Besides individuals from the Kurdistan Region, a number of foreigners, including Jan Jessen, the supervisor of the political department of the Fonk Media Center, and Serdar Yuksel, the representative of the German Social Democratic Party, participated in the seminar.
The representative of the Social Democratic Party of Germany said the Kurds and Peshmerga had fought ISIS and extremists on behalf of the world, and that is why it was important for the West to support them, and for that support to continue.
“Frankly, the Peshmerga and the Kurds have fought on behalf of the world,” said Yuksel. “They have fought for the entire world in their fight against the extremists. That is why military support was the right decision. Training and equipping the Peshmerga must go on. Also, humanitarian aid must continue in the upcoming years.”
Besides the fight against ISIS, many other topics were covered, such as the Kurdistan independence referendum, Erbil’s relations with Baghdad and the West, and the humanitarian conditions of the IDPs and refugees who have settled in the Kurdistan Region.
Discussing the foreign policy of his country, Jessen said Germany thought the Kurdistan Region's independence referendum was an internal issue that needed to be talked about inside Iraq for a solution to be found.
“In my opinion, the policy of Germany concerning the independence of Kurdistan left space for steps to be taken eventually. Germany believed that Iraqi issues should be resolved in Iraq, for negotiations to take place,” said Jessen.
Participants generally addressed questions to Jessen and Yuksel on German policy and perceptions in German media about the Kurdish question.
Some participants criticized the German government and media for their lack of attention paid to the Kurdish issue at a time when the Kurds were fighting extremists.
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