About 50 Nashville Kurds gathered outside the federal courthouse today for a small, but spirited protest of Turkey’s resolution allowing it to send troops into northern Iraq.
The Turkish parliament passed the resolution earlier this month heightening tensions between the country and the Kurdish Workers’ Party, or PKK, based in Northern Iraq. The organization has been fighting for independence and is labeled a terrorist group by many countries, including the U-S.
Nashville has the largest population of Kurdish people in the States, many of whom still have family living in Iraq. Helen Qazi, who was born in the U-S to Kurdish parents works with children at St. Thomas. She says most Kurds don’t hate Turkey, but they don’t want it to cause more violence.
“We’re tired of asking for peace. We are wanting peace. We are wanting our freedom. We don’t want Turkey to invade. We just want to have our peace and our Kurdistan, our independent Kurdistan. That’s what we’re praying for, that’s what we want to see one day. We don’t want to see any violence, anybody killed, anybody hurt.”
Today’s demonstration, the second for Nashville’s Kurds, was part of a coordinated effort from cities across the U-S including Dallas, New York City and Los Angeles. Many Kurds from Nashville are planning to drive to Washington D-C for a larger protest on Monday, when the Turkish prime minister will be meeting with President Bush.
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