NEWS CENTER - Drawing attention to the importance of the conference to be held on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Treaty of Lausanne, KNK Co-Chair Ahmed Karamus said: “The Kurds now want to have a status in four parts of Kurdistan. We must create a national strategy to defend the rights of the Kurdish people."
On July 24, the centennial of the Treaty of Lausanne, the "Great Kurdistan Conference '' will be held under the leadership of the Kurdistan National Congress (KNK). Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) Co-Chair Ahmed Karamus spoke to ANF about the Treaty of Lausanne and the conference they will hold.
Stating that his work is not limited to this conference, Karamus said: "The conference will be the final. Many panels, forums, exhibitions and meetings have been held to date. We attach special importance to this conference. We call it the 'Kurdistan Conference' and we aim for all Kurdistani structures to participate in this conference. We aim to include political parties, institutions, different faith institutions, different ethnic structures and individual people to this conference. We have been preparing for this conference for over a year and a half. The work we have done so far has produced very important results. Our main goal is to ensure that no institution, political party or personality is missing. We have carried out a serious effort to ensure that all structures with representation in the geography of Kurdistan participate in this conference.”
Karamus stated that the final preparations and plans were made and that the technical preparations were finished.
THE AIM IS THE NATIONAL UNITY
Expressing that they wanted to develop a national discourse against the Treaty of Lausanne at the conference, Karamus said the following about their work: “For this, we wanted to work together in the four parts of Kurdistan and the diaspora. We interviewed with all Kurdistani structures and got their opinions. We had interviews in four parts and diaspora. We interviewed 175 political structures and non-governmental organizations, regardless of their ideology or thought. We met with all religious wing leaders and representatives. We interviewed Kurdish tribal leaders, academics, employers, individual individuals working in the Kurdish society, artists and journalists. In short, we made an effort to include all colors of Kurdistan in this conference. Our hope is that all parties from Kurdistan attend this conference. So far, nearly 500 institutions and individuals have stated that they will participate.”
Drawing attention that they want to eliminate the idea that "Kurds cannot be united", which has existed from history until today, Karamus said: "If we do not unite, if we do not create national unity, we will lose a lot in the 21st century world. Although we are the name of this conference, there are many political parties and institutions in the main organizers. The host of this conference is the entire Kurdish people. Our enemies are doing everything they can to ensure that there is no Kurdish national unity and that we are not the only voice. They want to make this work in vain. We are trying to nullify all these efforts of our enemies. We will not rely on the interests of a narrow group or political party. This is a national issue of our people living in Kurdistan. We see it as a national responsibility area. We will reject Lausanne on its 100th anniversary. We work with this belief. We want to eliminate the 100-year-old tragedy of the Kurdish people. For this reason, we will strive to include all Kurdistani structures in this conference until the last moment. We want the identity and status of the Kurdish people to be recognized in this century. Our call; Persons, institutions and parties that we could not reach as a committee are invited to this conference and should attend. This conference is open to anyone who wants to unite, object and raise their voice against Lausanne.”
‘KURDS WANT STATUS’
Regarding the aims of the conference, Karamus said: “Kurdistan was divided into two parts with the Treaty of Kasr-ı Şirin. The Sykes Picot Treaty became the basis for the Treaty of Lausanne, and legitimacy was provided to the four occupied states of Lausanne and Kurdistan. When this treaty was signed, there was not even a state in Iraq and Syria. There were the British in Iraq and the French in Syria. Lausanne caused repeated tragedies. Massacre, genocide, forced migration, changing the demographic structure were practiced on the Kurdish people. That's why Lausanne is a black leaf in history. The guarantor states in Lausanne are responsible for the massacre, genocide and forced displacement that has been taking place for 100 years. They are those who deny the identity, culture, history and existence of the Kurdish people. We want to explain all these events to the civilized society and make the common demands of the Kurdish nation visible.
The representatives of the Kurdish people were shown as if they were in Lausanne with the tricks and lies of the Turkish state; however, the supporters were agents of the state. The Kurdish people have neither rights, status nor identity in the Lausanne talks. The Kurds have never accepted this agreement. He objected to this agreement, rebelled, and fought. The Kurds now claim their identity as a nation and want to have a status. The Kurdish people will never accept this agreement, which rejects itself. The Kurds will demonstrate their stance against all the massacres and genocides that have taken place in Kurdistan for 100 years with this conference. We Kurds now want to have an official status in four parts of Kurdistan with their presence, identity and language. An important opportunity has emerged for the Kurds in Middle East politics and it is accepted by the peoples of the world. We must not miss this historic opportunity. The creation of Kurdish national unity is essential. We must create a national strategy to defend the rights of the Kurdish people. We can make ourselves accepted by putting forward political ways and methods against both the United Nations (UN), the European Union (EU) and the Arab League. This conference is very important in terms of developing a common discourse of all Kurdistani structures as a single voice.”