ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurds across Europe on Saturday rallied in protest against Monday’s deadly ballistic missile attack by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Erbil.
Protestors took to the streets of 16 European cities to condemn the IRGC strike that killed four civilians, including an 11-month-old infant, and injured 17 others.
The Kurdish Diaspora Confederation (KDC) had called for the demonstrations against “the crimes of the Iranian regime” committed in the Kurdistan Region, northeast Syria (Rojava) and Kurdish cities in Iran (Rojhelat).
Hundreds of Kurds in Germany’s Berlin, Hamburg, Hannover, Dusseldorf, the Netherlands’ Amsterdam, and Sweden’s Stockholm joined the protests.
“Tehran’s regime committed a crime against humanity,” Husameddin Khushkani read from a KDC statement in Dusseldorf. The statement noted that Kurds in Iran are discriminated against and called on the international community to not remain silent about Iran’s aggression.
The IRGC targeted the house of Kurdish businessman Peshraw Dizayee, the owner of Falcon Group, which holds an extensive portfolio that includes projects such as Empire World. Dizayee and his daughter Zhina, who held Dutch nationality and was days away from her first birthday, were killed in the attack.
Many protestors were draped in Kurdish flags.
“When there is an attack against our people, we must stand together without considering party or organization, regardless of being Alevi, Yazidi, or Sunni. Because without unity, we cannot achieve anything," Yazidi activist Osman Guden told Rudaw’s Zinar Shino in Dusseldorf.
Veteran Kurdish politician Mesut Tek told Rudaw that Kurds need to lobby more in Europe.
“Our high-level officials and experts should be present in Europe. We need to demonstrate that Kurds have historically made significant contributions to civilization and continue to do so today,” Tek said.
Iran has claimed that Dizayee’s house was a Mossad base, an allegation rejected by Kurdish and Iraqi officials.
Iraqi National Security Advisor Qasim al-Araji on Tuesday stated on X that “the claims that a Mossad headquarters was targeted are baseless.”
The attack drew criticism and condemnation from the international community, with diplomatic envoys in Iraq publishing statements of condemnation.
Netherlands Foreign Minister Hanke Bruins Slot on Friday announced she spoke to her Iranian counterpart about the death of a “Dutch infant” in the attack and that she had summoned Iran's ambassador.
Sweden’s foreign ministry on Wednesday announced they also have summoned Iran’s charge d'affaires to hand him a protest note about the attack on the Kurdistan Region capital.
