Today is Newroz, marking the Kurdish New Year. It is a day associated with freedom, the triumph of light over darkness, and the arrival of spring as the days grow longer than the nights.
Kurds are widely regarded as the largest stateless ethnic group in the world, with an estimated population of 30–40 million people.
They largely live across a region spanning parts of Türkiye, Iraq, Iran, and Syria: an area associated with the Taurus and Zagros mountains, and the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
They are well known for their role in the fight against ISIS/ISIL/ ‘daesh’, and for their strong traditions of participatory democracy, women’s empowerment, and environmentalism.
The Kurdish ‘Troubles’ are rooted in the settlement that followed the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. The Treaty of Lausanne in 1923 left Kurdish-populated areas divided principally between Türkiye, Iraq, Syria, and Iran.
Over the following century, Kurdish communities across these states experienced severe cultural repression, including mass killings, mass imprisonment, torture, the burning down of villages, language and cultural restrictions, the destruction of cultural and religious sites, and a wide range of other human rights abuses.
Tens of thousands of people have died in this ongoing conflict.
Today, the Kurdish situation differs across the region. In Iraq, the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) enjoys substantial autonomy.
In Syria, the situation remains fragile, although recent agreements between the Kurdish-led Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES) and the Syrian Interim Government have opened a new phase of negotiation over integration and governance.
In Türkiye, there are renewed signs of a possible political opening in the long-running conflict, though its outcome remains uncertain and much depends on whether concrete legal and political steps follow.
Drawing on Ireland’s international reputation as a peacebuilder and on the experience of the Good Friday Agreement, we are submitting an Oireachtas Public Petition. We are calling on the Irish Government to formally offer its support and peacebuilding expertise towards advancing a peaceful and democratic resolution of the Türkiye–Kurdish conflict.
In the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement, we intend to submit this petition on Good Friday, 3 April 2026. Petition has now been submitted.
Leave a Reply