Kurdish veteran slams attack on cultural institute, calls it a 'black day'

Shafaq News/ A veteran Kurdish politician has condemned a raid on a cultural institute in the autonomous Kurdistan Region, calling it a "black day" and a sign of the ruling party's intolerance of dissent.

Mulla Bakhtiar, an independent Kurdish politician, said in a press conference on Friday that the attack on the Jawdar Institute by forces loyal to the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) was aimed at silencing critics and stifling freedom of expression.

"The raid on such a place is to break the writer's pen and silence the beautiful forces," Bakhtiar said. "Instead of raiding our institution, they should have come with a court order to return it, not an order from the party."

The Jawdar Institute, a cultural and intellectual hub, has hosted numerous events, trained hundreds of writers, and published hundreds of books and magazines. Bakhtiar said the institute had never been involved in any illegal activities.

Bakhtiar expressed discontent over a simultaneous attack on his home in Khanaqin, carried out by PUK security forces. "In this world, a person with whom I have shared 500 meals attacked my home," he said.

The attacks come amid growing tensions within the PUK, with Bakhtiar accusing some party members of lacking political wisdom and resorting to violence to settle disputes.

"What is happening is a disaster within the PUK, where political thinking has been lost among some members who carried out this act," Bakhtiar said. "It is shameful for a person to reach this level of degradation and lack of will."