Shafaq News– Baghdad
Feyli Kurdish representatives and supporters gathered in Baghdad on Friday to express solidarity with Kurds in Syria’s Rojava*, denouncing violence against Kurdish-populated areas.
Speaking to Shafaq News, Feyli Kurdish lawmaker Haider Ali described the gathering, which brought together lawmakers, officials, political figures, tribal leaders, and community representatives, as “a demonstration of unity with Syrian Kurds and a rejection of abuses affecting Kurds and other communities.” He called on the international community and human rights organizations to halt violations and ensure accountability, arguing, “Durable solutions depend on protecting Kurdish rights wherever they live.”
“The rally reflects a direct response to escalating attacks in Syria,” political adviser Munir Haddad said, reaffirming the Feyli Kurds’ role within the wider Kurdish nation.
Prime ministerial adviser Sheikh Adnan Hamid Al-Shafi, who spoke to our agency, questioned the effectiveness of international mechanisms in addressing the situation, urging stricter enforcement of international law and humanitarian protections. “Kurds in Baghdad stand ready to defend Kurdish communities wherever they are.”
Continued abuses against Kurds in western Kurdistan, participant Fouad Ali Akbar warned, could have wider regional consequences if ignored.
Speakers closed the rally by stressing that cross-community solidarity in Iraq is essential to confronting ongoing violence.
Similar displays of solidarity unfolded earlier this week across several Iraqi provinces, including in Diyala and Kirkuk. In Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, hundreds, mostly Syrian Kurds living in the Kurdistan Region alongside local residents, demonstrated near the United Nations mission, close to the US consulate, urging international protection for civilians in northern Syria.
The protests coincided with escalating clashes in northern and eastern Syria between government forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), with fighting recently spreading near detention sites holding members of ISIS.
Read more: Syria’s calm: An end to threat or a start of a complex security phase for Iraq?
*Officially known as the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES), it is an autonomous region in northeastern Syria under the SDF control.
