The Kurdish people are one of the largest ethnic groups in the world without a homeland or significant political representation, except for the Kurds in newly formed Iraqi Kurdistan.
There are 35 million Kurds in the world dispersed in the countries of Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Armenia.....in the mosly mountainous northern regions of these countries.
They evidently do not have a homeland because European and other world powers who carved up this part of the middle-east in the early part of this century did not recognize the significance of the Kurdish ethnic group and their large populations and unique culture, identity and language.
The Kurds have been historically oppressed ever since then and in almost every country that they exist they have been severely oppressed, driven out, killed and imprisoned.
In Iraq during the "Anfal Campaign" Saddam Hussein massacred 50,000-100,000 Kurds including women and children and bulldozed 2,000 Kurdish villages to claim possession of oil fields in historically Kurdish territory.
In the country of Turkey there are 20 million Kurds representing 20% of Turkey's total population (CIA World Factbook).
Last week the government of Turkey (Turkish Constitutional Court) banned the Kurdish political party called the DTP and it's 37 members in the Turkish Paliament, they are now facing a 5 year ban from politics.
Prime Minister of Turkey, Tayyip Erdogan, states that he opposes the ban.
Kurd's fought for many years diplomatically and through armed struggle to achieve political representation in Turkey and other countries where they exist.
Kurds have been heavily oppressed, persecuted and despised by the Turkish government for years and are now being accused of being a terrorist organization.
Now one of the most historically oppressed groups of people on earth....the Kurds of Turkey..... have no say or government representation.....in a country in which they make up 20% of the population!!!
Many political scientist, journalists and others who follow Turkish/Kurdish relations state that this does not bode well for peace and security in Turkey and the surrounding regions.
This also sets human rights and democracy in Turkey back many years.
We the undersigned wish for the nations of the Middle-East and the West to come together with the government of Turkey and other nations of Southwest Asia.....where the Kurds exist in significant numbers.....to bring an end to Kurdish oppression and negotiate for significant Kurdish representation in the governments of the countries and lands where Kurds have lived for hundreds or thousands of years.
We request this worldwide Kurdish summit for the sake of peace, democracy and fairness, not only for the Kurdish people, but for all oppressed ethnic and tribal groups worldwide without political representation.
For more on this subject go to:
http://article.wn.com/view/2009/12/14/Clashes_in_Turkey_after_Kurdish_party_banned/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurd
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/12/11/turkey-kurdish-party-banned
http://www.javno.com/en-world/syria-jails-three-kurds-for-joining-banned-party_281778
http://thejakartaglobe.com/afp/turkeys-top-court-bans-kurdish-party/347023
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5BD21V20091214?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:)
