Shafaq News- Al-Sulaymaniyah

Hundreds gathered in northern Iraq’s Al-Sulaymaniyah on Tuesday at a ceremony honoring support for “West Kurdistan,” where a message from Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) commander Mazloum Abdi praised backing from Iraqi Kurdistan during recent attacks on Kurdish-held areas in northeastern Syria.

The event, organized by the West Kurdistan Representation Office, drew residents of the Kurdistan Region alongside Kurdish political parties and activists. Participants observed a minute of silence for Kurdish fighters killed during the conflict and placed flowers before portraits of victims from “West Kurdistan,” a term used by Kurdish groups to describe Kurdish-majority areas in northeastern Syria.

In a message read during the ceremony, Abdi said support from the Kurdistan Region and Kurdish unity strengthened the resistance and helped stop the war, stressing that preserving the January 18 ceasefire required continued political and public backing.

Kurdish regions were passing through a “sensitive phase” marked by political and security changes, he warned, calling for greater Kurdish unity.

Shoresh Amin, a Kurdish activist attending the ceremony, told Shafaq News that regional developments directly affect Kurdistan and that demonstrations supporting West Kurdistan highlighted the importance of Kurdish solidarity. Support from the Region and international actors gave “great meaning” to the resistance, a representative of the family of slain Kurdish fighter Ahmed Himen added.

The ceremony also included a message from the Kurdish Red Crescent in northeastern Syria thanking residents and organizations in the Kurdistan Region for humanitarian aid provided during the conflict before concluding with musical performances and poetry readings.

Earlier this year, the Syrian government and the SDF reached a ceasefire agreement outlining a gradual integration of military and administrative structures between both sides. The deal also provides for the incorporation of Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) institutions into Syrian state structures, the retention of civil employees, the settlement of civil and educational rights for the Kurdish community, and guarantees for the return of displaced residents to their hometowns.