Kurdish delegation visit Ireland

Ógra Shinn Féin played host to a delegation from the Association of Students from Kurdistan, Yekitiya Xwendekarên Kurdistan (YXK).

The delegation follows Navan's Cllr. Joe Reilly's visit to Istanbul last December where he participated in a conference on the Kurdish issue and the struggle for self-determination.

The delegation who are on a ten day trip around Ireland, were brought to significant historical sites all over the country. The students spent time in Dublin, Meath, Tyrone, Derry, Belfast and Cork.

The YXK was founded in Germany in 1991, and is an umbrella association of organisations and student groups from Kurdistan. In view of the conflict which has claimed 45,000 lives since 1984 between the Turkish military and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), many Kurdish students felt the need to organize and stand up for the right ofself-determination for the Kurdish people.

International officer for Ógra Shinn Féin Dáithí Byrne, said; "We are delighted to have hosted the first Kurdish youth political delegation and we thought it important for them to visit to see sites which are hugely significant on the timeline of Irish history. We support the Kurdish struggle for self-determination, and extend our solidarity to them. We have many relationships with international organisations such as those in Catalonia, the Basque Country and Corsica. Our ties with the Kurdish students help us learn from other struggles and share our experience of the peace process here in Ireland."