CPTnet
October 27, 2012
IRAQI KURDISTAN: Delegates praise Kurdish nonviolence in Turkey, Iraq 

Learning about nonviolent initiatives from an Iraqi Mullah and interviewing a Kurdish social worker in Turkey facing eighteen years in prison were among activities of a five-nation Christian Peacemaker Teams delegation visiting Kurdish areas of Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan 5-17 October 2012. 

From Diyarbakir, Turkey, to Iraqi Kurdistan’s mountain villages and City of Sulaimani, the delegates met with people who have experienced discrimination and oppression just for being Kurdish. Villagers who have endured bombing and shelling by neighbouring countries afforded them hospitality. Families told of sons killed allegedly by security forces during the 2011 Kurdish Spring Uprisings in Sulaimani. Activists shared about being threatened for speaking out against violence and injustice.

The mayor of rural Sidakan guided the delegation through a permanent Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp being built in preparation for future Turkish and Iranian bombing and shelling. Speaking of 2012, when the area was quieter than in previous years, he said it would be ideal if the camps are never used for displaced people. He thought that a tourist camp or teachers' housing would be a much better use.

	Delegates from Netherlands, United States, Iraqi Kurdistan (Iraq),  Sweden and Canada at press conference in Sulaimani’s Cultural Café

The delegates, from Netherlands, United States, Iraqi Kurdistan (Iraq), Sweden and Canada, held two press conferences in Kurdistan, on 10 October in Sidakan, reporting on the cross-border attacks, and on 15 October in Sulaimani. Their statement at the closing press conference, attended by family members of people killed during the 2011 demonstrations, concluded, "As we leave we will take with us the resilience of villagers who rebuild their houses again and again after being bombed, the bravery of religious leaders trying to bring about peace through nonviolence, and stories of the amazing hospitality Kurdish people have shown us." They ended the conference by singing, "Dona Nobis Pacem" ("Grant us Peace").

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Press statement
Christian Peacemaker Teams delegation, 5-17 October 2012
Sulaimani, Iraq, 15 October 2012

Welcome. Christian Peacemaker Teams is a human rights organization building partnerships to transform violence and oppression. We have come from the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, Sweden, Iraq, and Kurdistan to learn about the situation of the Kurdish people living in Iraq and Turkey as well as CPT’s work here in the region, a topic rarely covered in our home countries.

Our journey began in Diyarbakir, Turkey. There we learned about harassment and repression of Kurds living in Turkey.  We met with members of an organization who work with war-displaced Kurdish children and a social worker with the Diyarbakir municipality facing eighteen years in prison for working for her fellow Kurds in Turkey.

In Iraqi Kurdistan, we saw several Turkish bases with tanks pointed at civilian houses. We learned of Turkish and Iranian cross border attacks on civilian populations. Village families showed us where Iranian shells had hit their houses. We saw Iranian military bases on the mountains overlooking Iraqi Kurdistan. We also saw impacts of violence on individuals, communities, culture, agriculture, and livelihood. We met with the mayor of Sidakan and the media where we had a press conference about the IDP camps and situation of the villages. We met with a principal and teachers in the village of Sunnah near the border of Iran and learned of the perseverance to keep the school going despite of shellings and multiple displacements. We saw the fear, but also the bravery of the children and villagers. 

We learned about the presence of minority groups while visiting Hawler. Here in Sulaimani we learned about last year’s Kurdish Spring demonstrations, and in a visit with a local Mulah we learned of local nonviolent initiatives along with the stories of violence. We met with women’s rights activists and heard the stories and saw the tears of three families of people killed during the demonstrations.

We all knew that violence and conflict takes place around the world, including in our own countries, but we did not know the specific situation here in Kurdistan. We now plan to take this information back to our home countries to share with our own communities the stories we have heard and the realities we have seen because we do not hear about them in our local media.

As we leave we will to take with us the resilience of villagers who rebuild their houses again and again after being bombed, the bravery of religious leaders trying to bring about peace through nonviolence, and stories of the amazing hospitality Kurdish people have shown us. We have been extremely blessed by our time here and want to take these stories of hope and peace back home.