Dr Roni Demirbag, decided to protest alone, due to the lack of action by Kurdish community and community organisations to organise a demonstration in solidarity with Kurdistan, following the recent military attacks carried out by Iraqi forces, as well as blockade by Iraq and other countries in in the region. According to Kurdish officials this has led to the death of hundreds of people, loss of territory and displacement of over 100,000 of mainly Kurdish people in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
The historic non-binding independence referendum that took place in the Kurdistan Region on 25th of September has been a catalyst for Iraq to advance onto Kurdish held territory, as the referendum has been labeled “illegal” by the central government in Baghdad and the neighbouring countries such of Iran and Turkey.
Dr Demirbag says his main objective in protesting was the lack of reaction to the events in the Kurdistan Region by Kurds in Australia, in particular Sydney. “ I heard of several attempts to organise a protest but for one reason or another they were all cancelled. Given the historic nature of the referendum and the hypocrisy demonstrated by the West in remaining silent and providing tacit support to the aggression towards Kurdistan, I do not think there was any excuse not to demonstrate.” Dr Demirbag explained.
Kurds in diaspora, particularly in the United States and Europe have taken to the streets asking for intervention and help from the West. On 21st of October, now the outgoing Kurdish President Masoud Barzani called upon Kurds in the diaspora to peacefully protest.
In Sydney, several attempts were made to organise similar protest, however without any clear or official reasons these were cancelled by the organising Kurdish community organisations. Dr Roni Demirbag believes “…no matter how insignificant it may be, it is always important to voice our objections and make a stand. It does not matter how many people turn up or how well it is publicised, these are desirable but are not the most important point of a demonstration. The most fundamental reason and importance of a demonstration is to raise our objections.”
Critical of the Kurdish community in Sydney Dr Demirbag says, “in a way my protest was more a protest of Kurdish community than anyone else.”
SBS Kurdish was not given any response regarding the reasons for cancelling the protest at the time. For the purpose of this article we tried contacting the Sydney Kurdish Youth Society, but did not get a reponse in time with the deadline for this article. SBS Kurdish is seeking/interested in comments by Kurdish community organisations.
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