marked the Kurdish New Year of Newroz with a traditional bonfire outside City Hall, which Foreign Minister Martin Lidegaard attended to show solidarity in the war with ISIS.
“Today we think of all the Kurds around the world who are fighting for democracy and having a hard time," Lidegaard said in Friday’s ceremony.
"There is reason to show solidarity with the Kurds in Syria fighting against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) on behalf of us all," he added.
Mogens Lykketoft, head of the Danish Parliament and a former foreign minister who is designated as the next UN chief, expressed his "full respect and admiration" for the Peshmerga in their war with ISIS.
In addition, he thanked the Kurdish fighters for "helping threatened Assyrian Christians, Yezidis and other minority communities, who are particularly threatened and severely persecuted by IS (ISIS)."
"We also thank our Kurdish friends for their tolerance, their respect for human rights and for gender equality, which are of a nature and degree that rarely is seen in their part of the world," Lykketoft said.
The Danish head of parliament also mentioned Kobane, the Syrian-Kurdish city that resisted an ISIS takeover.
"We are full of admiration for the Kurds in Syria, who so bravely defended themselves against ISIS in Kobane which pushed ISIS back, but now need to rebuild their communities."
The Newroz bonfire was organized by the Federation of Kurdish Associations in Denmark (SKFD). Adnan Axacan, President of SKFD expressed satisfaction with the event and the fact that a minister and other top politicians attended.
"Their participation shows that they recognize the Kurds' importance as an actor in the Middle East. With their participation they show they take the Kurds serious," Axacan told Rudaw.
This year SKFD chose not to celebrate Newroz in a festive manner, but to mark it out of respect for the victims of ISIS in the Middle East.
"We have cut off the festive away part of Newroz, and mark it in a different way," said Axacan, a Kurd from Turkey.
Denmark is part of the international effort to arm Iraqi Kurdish forces in the fight against Islamic extremists. It has sent a 55-person military team as well as emergency aid and weapons to help the Peshmerga. Denmark is also helping with the US-led airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq.
