Protesters marched through the streets of Washington Sunday, condemning the Syrian government for its treatment of ethnic Kurds. The demonstration came after a week of violence between Kurds and Syrian security forces left dozens of people dead. The protesters denounced Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and called for an end to Kurdish oppression in the Middle East.
| They mean oppression of the Kurds, not by the Kurds... |
Standing in front of the Syrian embassy, some 200 protesters waved Kurdish flags and banners condemning the treatment of Kurdish people in Syria and elsewhere in the region. Protesters gathered outside the Syrian embassy before marching several kilometers to the White House. They said the violence last week in Syria has sparked a show of Kurdish solidarity, with similar demonstrations in Europe, Syria and a protest in northern Iraq by thousands of Iraqi Kurds. Mehmet Akbas said the violence is just the most recent incident in a long history of Kurdish oppression in Syria. "The Syrian regime it's an oppressive regime, it's a criminal regime," he says. "There's no difference whatsoever between Bashar al-Assad and Saddam Hussein or the government policies - the same Baath party that was in Iraq now we have the same thing in Syria."
| The guy must read Rantburg! |
Banners at the protest linked Syrian President Assad with deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, saying Saddam is gone, Assad is next.
Kary Karadaghi, the executive director an organization lobbying for Kurdish independence, spoke to the crowd of demonstrators gathered outside the White House. "Kurdish people in Syria are the most oppressed people, after our brothers and sisters in Turkey and our brothers and sisters in Iran. We have pretty much liberated Kurdistan of Iraq," she said. Don't you agree with me? Now is the time to free Kurdistan of Turkey, Syria and Iran. And nobody can do it except us and them. We have to be united, we'll do it together."
| Bet some Turkish generals are having sleepless nights. |
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