Last week, Turkey’s parliament authorized military action against the Kurdish Worker’s Party, or P-K-K, a group that has been fighting for Kurdish independence. The vote specially allows Turkey’s army to cross the border into Northern Iraq to pursue the P-K-K.
The move set off protests in the Kurdish area of Northern Iraq, and the 8-thousand or so Kurds living in Nashville have been closely following the developments.
Nashville is home to the largest Kurdish community in the US. Nawzad Hawrami is the director of the Salahadeen Center of Nashville, a local mosque. Hawrami says most Nashville Kurds still have family in Iraq and they feel ties to Kurds in Turkey.
“The PKK, they are Kurdish, they are our brothers. They are Kurdish and we don’t like them to do any military actions against them or they do any military actions against anyone.”
The Turkish government’s authorization doesn’t mean Turkey will take immediate military action, but Hawrami says any military moves would further destabilize the region. He also says it’s a problem that the Turkish government labels the PKK a terrorist group as does the United States and the European Union.
“They are fighting for their peace, for their human rights. They want to be as a Kurdish, to be as a human, to speak Kurdish, wearing Kurdish clothing, studying Kurdish language and they have at least at a minimum, their human rights.”
Hawrami says if the situation deteriorates in Turkey and Northern Iraq, Nashville Kurds might stage a march. Until then, he says, they pray for peace.
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