Arab League Secretary General says no to a Kurdish state

The Arab League has taken a clear position on the Kurdish call for independence.


“Today the Kurds are calling for a State of their own… why not the Yazidis, why not the Pashtuns, why not the Assyrians, why not lots of others?” said Secretary General of the League of Arab States, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, in his opening speech at NATO Defense College Foundation’s conference on Arab geopolitics in Rome, Italy.

“History teaches us that separation and division create more violence and sometimes also ethnic cleansing”, explained Gheit, mentioning the Balkans’ experience as an example.

Kurds are considered the largest stateless minority in the world, with an estimated 30 million people scattered throughout Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria and Armenia. With a referendum held at the end of September, the Kurds living in northern Iraq voted to secede from the country. Nearly 93 percent of voters cast their ballots for secession.
   [alarabiya.net]
 6/10/17
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